Hey it's lunchtime and I've found a few minutes to quickly give all my loyal blog-checkers a little update. We found out a couple days ago that we can get into our new place in Abbotsford this Friday, so this weekend is officially going to be taken up by moving. We're almost all packed so hopefully everything goes smoothly. I'm excited, I was thinking about how glorious it will be to finally take a bath again! Woot!

So the countdown is on, 3 more days! :)

gotta eat before kids get here!

One day ...

I will have internet... first step is to move... this weekend!

blogs will come, sorry folks

Finally! The Post! (it's really long, beware)

Alright so basically the Friday before the wedding was a complete gong show. First we find out that Jason's best man's tuxedo may or may not arrive by Saturday afternoon. (Wedding was scheduled for 1:30) Apparently it had been sent mistakenly to Kelowna... You know, Kelowna, Coquitlam... I guess they're easy to mix up? They both start with a "K" sound... So they put that tuxedo onto a Greyhound, and they also contacted their head office in Toronto and had one shipped from there. Either way, at that point it still wasn't clear if it would be there or not.

Meanwhile, on the bride's end of things, the decorator/rental lady we were renting dishes, cutlery, and table linens from had not sent her the invoice, despite multiple emails requesting this. These emails were typically responded to with something like "I have down that you wanted cloth napkins, do you still want these?" Well hmm... let me think about that, if you have it down, then YES! Anyways, so finally we get the invoice emailed so that we can write her a cheque for that day when she was to drop off all the items (Because having her set them up and take them down is a whole lot more money) When I got the invoice, I burst into tears... It was more than double her quote. Turns out she didn't even quote us a whole lot of what we'd already talked about when we met at my house in April. Yes, 4 months in advance, and she had the nerve to say "we shouldn't have left it to the last minute" Last minute?!? She was the one who wouldn't reply to my messages. Gahh.. Anyways, advice to future event planners: Ask me for her name and DON'T EVER USE HER...

So while I sat outside and bauled, my mom was yelling at her on the phone, trying to make sense of the quote vs. the invoice. It ended up that we had to cut the cloth napkins, we were going to have no mugs (because neither the quote nor the invoice had them, although she put on both of these "coffee spoons"), and we would have no beautiful brown table runners with smaller champagne runners that we painstakingly picked out in April. Still outside on the bench at my moms, I remember thinking I wasn't supposed to be this sad the day before my wedding... My sister came out and actually gave me a hug (she's not all that outwardly affectionate). That's when she offered to sew table runners if we could find some fabric. Off we went to the fabric store... We checked out the clearance section and lo and behold there was some chocolate brown fabric - enough for a bunch of smaller table runners (we decided on smaller ones for ease of sewing) All in all it was much cheaper than renting! That night my sister became my hero, she sewed about 12 table runners until 2:30 or 3 in the morning, and got up at 7 on Wedding Day and sewed the remaining 8 that morning.
Here's Jocelyn sewing so happily...

And here's Erin cutting out fabric all night...

And of course my Heather, overtired and way too enthusiastic for this picture...


They looked beautiful, it was unbelievable. Which leads me to the other behind the scenes happenings! Lindsey and Mike, two of the greatest decorators I know, worked tirelessly to decorate the hall for the reception. It looked absolutely amazing, and I am truly honored to have friends like them that would work that hard to make our special day that much more beautiful.

Here are the table runners in action!

And here's Martha and "Hard-workin" Hemmerling...


As you can see, I had hot hot people involved...

So after the crazy night of sewing, there was a crazy day full of fun. I could add a lot of pictures but I think I'm going to save some for when I get my professional pictures back. I will add a few though, because a) I know everyone is just dying to see them (yeah right haha) and b) I just like looking at them!

Anyways, the day went so quickly! Before I knew it my hair was done and I was putting my dress on... Here's a great pic of my mom helping me get ready...

After I was all tightened up and ready to go it was time for a mamosa toast with the girls. But not before a quick drink to calm my nerves...

Meanwhile, the groom and his boyz were all washing cars and getting the 2 lifted Samurai's looking pretty with pink and white flowers. I will add that picture soon or at least direct you to that pic on a website once I get them all uploaded... But for now you just picture that in your mind if you weren't there.
I remember standing outside the church auditorium in a line with the girls in front of me. My heart was pounding as I heard the music start, sending the cue to the grandparents and Jason's parents to head down the aisle. My mom was on my right, and my dad was on my left, I had my arms in theirs. My dad was telling me I looked "radiant" among other things and I had to tell him to stop or I would be a complete mess. It was all I could do not to cry. I heard Jason's funky music start (The song from Napoleon Dynamite where Uncle Rico first appears... It's fantastic!) and I knew it was almost time. The girls were each sent down the aisle, looking gorgeous. Then the music faded, and Norah Jones started (Love Me Tender was the song) Then I started down the aisle. I was looking at Jason the whole time but it felt like I was spinning. I was so nervous. I remember breathing in gasps, because I was seconds away from sobbing uncontrollably. Everything went wonderfully... We had our first communion together, which was a great moment to reflect and thank God for bringing us together... Then when we were lighting the candles and signing the registry, my dad, Jocelyn, and Heather sang "Your Everything" by Keith Urban, as planned. When that finished, my dad announced that he had a "special gift" for us, and he and Jocelyn sang a song my dad wrote called "Soul to Soul". He framed it for us and it's hanging in our house.

Finally the time came for us to seal the marriage with a kiss. Jason apparently had forgotten our conversation about this step so as he leaned forward to kiss me, I said "oh just a second" and Erin went behind our beautiful forest foliage backdrop and produced a stepping stool. I stood on this to kiss him (we never usually kiss on level ground anyways, he's just way too tall) and I swear it was the talk of the day...


Then it was picture time... as I said, I'll post a link or something to these when I get them. It was a crazy busy time, but somehow I managed to get a bit of meditation in... some quiet time...


All in all it was a fantastic day (though I was rather relieved when it was over, I was exhausted) and what's even more exciting is that now I have a husband who I love more than anything. I'm so excited to grow together, and for all the adventures we get to share together.

Back in Action!

Woot, ok so I'm back and I'm a married woman. There's obviously a lot to update about, but right now I'm at work, and I'd really like to do a full update with pictures, unfortunately I don't have any here...

I'm waiting for 37 booklets to copy... they're taking forever!!! Oh I failed to mention that each booklet has 67 pages of alphabets to trace, dot-to-dots, and number games. Super cute, but a pain in the bum.

People have asked me if I'm bored now that all the wedding planning is over... not bored ... sometimes I'm not sure what to do with some of the extra time I have now (which is splendid, because I actually HAVE extra time) but we've now switched projects. We will be moving soon, but we're not sure where to yet... We're also currently contemplating buying a condo so that our monthly payments are more of an investment rather than giving someone rent... We'll see how that pans out. We're going to look at a rental place tonight.

Anyways the copy machine is telling me it needs more paper, and there are only 2 more packets to go, so I should tend to it... But just in case anyone was wondering, I'm home, we survived the wedding mayhem and honeymoon adventure, and would be more than happy to hear from people. I will post pics soon :)

Ch-ch-ch-changes! (Yeah David Bowie)

So here I am at work, on my lunch break, finally with some time to blog. I just read Heather's blog and was inspired... I started thinking about the paths that God takes us, and how everything changes - sometimes in big ways and other times in subtle, less noticeable ways... In the past few months I've talked to a handful of old friends: at weddings, through email, or just in passing out in "the world". It's so strange to look back and remember how close we once were. In a safe little world - high school, youth group... All of it now seems so safe. Sheltered even. It's like graduation creates some sort of explosion, propelling people all directions. In a way it makes me sad (I've never dealt with change well) and in another way it makes me excited to see where my friends and I might "explode" to next.

Everywhere I look there are people going through significant life changes. Whether it's weddings, babies, jobs, or relationships, life is constantly changing. It boggles my mind how some people can't see God's hand in it all. It's so obvious! And so exciting...

2 weeks from today...

I'm going to be Amanda Gregor. It still sometimes doesn't seem real to me. I think probably because I'm constantly busy, it doesn't sink in. It's real though when I try on my dress... it suddenly hits me... I'm so excited to be Jason's wife. He makes me laugh... we have so much fun together. He's my best friend. So in 14 days, I'm going to tell him how much I love him, be extremely relieved and no longer stressed to the max, and filled to the brim with joy. I can't wait...

And now the moment you've all been waiting for...

A post from Amanda! Well, sorry folks (if anyone even still checks this thing) I have no computer at my house and when I have time to use the computer at Jason's it's usually rushed. Anyways, I'm still rushed but I thought since Heather posted her children-post I'd post something somewhat related.

So this weekend was yet another marriage. Matthew and Christa Robinson are currently in Jamaica lucky poops. Anyways, so we went up to Ashcroft and it was beautiful, absolutely picture-perfect weather, but not temperature perfect... probably hit about 35 or more during the ceremony. At least the pictures will look hot as in Hawt. ... right, quick post... ok fast forward ... I stayed the night with my mom in a motel and we were meeting a lady for breakfast at 8. So my mom opens the door to the parking lot outside our room and what does she find? A baby in a stroller. She got my attention quickly with her "there's a baby here!" comment, so I came to take a look. Sure enough, the cutest little girl was looking at us with the biggest most beautiful eyes... she was lying in a stroller that had a pink tag on it that said "delivery" I half jokingly asked if maybe it was a delivery for me? Could the stork have dropped this off for me? We stood there playing peekaboo for probably about 5 or 10 minutes, still with no sign of people anywhere. I asked my mom what she thought Jason would think if I showed up at home saying "Look what I found!! Can I keep it??" I told my mom about learning in my courses that in places like Belgium people leave their babies in strollers outside stores and whatnot, with no worries at all. Anyways, my mom and the friend we were meeting for breakfast who had arrived and was as astounded as we were decided to go ask the office whose van it was that that baby was beside, maybe for some clues. When they were gone a woman came walking down the stairs from the upper floor. I asked her "is she yours?" and the lady, not looking overly concerned asked if she was bothering me... I said no, I was just wondering where her family was... Just then my mom and our friend came walking back and we asked where they were from.. sure enough, they were from Austria!! My textbooks actually taught me something!! They proceeded to inform the lady about the dangers of leaving a baby unattended like that, which I think freaked her out a bit, but that's probably not such a bad thing.

All in all, I was a tiny bit disappointed that the stork didn't send me that special delivery, but I guess that's probably a good thing... I'm not on that baby bandwagon quite yet.

Celebrities, Wine, and Feedback

Ahh Mondays, how they lack in any type of fun. I had lots of sleep last night but I'm still exhausted... Probably because of my crazy weekend. Friday night I was all set to go to Sylvia's birthday dinner, when I realized that my wallet was no longer in my purse, and it must be sitting in my cubby in my now-locked-up-for-the-night work... Worse yet, I didn't think I had any co-workers phone numbers. Fortunately for me, God loves me and I found my phone list right away and remedied the sitch' ... I managed to get to the dinner, but I had already missed the food portion of the night. (which comes into play a little later in my tale) Anyways, after some pooling of ideas we decide to go downtown to Bar None in Yaletown. We drive there and find out that even hotties like us gals have to pay $12 to get in. So we change locations and try the Blarney Stone. Well, good luck with that at 10:00 or so on a Friday night. Kristen asked the bouncer how long the lineup was and he said something like "oh 18 feet or so', and when she told us that he said that, I laughed, because hey, that's pretty witty. Anyways, so onward we went, this time to Lotus or something. Cover there was $20 and at 11:00 it would be $22!!! Yikes! We contemplated going to Honey, which was right there as well, and the cover was only $7 but the music coming through that doorway was less than appealing.

So finally we decided to go to a club called Celebrities. We just wanted to dance, and at that point, even a gay bar would do. Yes my dearies, I went to a gay bar. I must say though, it was a very nice venue! Very clean, and hey, no guys hit on me or any of us, which was very nice! We just danced, and I think my favourite part was when they played "Everybody Dance Now". It's a toss up between that and the crazy spotlight that was shining on a cowboys crotchal regions as he danced on stage. SKETCH-tastic! woot.

Anyways, I only had 2 coolers, which is were the lack of dinner came into play. They hit me harder than I wanted to be hit that night. But in the end all was good.

Saturday I got a hot-hot haircut, and I've never had more comments on my hair than this one... Hooray for pastor's wives who can cut hot-hot hair!!

We bottled wine on Saturday as well, which was fun, except for the tasting of wine part. EEuuccchh.... gross-tacular. Heather even gave me a gross glass just to see my face. But not to worry, the wine shall taste good by the wedding.

Later that night was the much-anticipated oscar-winning performance of yours truly. Only Heather thought that I was causing the worship team feedback so she turned my mic off... an ok move I suppose, if only it had turned back on before I went onstage. I have never heard the church quieter, I think everyone was afraid of even the tiniest foot-shuffle interfering with my less-than-booming voice. For the record, it was not my mic that caused the feedback... but I guess even hot professionals like Heather screw up sometimes! :p

Sunday was Mothers day and I spent a bunch of quality time with my Mum shopping and watching Survivor. Good times with Mum, go her! I love my Mommy! :)

Anyways, this was a pretty long post (I'm procrastinating cleaning my house... but I guess it needs to be done...) might as well do that tonight... ick. Can't wait to have a husband to clean for me bahh hahaha

Who Cares?

some people basically suck. and to them I say "who cares?". gaaahhh so frustrated.


hooray for vague-ness

My New Ride!

So yesterday evening we decided to go rummaging in other people's garbage... haha ok so not exactly how it sounds, but when it comes right down to it that's really what we were doing... Each year Coquitlam has a "spring cleaning" garbage pick up. This is obviously a big deal there, I realized how big a deal upon the scout. Stop signs were practically plastered in Garage Sale signs. Basically what happens is the garbage pick up will take a dump run's worth of garbage. People put out old couches, tables, etc. You name it, it was probably on the streets of Westwood Plateau last night. Big screen TV (it's the Plateau after all), computers, and enough lawn chairs to host a very comfortable outdoor concert. (an idea Jason and I tossed around after the 20th house with a stack of 5 or so) Anyways, Jason's truck wasn't working very well so we didn't stay long (plus there were a lot of cars coming and going and doing their own scouting.) The only thing we did stop to get was this amazing bike. I'm talking banana seat, high-rise handlebars, chrome back-fender, and kickstand kind of amazing!! It's a bit rusty but otherwise in decent shape. We're going to shine it up and make it pretty and then I'll post a picture. But wow it sure did bring new meaning to "One person's trash is another person's treasure!" Woot woot!