Abby & Brandon’s Blog

So much to our surprise…we were in the Echo Press paper much sooner than anticipated.  At least sooner than I anticipated.  So I’m very sorry for not informing anyone.  Anyway, here’s the link if you’re interested!

http://www.echopress.com/articles/index.cfm?id=63896&section=weddings

Well the invitations went out and let the fun begin!

Abby and I spent a lot of time on those invitations working out all the details and finally getting them printed (only after a few attempts of printing did we end with the final versions!).  A special thanks to our dear friend Toni Edwards, who graciously designed the invitations for us and worked with my critical eye and desire to see many alterations!  Thank you Toni, they are beautiful and wonderful!  Also, a huge thank you to my soon-to-be mother-in-law, Suzie, for spending a good amount of time with addressing the envelopes for us.  I wasn’t allowed to address, since my handwriting is well…not as good as the outside of the invitations are!

The RSVP form is up, but I’m working out the last little issues and will hopefully have it solved very shortly.  In the mean time, either respond by mailing the card back, or check back soon!

We look forward to having you join us on our wedding day and celebrating this wonderful event with us!

-Brandon J.

Well things have been rolling along as we prepare for our wedding and graduating from school!

The invitations headed out the door yesterday, on their way to our friends and family. Everyone always asks how wedding plans are coming and I’m sort of at a place where we are doing little things but there is nothing big going on. All the big things are set and ready to go. We have the church, the reception hall, the tuxes, the dresses, the flowers, the invitations, and most of the centerpieces.

Our next big thing will be the ceremony. We basically have it ready to go but we will go over a couple more times making sure it’s how we want it to be. Then we can get those ready and sent to the printer. We are also working on our centerpieces, making sure we have everything we need and then getting it prepared. The wedding is coming soon!

Almost one month ago Brandon and I got in a car accident. God has been taking this time to stretch us in our faith and our patience! It wasn’t until yesterday that Brandon started driving his own car.

God is so faithful. He did amazing things while we waited for a new car. He always provided Brandon with a ride (his roommates were wonderful) he opened up the door so Brandon could purchase a new car and so many other little things. We are so thankful that Brandon finally has a car to drive, one that is actually his. Praise God!

Well the day is beckoning to me, so until next time!

Well time is just flying by! Spring Break has come and gone and suddenly we only have 2 months left until we are married!!

We have been plugging away at all the wedding stuff, lots of little details. The invitations are the next big thing. We are having a little invitation party on Saturday and sending them out Monday! YAY!

Our first shower is this Sunday. It’s the church shower and it is co-ed. I’m so excited to spend time with people and of course see the wonderful things people have gotten for us for the start of our life!

We have some other major things in our life. A couple weekends ago Brandon and I were in a car accident. Thankfully we weren’t hurt but the car didn’t make it We are in the process of finding a new vehicle. God is really teaching us patience and trust in Him. He is taking us day by day, providing for us like His word promises. It sure is a stretch of faith!

We also leased an apartment for our future! We get the keys this week and we can start bringing our excess stuff there We are also going to be painting which will be a blast! We have been working on picking out the new colors and finding some bedding to match.

I got an internship and a job to start in May! I’m so excited and so thankful. It is a perfect fit for me. No weekend work and a really wonderful couple to work with. I won’t be taking photos, but I will be assisting in the camera room and helping with all the shoots which will give me a lot of time to observe!

Brandon and I had our engagement photos taken which was SO MUCH FUN! Joe and Ashley Schoenack are wonderful photographers. Visit their website at www.visionaristudio.com  We did the photos and then went out to eat with them. It was such a great night!

Well this was a lot of little tidbits to catch you up on everything that has been happening. Hopefully in the next weeks I can find a little more time to blog on here!

Last weekend we had a wedding stresser for the first time since we were trying to find a reception site.

My dear friend called me and told me that the flowers we have for our bridal party bouquets didn’t really match with the bridesmaid dresses we had ordered (3 of which we had already received). So I went over to her house to see for myself and definitely had to agree that they really didn’t go that well together. So we thought we would head over to David’s Bridal (thankfully I was in the Cities) and see what other colors they had.

At David’s Bridal you are allowed to change the color of your dresses for free if you need to as long as they are the same style or price. SO we checked out a couple different greens and didn’t find anything, but we did find some nice purples that we liked. Toni was wonderful and she tried them on for me so we could see the color on skin tone and with the flowers.

After picking out a new purple we headed up to the desk only to find out that 3 of the dresses wouldn’t come in until the week before our wedding!! I felt that this would be too stressful so I didn’t want to go with that color. We looked at another color as well and these ones would come in a bit sooner but one style of the dress didn’t come in that color! (all the girls have different styles, same color).

I was starting to feel stressed out at this point and got rather crabby (sorry Brandon). I called my mom to bounce some ideas off of her and to just take a break from looking. After I got off the phone we left the store and sat in the mall for a bit just taking some time to be out of David’s Bridal and to discuss the options.

Toni and I went back in and I talked to one of the employees who assured me of a few things and after a little more deliberation we decided to go with a rich purple called Regency (in case you want to see it on the website).

It was all very stressful and overwhelming at the time, but now I am very happy with our decision! I love the color and so do all the girls which is great. Thank you Brandon and Toni for being patient and helping me out with the decisions!

Our wedding plans are coming along so well and I’m so excited! It’s 3 months from today! YAY! There will be more stresses to come I’m sure, but God has sure blessed us with a smooth engagement and easy wedding planning. I’m praying that He will continue blessing us with another peaceful 3 months.

Until next time!

“God is good” is one of my favorite lines! And this week is a week to praise God!

Brandon has been faithfully searching for a full-time job for the past couple months. He has had some ups and downs, but I’m so proud of him for continuing his search, knocking on doors waiting for God to open one. 

Well the news is good, he was offered a job!! It’s amazing to watch what this has done to Brandon. I know this has given him much more comfort about our marriage. So praise the Lord for this wonderful blessing.

I have also been blessed this week with an internship opportunity. It is in the Cities and there would be a job for 6 months after that. It would be great! We are setting up a time for an interview, but it sounds good! Keep it in your prayers!

As for our wedding…not too many new things. Our invitations are in process, we are waiting on samples so we can make a decision on who to go with.

Any Advice? I need an idea for wedding party gifts. The girls are each wearing different dresses so jewelry is sort of out, unless I buy each one catered specifically to their needs. But if you have any ideas, let me know!!

This is my first time blogging I’m excited about it…which I’m not sure I should admit. Most of this is gonna be about wedding preparation, but I’m sure I’ll throw in a few other things.

On Sunday Brandon and I registered. I was insanely excited about it, imagining all the fun we would have picking out things for our new life. If anyone has registered before I’m sure they know what is coming next.

IT WAS STRESSFUL!! I got tired out almost instantly. When you actually have to pick things out it is hard to decide, what brand, what size, what color, etc. Thankfully I have Brandon. He is quite good at just picking something and moving on. Thank you honey

We registered at Target first. My favorite part was registering for games. It wasn’t hard to pick and choose.

We registered at Herbergers as well. They have rather ancient scanners and they had to fix it twice before it started recording what we wanted. Thankfully we hadn’t gotten very far. It was quite easy to pick and choose here. I think I don’t find their things nearly as cute and fun as I do at Target. Whatever the case we finished up there quickly and headed out to a superbowl party. I’m glad we have taken care of our registering…now I’m excited to see what we will get

Did anyone watch the superbowl? I’m usually not interested in football, but I really got into the game. I was definitely yelling at the TV. There was a lot of good food. Chili, salmon, cheese and crackers, chips, pretzels, and swiss cake rolls!! mmmm yummy! Unfortunately the Stealers won, I was hoping for the Cardinals, but it was still a great game.

Then the best part. THE OFFICE! 1 whole hour! If you don’t watch The Office you should definitely start

Well I think this will conclude my first blog. A little boring, but well that is life And I couldn’t be more thankful for it!

Have a wonderful week!

Hey Everyone,

Abby and I thought we would set up this blog to help anyone see what we’re doing and what we’re up to!

I am pretty confident Abby will be posting most of the entries here, but you might see some from me occasionally.

Enjoy!

-Brandon