Less Than 2 Weeks Left!!

I am now getting so excited I can hardly stand it. There are about 12 and half days left until Nate and I get married! Wow! It's going to be amazing and I'm so giddy it's ridiculous. This also means that I have a very busy couple of weeks ahead of me. This past week started off with all of the last minute busyness. I got my official bridals taken last Wednesday and I cannot even tell you how amazing this photographer was. He is so talented and really has an eye for it! He showed me a couple of pictures just off of his camera right after he took them and they were awesome! He made me look like a model out of a magazine...and that's pretty hard to do...lol. I cannot wait to see the final edits of the pictures! The experience was one to remember too. I was supposed to get them done on Tuesday last week, but due to the really disgusting dusty, windy weather, we had to postpone it. Thankfully we were able to work something out on Wednesday (I had to rush home from work and hurry and do my hair and makeup...which turned out only average...and then rush off to meet him in my dress). Mom came down to help me out (THANKS MOM!!!!) and drove me where we needed to be since my dress took up half the car...lol. It was freezing outside but at least we had some sun and a little less wind than the day before. In a couple pictures there were some snowflakes falling down....nice thing to have for a spring wedding :). Mom also had to hurry and grab a bouquet of roses from the store so that I had a bouquet in the pictures. We didn't even cut the stems or the thorns off so I got poked quite a bit. But depsite me being frozen, purple, poked, and looking only average, the pictures he showed me were amazing! Ten times better than the ones that were in that link I posted...no offense to them. Seriously, this guy is amazing and I can't wait to see what our wedding pictures look like! It was so fun! For the rest of the week Nate and I pretty much finished our slideshow and music playlist, wrote our song, started packing to move, waited to hear from Boeing, went shopping for stuff we needed, saw Horton Hears a Who (which we loved!! so cute!!), and started printing pictures for the frames at the reception. So it was pretty busy but we got a lot done. By the way, Nate will be receiving an offer for a project manager kind of job at Boeing in Seattle tomorrow. We don't know any details yet so we are dying to get it so we will know what exactly they want him for, when they'd want him, and how much they're going to pay him. His interview up in Seattle went really well and they really liked him. I'm so proud of him! He's so amazing! I'm so so so blessed to be marrying such a wonderful and talented man! So we'll see what they say tomorrow! Who knows, we could be moving to Seattle right after the honeymoon! Crazy stuff! Don't know what we'd do about our Springville contract but I guess everything will work out. So anyways, this week is also going to be very busy. We got our temple recommends today (yay!) and so Tuesday Mom and I will be shopping for temple stuff. Then Thursday and Friday I'll be graduating and Mom and Dad and Nate's family will be there. Then Saturday I will be receiving my endowment at the Mount Timpanogas Temple...I can't believe it! Crazy! During all of this I have to pack up all my stuff, deep clean the apartment, and move everything out since my contract ends and we have cleaning checks...plus I have work Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday all day. This should be interesting...lol. Then next week is the week of the wedding and there will be plenty to do! I'm so excited about it!!! I also can't wait for the bridal shower. The invitations were so cute and Jayla is so amazing!!! Her and Cathi have put together a great shower and I cannot wait! They are both so great! So I guess these next couple of weeks will have 3 major life-altering events....graduation, endowment, and marriage. It's crazy how these 3 things that will affect the rest of my life and the rest of eternity will all happen within about a week of each other...lol. How exciting! Well I hope everyone is doing well!

Some Bridals

Here is a link to a few bridals that were taken on Saturday. These aren't my official ones but I think some of them turned out really good. Lindsay's husband Noel is trying to start his own photography business and asked me if he could take some of me to enlarge his portfolio. It was really fun and I got some good practice for my real ones on April 15. Hope you like them!

http://www.opticalindulgences.com/amybridal/april52008.html

25 Days Left!!

I can't believe how fast time is flying. There are only 25 days left until I get married and all the stress is beginning to sink in. I really shouldn't be that stressed because I've gotten a lot done early. But for some reason I keep thinking of little things that need to get done. I think I'm trying to make it too "perfect" and I should just let some things be the way they will be. It has been so much fun though! The announcements are now out in the mail (yay!!!) and I'm so excited about them! Jayla did a GREAT job designing them and the picture Leora took fits them perfectly! She's an amazing photographer! LOTS of thanks to both of them! Look for them in the mail this week! I'm getting really antsy for the wedding to be here. I'm so excited about it! I'm also very excited for the honeymoon! I just found out (well officially found out) that we are going to the Turtle Bay Resort on Oahu in Hawaii!!! I can't believe we'll be going there for a week! It's going to be so nice! We've got plans to go snorkeling, see the Polynesian Cultural Center, see Pearl Harbor, get fresh pineapple from a pineapple plantation, go to the swap meet, and of course plans for some sweet alone time ;). The resort is right on the beach and our room has a balcony that looks over the beach and the ocean. I can't wait to feel the warm Hawaiian breeze and smell the tropical flowers! Paradise is only 25 days away! Yay!!!

In other news, Nate is leaving for Seattle tomorrow because he has an interview with Boeing on Thursday. They are flying him out there and are really excited to meet with him. I don't really know the details of the job except that it has to do with computer support...lol. I'm really excited for him because it's a big thing that a company like that is so thrilled to meet him and possibly have him on their staff. I hope it goes well for him! Pray for him if you can! I don't know exactly what the Lord wants for us, whether we need to stay here for a little while or we need to move up there. At the moment I don't feel any distress or worry about moving up there or about staying here. In fact, I feel calm about either decision. Maybe that means which ever choice we make is okay. I know the Lord is really blessing us and I think the fact that Nate is being so highly considered for this job is a blessing from Him. One good thing about Boeing is that they offer as part of their benefits the chance to take pilot lessons and get a pilot's license without all of the excessive expense. Nate has always wanted to get his license but it just costs too much so this would be an amazing opportunity for him to fulfill one of his dreams. That would be so great! He's so amazing and definitely deserves it! While he's gone I'll be out doing shopping for wedding stuff with Mom. Hopefully we can get a lot done!

The last thing I want to tell everyone is that I had my first bridal shower this past Saturday. It was a blast!! My old roommates Lindsay and Sam put it on for me. They were so sweet and did so much! They had a tropical theme and made me wear a grass skirt, seashells and a lei....lol. It was awesome. Everyone else got leis too and we had fruit and fruit dip, punch, banana cake, and chips and salsa. We played some cute games and I got some really good gifts! I got lots of stuff for the beach including 2 beach towels, flip flops, sunscreen, 3 cute beach bags, and a sarong. I also got a couple of cookbooks and some bath and body stuff. Of course I got a couple of sets of lingerie and other fun "first night" gifts. It was great! Thanks to all those girls who came and to Sam and Lindsay for making it so wonderful! Anyways, hope conference weekend was great for all of you! If you didn't get the chance to see it or missed a session or two you should definitely get online and listen to it. It was amazing! We have wonderful men leading the Church as apostles and prophets. They truly are men of God! How wonderful to be able to get direction and guidance like this! Hope everyone is doing great! Love you all!

Love is Wonderful!

I am so in love with Nate. I can't even really describe how I feel. I am so excited to marry him!!!!! We are going to have so much fun together!! He is so wonderful. I LOVE LOVE LOVE HIM!!! We've been so busy with stuff. I've been trying to do everything to prepare. On top of wedding stuff, I also have to do graduation stuff and have a problem with my tailbone I'm trying to figure out with the doctor. I have to go to physical therapy every week now for a few weeks to see if it helps. So far it works for a little bit, but then it begins to hurt again. The doctor says I have two problems, one with my tailbone and one with SI joints at the back of my hip that are not related (supposedly). He gave me inserts for my shoes and I'm trying not to wear high heels or flats as often but that's all I have. My tailbone kills me somedays and I didn't even do anything that I can remember to hurt it. I don't really understand why. There are days when it just throbs and nothing helps. It's the worst when I'm standing a lot or when I'm walking around a lot, like shopping or something. The day after something like that it has really bad repercussions. At church I almost started crying because it hurt so bad. It didn't matter how I sat, even if I took pressure off of it. I hope the doctors can figure this out. So I've been having to schedule doctor's appointments, microderm appointments for my face (doing it to look good for the wedding, wedding appointments, beauty appointments, church stuff, work stuff, etc. The list goes on. I know life is like that for everyone so I'm trying not to complain (too much...lol). But it's also a lot of fun. Yesterday we went and finished registering at Target and then we started at Bed Bath and Beyond. We also got swimsuits for the honeymoon, shopped at Costco, and scanned a BUNCH of pictures for our wedding slideshow at home. We almost finished putting it together today. Luckily Nate has a program on his computer that puts it together for us. We just put the pictures in the order we want them and slip in the music where it want and it does the rest for us. It is so good! I'm so excited about it!!! Nate has been so good about this whole thing. I really wish I could do something for him for being such a good sport. In fact we went to the Paul Mitchell School to get his haircut and told them to do what I wanted. So I had them cut it, texture it, and style it up with styling wax and he looked amazing! He's already so handsome and the haircut totally accentuated it!! I got really excited. It was also a blessing that we went because the girl who cut his hair was asking if we had been looking for a place to live. We have been and still hadn't found anything. She told us that her and her husband were renting out their place in Springville (perfect location), fully furnished (perfect!), for the summer while they're out doing this sales job they do out East (perfect!). They had some friends who were going to rent it but they had just barely bailed out that day and were going to advertize it on craiglist.com. It was perfect timing! So the next day we went and looked at it and it is SOOOO nice! It's a main level condo in a really nice complex. It was built in 2001 and the couple painted it and put in cute carpet and everything. It has a clean air filter, central vac, one car garage, one bedroom, one bath, a patio, washer and dryer, cable, internet, a nice large kitchen, and a great view of the mountains! The complex has a clubhouse with a pool and it's a neighborhood of young couples. It's right by the freeway, close to Wal-mart, a lot closer to where we both work, AND comes fully furnished and SOOO cute!! They're even going to leave their TV, love-sac, etc. Rent will cost $700 and utilities are a little less than $100 depending. It's exactly what we've been looking for and we are syked about it!! It was such a blessing. After we saw it, Nate and I prayed about it. I felt completely good and Nate said a voice came into his head saying that these people were put in our path for a reason. So that's the news so far. Hope everyone is doing great! I love you all!!

My How Time Flies!

I can't believe it's almost March! This year is going by so fast and yet
so slow at the same time. It's Nate's fault though because he's the one
that always reminds me of the countdown to our wedding day :). I only
like counting down when it's closer to the day, otherwise it makes it
seem like it's taking forever. As of today there are 72 days left. I'm
really excited and really nervous at the same time. I'm seriously going
through these weird back and forth feelings. I have no question or doubt
in my mind that this is right, but I have days where I get a little
scared and then I'll have days when I wish the day was today! My whole
life I have been waiting for this day and now that it's here it's really
hard to believe. I'm actually going to be married and I will actually be
having children. This isn't a dream anymore. It's real. I think today is
a scared day so this blog may sound sort of depressing. I don't want to
give anybody the wrong idea though. I love Nate so much! He is an
amazing person! He really loves me and I can see it now in everything he
says and does. We have so much fun together. Oh my gosh I laugh just
thinking about all of our silly moments. I think when I start getting
scared like this I need to just stop, take a deep breath, and realize
how lucky I am and all the great things that are now in store for me.
I'm going to have my own family! I'm going to have sons or daughters or
both! I get to play with them, teach them, help them, comfort them, hold
them, love them and have so much fun with them. It will be my family. My
Jackson family. Yay!!!!! Okay enough of all the highs and lows of my
emotions...lol. The wedding planning is going great! I have been so
lucky in all of this planning. Everything has gone so smoothly and on
schedule. I got the photographer, the church, the decorator, and my
dress all planned and bought within the first couple of weeks of the
engagement. It has been a blast! I've also been so lucky to have my mom,
Jayla, Cathi, Lindsay, Alissa, Leora, Valerie, and Christy helping me
out so much with everything. Mom has hooked us up with a caterer in
their ward that is going to give us a great deal. The food is so good
too! I'm so excited! She's also been out cake shopping for me as well.
Haven't found a cake person yet so if anyone knows of a good cake
decorator let me know! Mom has been so great and willing to do whatever
I have asked to do! Jayla has been really supportive in giving opinions
and helping Cathi plan the bridal shower with the family on May 2. She's
also doing my invitations and favors and things. So exciting! Cathi's
helped me with several different things including opinions and the
bridal shower. Lindsay is planning the bridal shower in Provo with my
friends on April 5. Alissa has helped with bridesmaid stuff and
bachelorette party planning. Leora has been so great to be willing to
take our engagement pictures in March. Valerie, Nate's Mom, has been so
great! She's been planning the whole open house in Seattle and has been
willing to do whatever I have needed her to do for the wedding and
reception here. The reception is going to be so wonderful and beautiful!
Our decorator is amazing and will make the church look great. There's
also going to be great food and desserts (we're having an amazing
dinner, cake and a chocolate fountain!!). Nate has also been a big help.
He's already planned and paid for the honeymoon, which is going to be so
amazing!! I don't even know where it is yet because Nate is keeping it a
secret, but I know that he spent A LOT of money and that it's somewhere
beautiful. I'm so excited!! My last vacation was to California for the
Hoggan reunion and I was in a hotel with Mom and Dad...lol. I have a
feeling the honeymoon will be a million times better!! :D I'm starting
my birth control on March 1. It's going to be so weird taking birth
control...lol. Anyways, Nate has also been really faithful about looking
for apartments/housing for us to live in. Haven't really found anything
yet, but I think there will be more when it gets closer to May. We're
wanting to move out of Provo. We've been here for too long. If anyone
knows of any place that's up for rent south of Provo let me know! I work
south of Provo in Payson, that's why we want to live down that way for
now. So basically everything is going great. I love being engaged and I
think being married is going to be even better! I'm so excited!! Yay!!!

I'm Engaged!!

This is it! It really happened! Nate and I are getting married on May 3, 2008 in the Salt Lake Temple and I'm so excited I can hardly stand it. I've already told you all but I thought it would be good to get some pictures of us and the ring on here. The ones of us aren't great but they work for the time being. Mom took pictures of us the night it happened but I haven't put those on my computer yet. They are cute, but not the greatest either. My makeup was all running because I was crying and our faces were all red from the snow. I didn't even get a chance to really do my hair that day either...lol...figures. I'll put those up later. These ones are just some fun ones we took at Nate's apartment and they give you a really good idea of what the ring looks like. We took it with the wedding band on as well so that's what I'll be wearing once we're married. Right now I'm just wearing the engagement ring. It is SO beautiful and I LOVE it!! Hope you all enjoy the pictures! If you have any suggestions or advice please let me know! Thanks!

It's Over!

Well, that's it folks. It's officially over. I am now a college graduate! :) It's funny because I don't really feel any different and I don't feel like I know anything more than I knew before. In some ways I feel even less knowledgable than I did before. I definitely learned a lot but I just don't remember any of it...lol. There's just so much to know and so much to learn that a college degree really doesn't mean a whole lot. Great, I have a piece of paper now that says I know all of these things about the humanities and about music. But really I only know a fraction of all there is know about those things. Don't get me wrong. I am so grateful for all of the things have learned and that I will be able to take with me throughout my life. I truly have been enlightened and maybe not so much in facts and theories. Rather, I have been enlightened in how to become a better human being. I have learned to be more patient, tolerant, humble, involved, giving, and understanding. Even though I've been at BYU, which has the reputation of being a "bubble," I really have learned a lot about other peoples' views and about the world (yes there are people with varying views and beliefs at BYU). My testimony has been tried and strengthened and I've learned that I need to not be so gullible and that professors are not all-knowing. I can't always take what they say as the gospel truth. I've learned that I can only know truth through the confirmation of the Spirit. That is the only way to truly discern truth from lies. I've learned to be open to what others have to say and at the same time still hold fast to what I believe. I've learned that sometimes we have to do things we hate in order to progress and become better. I've also learned that I have a LONG way to go to become the person I really want to be. So I've decided that a college education is completely about knowing the material on the tests. It is also about finding out who you are and how you are going to go about living in this world, deciding what part you will play. I have decided that I am going to play my part as best as I can. I want to be part of making the world a better place!

As a sidenote, I just wanted to say that Christmas was wonderful! It was so nice to be home and have Nate there with me. We had fun relaxing and playing. He was really excited about the GPS system he got for Christmas from his secret lover ;)....lol. I got earrings, a scrapbooking kit to scrap my graduation, gloves, a 1 GB SD card for my camera, a battery charger, the 5th Harry Potter movie, chocolate, and a couple of gift certificates to go shopping from my parents and Nate. I'm really excited about shopping! Nate and I also got the Pirates of the Caribbean DVD Treasure Hunt game from Mom and Dad. All in all it was great! Hope you all had a wonderful holiday as well!