Bridesmaids!!!

On February 4th my mom, my bridesmaids, and I went shopping for the bridesmaid's dresses. I was so lucky that I was able to get 6 of them together for this. Jeana lives out of town and wasn't able to make it. I bought bagels for breakfast paired with mimosas.

We had two appointments for the day. The first one was at Bianca's Bridal in Modesto. Here are some pictures.....

Our second appointment was at David's Bridal. That is where we found the dresses. The girls were able to pick whatever style they wanted (with a couple requirements).......

                                                                         The Color!

                                                                     The Final Picks

                                                        

We made one last stop at Payless shoes (right next to David's Bridal) and were lucky enough to find the perfect shoes! It was quite a successful day!

Wedding party!!!

       Here are some videos and pictures of me asking my bridesmaids to be in our wedding. I had so much doing this!!
       For Brittany I got starbucks for my mom, Cindy, Brittany, and I. On the cups it said "Mother of the Bride", "Mother of the Groom", "Bride", and on Brittany's it said "Will you be my maid of honor?"............

Since Jeana is in San Luis Obispo and I couldn't see her in person I had Tim, her boyfriend, buy her some flowers and hide them in their apartment. I set up a Skype date with her and read her a poem (the same poem I wrote for the other girls. As I started reading the poem Tim gave her the flowers................                                                                    

For the other girls I typed up a poem (with the help of my wonderful Maid of Honor), rolled it up, and held it together with a flower.

Here are the videos of the other girls....
                                                                           Nicole

Sara

Gina (Ignore the background noise)

Jen (I had already asked her over the phone)

                                                                           Jacci

Eric didn't do anything special for his groomsmen but they are Travis (best man), James, Ben, Brody, Ryan, Eddie, and Mason.
I swear we have the best bridal party! We have so many wonderful friends and we would love to have every single one standing with us that day...but I think we can all agree that 14 (7 on each side) is PLENTY when trying to coordinate things! We are so excited to have all of our friends there for the wedding and fun!

2 1/2 weeks later..........

This is pretty crazy to say but within 2 weeks we have planned the majority of our wedding. I have had an enormous amount of help from my mom, dad, Eric's mom, and friends! I wouldn't have been able to do it without them! Church-Check! Reception venue-Check! Caterer-Check! Florist-Check! Dress-Check(I've already went back to try it on again...still LOVE it!)! Save the Dates- Check! DJ-Check! Photographer-Check! Photo Booth-Check!!!! I have to say a special thanks to my WONDERFUL maid of honor, Brittany! Without her we could still be looking for the church, DJ, and the photographer! She has been amazing! I also need to mention that my bridesmaids..ALL 7 of them (including the MOH) have been so amazing! It has only been two weeks so I know this might be a bit premature but I have full faith that they will continue to make me happy! They have already saved the dates for my bridal shower and bachelorette party! And aside from Jeana they have all made themselves available to go dress shopping this Saturday!! I am so sad that Jeana lives too far to participate in all the fun :( I know she would participate in all the bridesmaids activities if she was closer! Maybe we should skype with her while we dress shop!!!
Through all of this Eric and I have also been semi-searching for a place to live. We want to be picky so we have started now so that we hopefully don't have to settle with whats out there in May/June. I have to say that the whole wedding process has been bittersweet with him being away all week. I know he doesn't have much of an opinion about things like flower colors but I like to bounce things off of him when I'm being super indecisive....as I normally am. Not too mention I miss him!
Just a bit about school....it is going well other than the fact that I would much rather do wedding things than study! But I must be doing ok so far because I got an A on my first anatomy quiz and a 100% on my first Chemistry quiz (which I wasn't expecting!). But that's enough about that boringness!
Stay tuned for videos of all my bridesmaids being asked to participate in the chaos and other fun pictures!!!!

1 Week Later

      It's been a week since Eric proposed! It actually doesn't seem like yesterday! This week has been so CRAZY and went SO fast but it doesn't seem like it was only a week ago that we started this awesome adventure!
     My mom, Eric's mom, Brittany, and I looked at venues on Monday. On our way to meet Cindy and Brittany, my mom and I stopped to get coffees. Brittany had insisted that I don't buy her one but I had a plan! I had bought her a thank you card for the binder and bride shirt she had bought me. I wrote the typical cute/long "Thank you. You mean so much to me" in the card. At the end I told her to find her coffee. I had written "Bride", "Mother of the Bride", "Mother of the Groom" on three of the coffee cups and on the other I wrote "Will you be my Maid of Honor?". She was so surprised! She started her job as soon as we started looking at venues. Every place we went she would put the paperwork into the correct place in my bridal binder (I had a tendency to just put them on the seat when we got in the car). She has been great and I am so lucky that she is in town and has a fairly open schedule. Her sister trained her well when she was her maid of honor! We found the reception venue, Oak Ridge Winery. It was one of the first ones we looked at that Monday. It is beautiful and I can''t wait to spend hours there with family and friends.
       I started school on Tuesday and also returned back to work from a long weekend. I am so thankful for how everything has fallen into place. A couple months ago I was sure that I wouldn't have any classes because they were all full and so were the wait lists. I was very discouraged but constantly looked online for openings. I was finally able to get on the wait list for a couple of my needed classes. On Tuesday, I was still only wait listed and figured my chances of getting classes were slim. By the end of the day I left school with Anatomy, Chemistry, Math, Nutrition, and Sociology!!!!! Talk about a LOAD! I dropped Nutrition and Sociology.  I am so happy that this semester won't be a waste and that I got 3 of my mainly needed classes. I have to say that even though I have been to school only 4 days, it is a bit overwhelming. I have a LOT of support and know that I can do this! Besides a couple of quick trips to the book store, every hour break I had between classes/work I was on the phone with vendors or other wedding related things.....should have been studying right?!
     On Friday night my brother and sister-in-laws dog went missing. We drove all around Lodi trying to find her but had no luck. On Saturday morning she was spotted by my sister-in-law on the other side of town. This set off another multiple car search and we still had no luck. All day we were driving very slow and looking down every street. In the midst of this we looked at another church (we had looked at one during the week). I had an appointment at Davids Bridal to try on wedding dresses but decided to cancel it because Lexi was still missing and it was going to be too hard to be all the way in Roseville trying on dresses. My mom and I decided to stop in at Elizabeth Bridal assuming they wouldn't be able to help us because we didn't have an appointment but we thought we would just stop in to see what they had to offer. They ended up not being busy and were able to help us. I tried on several dresses and fell in love with one. I had 3 favorites but when I put this one on I got a weird feeling....butterflies, heart beating fast...weird feeling. I just knew! We left there and searched more for Lexi. While on our search Brittany had text me that she had been church searching (did I mention how great shes been?). Her grandma is a member at St. Joachim Church in Lockeford. She had called to get more information for us. After getting some helpful information that seemed too good to be true, I called right away to go see the church. Eric and Travis met my mom and I there and we all agreed that it is the church!!!! I was so relieved to have the 3 of biggest things in place, the church, the reception, and  the dress.
    After we left there I checked my facebook and realized that a friend had posted on my "missing dog" status that Lexi had been spotted in her parents neighborhood, again, across town from where she was in the morning. We right away went there to scoop the neighborhood. We again had no luck!!! SO disappointed. It was getting dark and we didn't want her to spend another night out alone. We searched the nearby area for a while but I had finally decided to go spend some very needed time with my fiance. I was so happy to FINALLY get the wonderful phone call from my mom that delivered the greatest news...LEXI WAS FOUND!!!!! She was in the neighborhood that my friend posted she was seen in. This was such a relief!!!
     Today, Eric and I took a few pictures for our Save the Dates. My good friend Beth took wonderful pictures of us. It had stopped raining for a bit but it was windy and FREEZING! You might ask "why torture yourself and not just wait until the weather is better?". I am planning a wedding in FOUR and a half months people!!!!! With Eric being out of town all week we have to use every weekend hour we have to be productive, bad weather or not! I also ordered the Save the Dates today and should receive them tomorrow! Thank you again Beth for taking such great pictures!
     Two other things happened today. My mom and I were able to talk to my cousin who has agreed to photograph our wedding. I am so thankful! She takes great pictures and I am so excited to see the great shots she will get! Also, Eric and I looked at a house to rent. We are starting now so that we can be picky and not have to settle for whats out there in May/June. This one didn't end up being THE one, but certainly glad we looked.
    So in one week we have picked a date, found a church, found the reception venue, bought my dress, took pictures/ordered save the Dates, found a possible caterer, and asked bridesmaids/groomsmen to join us in this chaos (more on that later). This has been a crazy but very productive week!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Soon to be Mrs. Blighton!!!!

It finally happened!!! I'm ENGAGED!!!!!! Here's the details of the last CRAZY 72+ hours!
           I should start from the moment things started getting a little....off, if you will. Sometime during the week Eric had told me that when he got home from work Friday (he's working in Fresno so he is gone all week) he would have to go to his dad's in Lockeford to help him move something. When Friday came I was already bugging him about when he would be home because I was STARVING. He told him that he had just got home but still needed to go to his dads and would be probably another hour and a half. Meanwhile, I was sitting at home with my parents getting very irritated because I wanted to eat! My dad had gotten up to leave and when I asked him where he was going (to be funny because he is always asking where I'm going, when I'll be home and such) he said that he was going to look at a gun with my Uncle Larry. I thought nothing of this and continued on with my business. Not even an hour later Eric text me that he was home already. I thought this was REALLY fast since he had to drive to Lockeford, help his dad move something, and drive home. But of course he was just really excited to see me so he quickly got things done to get back home...right? :) When I got to his house he was already showered, shaved, and dressed...makes the time frame even more unrealistic! Then him, Sara, and I went to have dinner at Ricks Pizza. Eric had plans to go riding with my dad and a few other people the next day. We were discussing how he still needed to get his quad running and how he was running out of time and had already ran out of daylight. I suggested that he call my dad to make sure they were going so that he didn't work on his quad in the dark for nothing. He kept putting it off and saying he would call him later. We got back to his house and he quickly went to the back yard where he stayed for a while and Sara and I went inside. He came back in and showed me a text between him and my dad that said Eric- "Do you want to go riding tomorrow?" my Dad- "No i have to work sorry". But there was another message above that from my dad that said " It is just me and you". I asked Eric about it and he said "that wasn't today" so I pointed out the date/time and said "Today is June 6th...that was sent on June 6th". He just looked confused so I said "He must have been talking about riding...that it would just be the two of you?" Eric- "Ya...that's what he meant".................Come to find out this is the night Eric asked my Dad for my hand in marriage.
           It was Eric's birthday this past Saturday, the 14th. He has been wanting to go to the Sierra Hot Springs so I planned a one night trip for Saturday, complete with a couple's massage. We went grocery shopping the night before and had decided to pick something up that was simple for breakfast that we could eat at a stop on the way there. Cereal, bananas, and yogurt seemed easy enough. We were in the cereal isle and had decided on Honey Nut Cheerios. I was raised on "name brand" cereal...Cocoa Puffs (YUM!), Cheerios, Lucky Charms....but while living on my own I became very aware of the fact that the "off brands" tend to be about $2-3 cheaper and typically taste very similar. When eric went to grab the "Honey Nut Cheerios" he seemed surprised with the $4 price tag so I suggested we go for the off brand. If you know Eric then you know he has no problem with improvising, like making a cutting board out of his rolling work cart while we were camping, and he is definitely the money saver in the relationship, so I found it a little odd that he was concerned about them tasting the same. I assured him they would taste fine and we moved on.

           The next morning we hopped in the truck at 8am. I, being the "always expecting it" girlfriend had tried on several outfits that morning. IF something happened I of course wanted to look good. After a few different outfits I came to the realization that "Christina, you ALWAYS expect it and it never happens. It is his birthday! He's not going to propose on HIS birthday! You won't be able to enjoy the weekend if you get your hopes up just to get them crushed...again. Just wear something warm and comfortable, but a little bit cute...you know... just in case!" The whole way there Eric talked...A LOT! I really didn't think anything of it, but looking back I now know he was really nervous! We got off at Donner Lake and drove around looking for a spot to have our "picnic". There were SO many cabins that Eric was getting worried about finding a place. We also noticed that it was 29 degrees outside!!!! BBBUUURRRR!!! We finally found a little park and decided to sit at one of the tables that was on the sand a few feet from the water. I had pulled out the bowls and since it was windy I suggested that they would need milk or cereal to hold them down. I went back to the bag to get something else and noticed that Eric was just standing there, not filling the bowls. I was a bit irritated that things were flying and he was just standing there. I grabbed the cereal box and opened it up, not noticing that the box was unsealed. When I went to open the bag I noticed something inside.

(Now I kow why he was concerned about the "off brand" box!)

My first thought was "they still put prizes in cereal?! And OFF BRAND cereal!?". I quickly realized that it wasn't a prize and asked "what's this?". He said "I don't know. Open it." I opened it up and this is what I saw!

He got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. Of course I said "NO WAY! You're crazy!!! We have only been together for NINE years!!! Give me at least 20!!". Ok, ya right! I said "Yes" and jumped up and down and didn't even wait for him to put the ring on. I put that ring on faster than he could say "will you marry me?"! hahahaha!!!! We quickly ate our cold cereal which made us even colder, didn't even touch the yogurt or bananas, I made him take two quick pictures and we quickly got back in the truck to stay warm while we made our phone calls. I wouldn't let him drive anywhere because I didn't want to loose service :)

        Poor guy....I think he regrets his decision to propose on his birthday. We enjoyed our....different... experience a the hot springs but I couldn't help but bring up wedding plans every once in a while. I really tried to make it all about him and I think I did pretty good considering he had just made me the happiest girl in the world and knowing I only have a few months to plan a wedding that I have been dreaming about for YEARS! Just a funny little story.... We went for our massages and they asked us if there was anything they should know. I knew Eric wouldn't speak up so I mentioned that his shoulder had been bothering him. They asked if there was anything more and I couldn't help myself, "It's his birthday and we just got engaged today!" HAHA!! After they left I looked at Eric and pointed out that the first people we told in person were our massage therapists!!!!

(See my future husband in the background!!??)

         Sunday night Eric's mom and step-dad threw him a birthday dinner. It ended up being more like an engagement party! The boys went outside while the girls talked all about weddings! Like I said, he probably regrets asking me on his birthday. Today, Monday (Eric had suggested I take it off work since he also had it off) we went looking at wedding venues. Boy! There's A LOT to do in the next few months!!! I start school tomorrow, I'm planning a wedding, and we will need to find a place to live! CRAZY right?! It will all be worth it!!!!! I can't believe that I'm actually engaged!!!! There is so much more I could write but, needless to say, I am very tired!

A New Year

It has been more than a week since we celebrated the New Year and it seems like just yesterday we were all worried about the world ending on 1/1/2000. In fact, it feels like ever since that New Years Eve all we have been doing is waiting for the next day that has been determined to be the end of the world. Now, of course, I know that only GOD knows when the world will end and I would prefer to leave it as some unknown far away date. Point being, time flies by faster and faster each year I get older.
            2011 was a good year. Some of my closest friends and I started a Bunco group. We held strong the whole year, meeting once every month to eat good food, roll dice, win great prizes, and of course chit chat with the some of the most awesome ladies in Lodi!

(This was our first month...a bit has changed since this picture)

      One of the biggest highlights of 2011 was the birth of the first baby of our group. Ryan and Nicole Kidd welcomed the cutest bundle of Kidd on January 28th! He comes to all of our gatherings, even if its just for a couple of hours, and he is definitely the most popular at any occasion. Every time I see him he gets even cuter!

(Isn't he the cutest?!)

       Another highlight of the year was X-Fest. We had a big group this year and I can't wait to see what X-Fest 2012 will bring.

      It was a big year for my parents who celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary. We threw them a surprise "wedding reception" complete with some of our closest friends and family, a limo, and even a wedding cake!

      I should of course also mention that I ran my first 5K! Okay, so I ran/walked but at least I made an effort! I have to blame this one on Jacci and Nicole. Jacci was our motivation and Nicole is the one that roped us all in! Nicole's sister, Kim, put on the first annual Ignite the Fight 5K in Chico and it was quite the success. I'm glad I participated but this might be the only 5K I will attempt every year.

       A big decision was made in 2011. At 25 I decided, or should I say God decided, that I should return to school to become a registered nurse. I moved back in with my parents at the end of the year and in about a week I start this crazy adventure.
       We ended the year with a bang! 3 of the girls in our Bunco group got engaged. Gina, Megan, and Katie. With Kat, who got engaged earlier in the year, that makes 4 of our players "Brides to Be".  I am so excited for all 4 of them and can't wait for the wedding planning to begin!

      2012. Where should I start? This will be a year to remember! I am going to be an AUNTIE!!!! James and Jacci are expecting their first baby in July. I sure hope he/she gets more of Jacci's genes ;) ! Although James was a very cute kid with those blonde curls! I am very excited to spoil my niece or nephew.

     We will be continuing our Bunco group and we are starting the year off great with a FULL group of 12 players! We have decided to make every month themed so it should be interesting to see what everyone will come up with.
      As I mentioned, I will be starting school and with that means that I will be working part time. I have worked since I was 16 (a real job) and have worked full time since I was 18. I am very accustomed to having my own money, and enough of it to have fun. This whole part time business will be very hard to get used to money wise but I'm pretty excited to be away from work 2 out of the 5 days of the week. This year will definitely be a humbling year.
        Another friend of mine, Beth, is also expecting a child. This will be her third. She has one girl and one boy and we are hoping for twins this time around! She wants twins because her and her husband think it would be tons of fun! I, on the other hand, want her to have twins because what are the chances that both, her and I, would have twins? And I am one person who dreads the possibility of having twins. One crying, hungry, dirty diapered bundle of joy is plenty for me! Multiply that by two and a crying, hungry, dirty diapered bundle of joy becomes two opposite scheduled nightmares! I know, I know...just for this the good Lord will "bless" me with twins....or worse! So you go for it Beth!!! I'm praying for those twins!!!
        Wow....I just realized that this year Eric and I will celebrate our TEN year "dating" anniversary. That's a little crazy if you ask me!!!
        I'm sure I have left out many memories and upcoming memory makers but I think this is enough for my first blog of 2012. I hope you all have a wonderful, safe, and healthy 2012!!!!

Tis the Season

    
    Christmas came very fast this year as I'm sure most everyone would agree! I miss my younger years when summer vacations seemed SO long and Christmas took FOREVER to come. Now a days time just flys by. It seems as though before you can even pack away your Christmas decorations it's time to pull them out again...oh wait, maybe that's because I JUST packed away my Christmas tree in NOVEMBER! Yes that's right people...my fake Christmas tree was on display for 11 months. Every time I opened my closet door there it was, reminding me that it desperately needed a box that it would fit into.
      Another reason it might feel like it came much quicker this year is because I had a Christmas event every weekend in December. The first Friday of December was the Zeiter Eye O.R. Christmas party at Steve and Becky's. There was delicious food (including my now requested spinach and artichoke dip), a thieving gift exchange, and a few good games of pool in their wine/game cellar basement.
     Next was the Zeiter Eye Company party on the 2nd Friday. These are always a blast. We ate a DELICIOUS steak and enjoyed the open bar. There was a DJ so of course there was plenty of dancing involved. Every year we walk away with great stories!

         The next Saturday my parents hosted a family get together with my moms side of the family. If I'm counting right (I counted twice) there were 41..FORTY ONE..people at their house!!! You should have seen us try to take our group picture. Sure it went pretty smoothly for the first few shots but just when everyone scattered it was realized that there wasn't a card in the camera and we were all summoned back to our places. We had an ornament exchange. It was especially fun to watch Mike steal several ornaments from Greg! It was so great to see everyone!

        Of course the weekend after that was Christmas!! I had Friday and Monday off work which gave me plenty of prepare and recovery time. Christmas Eve was started with gift opening between Eric and I. He got me a very good smelling perfume and an I-Tunes gift card. After that we went to Brandy (Eric's cousin) and Tim's house. It was really nice to see everyone but we couldn't stay very long because we had dinner at my parents that evening. Larry and Marie joined us for dinner. Christmas morning my parents and I had Christmas morning casserole and opened our presents. I got tons of great stuff including an otter box for my phone, a book bag for school, leg warmers, and boots. I left that to meet some of Eric's family at his grandparents for coffee and donuts. Then we went to Matt and Nicole's to see Scott's side of the family. I snuck out while they were sitting down to eat and went back to my parents to open gifts with my brother, Jacci, and my parents. Then my grandpa Herb, GL, and Irene joined us for a prime rib dinner. I later went back to Matt and Nicole's to play games. We played Taboo and my team won. It was so exciting and fun!
        The whole month of December was very busy, especially Christmas weekend!! I enjoyed every moment and I'm excited to do it all again next year...although I hope it takes a little longer to get here!!!
I hope everyone else enjoyed their Christmas as well.