Graduate

I got my diploma in the mail last week so I feel like an official graduate! It's amazing how one piece of paper can give you such a sense of accomplishment. Since BYU doesn't have a graduation ceremony in December, Bergen and I will get to walk together in April.

Graduating has been an interesting change for me. Up to this point, I always had a plan as to what was next in life for me. Now, I'm learning to adjust to life after college and make new plans and goals. The job search has been a difficult process but it has given me the opportunity to really look at what I want in life and set my priorities. I've learned a lot about myself and really appreciated all of Bergen's pep talks and support. Last week, I did get a job offer for a position on the SEO team of a online marketing company and am excited to put my degree to use.

Cake Caitlyn made tonight.

This is an excellent recipe. Caitlyn made it tonight when we ate at her sister's house for dinner. It was all around good cooking tonight. Try this recipe though, it's amazing cake.

Some of the things we like to do together!

Some of the fun things Caitlyn and I like to do.

We have certain television shows we like to watch. We like The Office, 30 Rock, Parks and Recreation, Modern Family, Outsourced, Glee and No Ordinary Family. Sometimes we have to watch them a couple days later on Hulu but we always catch up.

We enjoy food. We do a lot of cooking, and when I say we I mostly mean Caitlyn. She is such a good cook. We enjoy going to the store, planning out meals and making cookies. I made Caitlyn a cookbook for christmas. I will have to post another blog just about about that.

We love antique stores and thrift shops. We go to the D.I. more than once a week. We just like looking at other peoples garbage. We talk about the crummy furniture and how we could make it look nice. We browse the books and small things and look for glass candy dishes for centerpieces for our wedding. We went to a place in downtown Salt Lake a couple weeks ago called Anthony’s Antiques. You had to be be a millionaire to buy their 17th and 18th century french furniture but it was a lot of fun to look at.

We have played racquetball but Caitlyn needs to get a little better to keep up. (sorry babe).

We like going to the mall or furniture stores just to look around and talk about the different styles we like, what we want our house to look like and what colors we like.

We go to church together everyweek. One week in my ward and the other in hers. It’s really nice to go to church with Caitlyn.

These are just a couple of the things we like to do together. :)

Bergen's Ring

Today I bought Bergen's ring! After checking out the selection at a few different places around we ended up back at Sierra West where he bought my ring. We wanted to find something that was similar in color to mine and incorporated milgrain. With tungsten being so popular right now, our selection seemed a bit limited. We had been in to Sierra West a few times before but the sales guy today seemed to know exactly what we were looking for. The first ring he pulled out was a palladium band with a hammered finish and milgrain around the edge. When Bergen put it on, I knew that was it!

 The nice thing about palladium is since it is in the platinum family, it will keep its silver color without having to have the rhodium replated (like white gold rings do). It's also a pretty durable metal. What sold me on the ring was the detail of the hammered finish and milgrain edging. It just looked so nice compared to the other rings we had been considering.

Quick plug for Sierra West: Our entire experience with them--everything from looking at rings and purchasing them to going in and getting mine cleaned-- has been great. The salesmen are very  knowledgeable, friendly, and very helpful. I would definitely recommend them to anyone in the area looking to buy jewelry.

Another thing I can cross off my to do list...

Center of Attention

Bergen and I have a few favorite cheap dates, namely going to Costco to get hot dogs and going to DI. A couple of weeks ago while we were at DI, inspiration struck and we began gathering things for our centerpieces. We got 5 large vases and 4 small vases for flowers and 5 vintage looking candy dishes to be filled with purple candies. For $14 we got enough glassware for half of our tables!

I wanted to get something to give the different pieces various heights and had seen on some blogs where people used old books to do that. We went back to DI the following day in search of books. As we were going through the shelves, Bergen found some books that matched the purples in our colors. We began looking for more, at which point I got a little distracted by another book, and when I turned around Bergen had an entire stack of purple books. At the register he asked the cashier if we could get a discount and we walked out of DI with a great deal and success once again.

I found the frames at Ikea which is another one of our favorite cheap dates. Swedish meatballs anyone? I'm planning on putting a picture of us or the Seattle temple in them. I just thought they looked really cool and I liked how you can see the picture from both sides.

I found the little "k's" at Hobby Lobby and am going to spray paint them green.

We're still in search of candy dishes and small vases. Last weekend we went to three different DI's in the area and couldn't find anymore. But, I think if we keep checking back over the next few weeks something will turn up. If you see any, let us know. I found some online and at Hobby Lobby so I can get them there if we can't find them at DI.

Bridesmaids' Dresses

Picking my bridesmaids was easy. Finding their dresses however, I felt would be another story. After seeing the trouble my sisters and friends had trying to find bridesmaids’ dresses I knew I needed to start looking right away. It seemed that could very well be the hardest part of planning a wedding. You have to make sure they come in everyone’s size, they match your wedding colors, they’re flattering and modest, and they’re within the budget. I was looking online and stumbled across these dresses at Nordstrom. I knew when I saw them that they would be perfect.

When they came in the mail I was so excited! I don’t know what it is about getting a package, I’ve always thought it’s pretty exciting—I guess it doesn’t take much to please me. And to add to it, this package was the first, tangible thing (other than my engagement ring) that I had gotten for the wedding. I was a little worried that the color would match since I ordered them online with out seeing them but when I opened the box, the dresses were perfect! Mission accomplished!

The Beginnings of a Wedding

As of today, we only have 90 days to go and the wedding plans are underway!

Might I just say, there are a lot of wedding ideas out there! My mom has been teasing me that I may not always know exactly what I want, but I always know what I don’t want. After hours of looking at wedding blog after wedding blog and flipping through the pages of various wedding magazines for inspiration we’ve decided to go with a vintage chic theme for the wedding.

We picked out the wedding colors when Bergen came to visit me at home during the Christmas break. We had gone to a few different craft stores looking for ribbons or fabric swatches and after being told that I was just too picky, we ended up going to Home Depot where I found paint chips in the purples and green which were exactly what I had in mind.

Bergen and I went to a wedding expo at Thanksgiving Point a few weekends ago. He’s such a good sport and we had a lot of fun checking out all the different booths and vendors. In between filling up on crepes, Italian sodas, ice cream, candies, and other samples, we snuck into a few photo booths, entered drawings, and got some good ideas.

I’ve really enjoyed starting to get things planned with Bergen. One of my favorite things about him is his creativity and he has definitely been putting it to use to help me with different things for the wedding. I feel very blessed and happy to have him in my life.

I’ll be better about writing on here to keep you all up to date on the plans. Stay tuned!

Caitlyn