Jason and Amy

Wedding- Video Clip

2010-07-06T23:49:00.002-04:00

So we didn't want to go through the expense/hassle of hiring a videographer for the wedding...to not have full rights to our wedding ceremony in the end. So for the groomsmen/honorary groomsmen gifts, we gave all of the groomsmen Flip HD Cameras...on the condition that we could use them on tripods during the ceremony to catch different video points. So we have full video from the ceremony that was shot from 4 HD Flip Cams, & our HD hand-held camcorder. The video was then downloaded from the Flip Camcorders during the post-ceremony luncheon (thanks Shawn!). That makes for a lot of video :-)...

Jason put together the following video-montage for us to display at our wedding reception. It was the perfect way to give our friends/families a glimpse into our ceremony, without making people feel like they had to stand there & watch 45 minutes worth of the full ceremony. We have had some issues posting this because all of the clips were shot in HD--which makes for a HUGE video file (that the free upload sites don't like :-p). Even with converting it to a smaller file size, the upload'ers don't like the file. So please excuse our lower-quality video while I try to figure something else out... :-)

Date: 4/10/10

Location: Chapel at Camp Reveal, Evansville, Indiana.

Explanation of music:

1) Adele- To Make You Feel My Love (one of my favorite Bob Dylan songs)- What I walked into the chapel to

2) Ben Harper- Not Fire, Not Ice- Our ceremony/dedication song

3) Pearl Jam- Just Breathe- Used as pre-ceremony music

4) Instrumental version of a Nine Inch Nails song...which I will have to get the info from Jason about, because I honestly forget. it was supposed to be pre-ceremony music, but wasn't played due to a miscommunication in what time the bridal party was arriving to the chapel. It makes a great video-closing song though :-).

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

PS--Did you catch me limping while I was walking? I'm still 99.9% sure I broke my foot the night before the wedding :-/. You can also see that my foot is HUGE in some of the wedding photos. It took the better part of 2 months for my foot to return to "normal"...Just thought I'd point that out.

Calling All Bargain Hunters!: Amy's Favorite 3 Sites for Saving Money Online

2010-07-01T23:30:00.007-04:00

I love getting a good bargain, and I especially hate paying full price. I clip coupons for the groceries. 90% of my clothes were purchased on clearance or while on sale…and I’m proud of that statistic. When I head into brick and mortar stores like Bed Bath & Beyond, I head straight for the clearance section. I have gotten A LOT of great deals there…a $45.00 food mandolin for $9.99, a $200 beautiful king sized Silk Duvet cover for $16 that I converted into couch cushion covers (because that much heavy duty silk would have cost me a TON at a fabric store), just to name a few examples.

So why wouldn’t I take the same approach with online shopping?

So get ready… I’m going to share my top 3 favorite bargain hunting tips for online shopping. :-)

1. Retailmenot.com – Seriously…it’s the best site EVER for promotion codes & coupons for online shopping. I think during the course of buying all the wedding things (stationary, flutes, servers, etc) I saved >$200 in discounts & free-shipping charges. On my oldnavy.com purchase earlier this week this site helped me save over $60.00. One time Jason & I got 2 free MegaBus tickets for a trip to Chicago from a promotion code I found on there. It’s a great set-up. Users can submit promotion codes/coupons they receive in their email/mail, and then anyone can use them. You can then skim the site, & pickup codes for whatever purchases you are making. You don’t have to become a member of the site, the site doesn’t spam you, and it’s wonderful. If for some reason a code doesn’t work—you can let the site know that it didn’t work for you & they will bounce it down farther in the list. Seriously…check it out. Also, have you ever gotten an email from an online retailer & thought “That’s a good deal…too bad I don’t need/want anything right now.” Well, that’s when you can share the love of the promotion code & post it on the site. There are some downsides to the site. Some retailers do not allow “user submissions” of promotion codes/coupons. A couple sites that are coming to mind right now are Bed Bath & Beyond, Crate & Barrel, & Pottery Barn. Bummer, as I love all 3 of those stores. Occasionally these fuddy-duddy stores will still submit their own coupons to RetailMeNot though, so it’s worth a shot still checking before you buy something online.

2. Google Product Search—The site formerly known as froogle. Whenever I am looking for a particular item online that multiple stores sell—this is the first place I head. You can then easily see which online retailers carry the item. Better yet, once you know which retailers have it & what prices they are selling it for, then you can go to Retailmenot.com & find out which online retailer has the best discounts/promotions going on & purchase it from there! That my friend…is a quick/easy way to save yourself some cash.

3. Best Buy Reward Zone Mall—I love Best Buy. I love my gadgets, my music (yes…I still buy CD’s), movies, computers, & all that comes with that store. Thus—I am a Best Buy Reward Zone member, because why wouldn’t I want to earn free Best Buy dollars for the purchases I make? I’m betting a lot of the people reading this also have Best Buy Reward Zone cards…right? Well did you know about the “Best Buy Reward Zone Mall?” Jason & I always try to navigate through this site to different online retailers. Whether you are booking a hotel through hotels.com, booking a flight through priceline.com, ordering a book through Barnes & Nobles or Borders, etc…a lot of these retailers are members of the Reward Zone Mall. Just click through the Mall, select your vendor of choice, & navigate to their site! It’s that easy! When you make your purchase (don’t forget to check for discounts on RetailMeNot.com), the retailer will send the dollar amount to Best Buy, & within a couple of months the points will be added to your card. With booking the hotel rooms for the night before our wedding ceremony, there was a deal that you got 2 reward zone points per $1 spent through hotels.com…. With a $180.00 hotel rental fee…that equated to 360 reward zone points. That’s 5 free dollars to use at Best Buy with an additional 110 points in the bank! ($5 free for every 250 points accumulated). I had to book the rooms anyway—why not earn free shopping money while doing it? Jason ordered flowers for his mom for Mother’s Day (sweet son that he is :-) )…he used 1800flowers.com, bought a beautiful gardenia bonsai tree that was delivered to her, & earned 750 Best Buy Reward Zone points with a promotion that was going on. That’s $15 in free money at Best Buy…for something a good son was going to do for his mom anyway! :-) It really adds up.
If you are not a Best Buy Reward Zone Member…other stores/cards have similar programs. I know Borders book company has an online retailer mall where you can earn rewards, as does my debit card company. It’s worth investigating. Remember though, to earn the points you have to navigate through the "Mall"...which can be a little tedious sometimes to go back & do...but is totally worth it.

What are your favorite ways to save money while online shopping? I'd love to hear them! I know I have a few more favorite sites...but I will save those for a different post.

Nook E-reader Review

2010-07-01T22:47:00.002-04:00

Last week I reviewed the Barnes & Noble Nook E-reader on my college friend Abby's technology blog-- hop on over & check it out, and check out her great blog while you are there! Nook E-reader Review on "Balancing My Life In Technology"

I love my Barnes & Noble Nook...this "nerdy girl" loves to read & resisted getting an e-reader for a long time. Now I wish I had done it a few months ago :-).

Photo evidence of the Nerdy-Girl in me :-)

Wedding- Our Vows

2010-06-24T23:20:00.002-04:00

In our wedding ceremony, we did the standard "until death do us part" vows, but we also included customized vows that we wrote to each other. For those who were not in attendance, & because we will probably not be posting video with audio from the ceremony (instead clips set to music that we used at the reception...soon to be posted!)...we decided to post our vows on here for others to read. Enjoy!!

Jason's vows to Amy:
Amy,
Since the first day that we met, I have been the happiest that I've ever been, and each day since that you have continued to want me around has only added to my happiness. As we continue on our lives together I promise to you that our Love will only continue to grow and if times ever get rough, I will always look back on today as a course of strength, inspiration, and understanding. Today, in front of our friends, family and the world, I rescind the safety phrase that we agreed on for our first date*; As a sign of our love, no ostrich will ever fly again, especially at midnight. I love you, until Infinity+1.

Amy's vows to Jason:
Jason...
Who knew that 3.5 years ago, your creepy offer to take me hiking out into the middle of nowhere on a first date-- or on a first date to Chicago, a city known for it's meat packing district--could turn into something so wonderful? Every time I look at you, I realize how grateful I am for every twist, turn, bump, and wreck in this metaphorical road of life that I have experienced, because all of it was necessary on the path to meeting you. Because of you, I realize that every prior heartbreak and disappointment I experienced was for a reason...and it was because I was just making my way to you.

Thank you for loving me, and for telling me that you love me each and every day.
Thank you for being patient with me...I know it can be difficult at times.
Thank you for telling me I am beautiful, even on the days I don't feel that way at all.
Thank you for being the perfect laid-back complement to my high-strung self.
Thank you for your support and encouragement--you always know when I need them the most.
Thank you for listening, and for always being there when I need you.
Thank you for making me laugh, and for helping me find a reason to smile and laugh even in the midst of challenging situations.
Thank you, for being you.

I promise to always be there for you, to be your biggest supporter, your number one fan, and a shoulder to lean on.
I promise to compromise, to meet you in the middle, and I promise to try not to be too demanding.
I promise to limit the amount of fabric softener I use in the bath towels.**
I promise to never try to make you change who you are or what you believe, because why would I want to change the man I fell in love with?
I promise to be the best wife I can possibly be, and while I can't promise to "obey"...I can promise that I will always honor you, always respect you, and always take your directives into consideration...
And most important of all...I promise to always love you, unconditionally, forever & always...until Infinity+1.

(*as a side note: this sentence on in his vows refers to the fact that on our first date, we created a passphrase that when used, it would signal the automatic end of the date. No questions asked, with the knowledge that there would not be future dates. That passphrase was never needed...as our first date lasted 11:00am-2:00 am :-P).

(**Jason likes his towels without fabric softener...I like them soaked & coated in the stuff to be super soft. We have found a good middle point between our preferences...but has been one of the "rougher" adjustments to living together & marriage :-) )

Our Wedding (Picture Post)

2010-06-24T22:44:00.005-04:00

The weather was perfect...the wedding was perfect :-). We could not have ordered a more beautiful spring day for our wedding. I will let the pictures do the talking for this post. All pictures are done by our friends, and fabulous photographers Kris Arnold & Nikki Dahl. They did a WONDERFUL job with our wedding photos. We couldn't be happier!!

A couple getting ready shots...

The guys getting ready...

Walking into the chapel

Ceremony shots...

Post-Ceremony Shots

This one's my favorite :-)

How beautiful is the chapel & the day!

My favorite sequence of photos:

1) Cute

2) Jason being rotten...he followed through with the lick...

3) Eww. Joke was on him though--I was wearing face make-up, which I normally don't do. Apparently it didn't taste that great :-).

Post-Ceremony Luncheon, Cake Ceremony & Toasts

Everyone at our wedding...except not pictured: Nikki Dahl...who is the fabulous photographer taking the photo :-)

The smurfs DID make it to our wedding day :-)

And finally, my favorite shot.

Such a goofball. :-)

Next Post-- Our Vows :-)

Time Flies When You're Having Fun!

2010-06-24T21:41:00.000-04:00

OK--so I'm going to make a serious effort to update the blog. A LOT has happened in the past 2.5 months! Just a few things--we got Married, went on a honeymoon, had a reception, worked on our house...etc. I will try to post a few updates this week to catch up on everything I've neglected posting.

Other things I've been neglecting...thank you notes. I HATE that I have not gotten them out yet...and I feel like a horrible, ungrateful person. If you are reading this and you are still waiting on a thank you note...Trust me...You WILL get it :-). Soon...hopefully. I'm very sorry for the delay.

Enjoy the forthcoming updates! :-)

4 days away!! and a HUGE WHOOPS!!

2010-04-06T22:42:00.000-04:00

So we're only 4 days away from the big day...so exciting, yet SO much to do. We've been working on the house a lot (pictures coming soon), so some of the wedding details are creeping up on us at the last minute. Things still seem to be going smoothly though, so all is well :-). We're also excited that the current weather forecast for Evansville this weekend is 70 degrees, sunny, and 0% chance of rain. Many hopes & prayers go out that that forecast comes true :-).

So the "HUGE WHOOPS!!"...is that somehow in the course of printing all of the wedding stationary, I (Amy) managed to use MY zipcode (46254) instead of my parents' zipcode (46158). Arg. In my defense we were in the process of buying a house, and I had a couple of big projects going on simultaneously at work...and I printed most of the stationary in the middle of the night. How I did not notice that (since I'm a pretty detail oriented person) blows my mind. So frustrated and Angry with myself.

If your RSVP card happened to bounce back--please let me know (by either a comment on this post, or an email). I'm sorry for the inconvenience it might have caused anyone.

We're really excited to celebrate our special day with everyone!!

~Amy

31 Days to Go!

2010-03-09T21:00:00.003-05:00

Things are moving along pretty well—we can’t believe the wedding is only in 31 days! Exciting! The “Wedding To Do” list is narrowing as we continue to check things off of it. My dress is hanging in a closet, and we’re picking out Jason’s suit this weekend [hopefully]. The one major thing left “undone” is the subject of flowers—which since Mom and I [read: mainly Mom :-)] are doing the flowers, and I can’t order the bulk daffodils until a little closer to the date, it has to remain an empty checkbox for now.

I have also had a couple of lovely bridal showers in the past week-- 1 hosted by Jason’s amazing family that was in Evansville, and 1 hosted by one of my best friends (and a Maid of Honor) at her home in Indy. Hopefully I will snag some pictures from these soon and will be able to post them. I truly appreciate all of the hard work that went into the showers, and the people that took time out of their busy schedules to be able to attend.

We mailed the invitations for both the ceremony and the reception this week…so that was fun to be able to check off the list. It will also be nice to be able to reclaim my dining room table as something other than a printing/crafting/assembling stationary station. :-) But I guess that means it now will transition to a “packing platform” to get ready for the move. I’ll just surrender to the fact that I can’t have anyone over for dinner until we’re in the new house…

Speaking of the move—we close on our house next Monday. We’re SO EXCITED. It will be so nice to have our own yard [that will eventually be fenced], a garage, a Real/Usable Kitchen…and A Lot more space than we are currently used to having with both of our apartments. It is going to be fun watching the dogs wear themselves out on the stairs for the first couple of days. It’s also conveniently located to family and the commute won’t be bad. Although in retrospect, simultaneously buying a house while coming to the end stages of wedding planning might not have been the smartest idea—but I’m sure we’ll be grateful for it in the end. :-)

The only major wedding drama we have encountered thus far is that the 2nd week of February (approximately 60 days before the wedding), I got a refund notice and very abrupt email from the wedding coordination/chapel company saying “Effective immediately we will not be doing any more ceremonies this year. Click here for your refund.” So after recovering from the initial shock and anger associated with receiving such an email, Jason did some quick scrambling for us and called the camp where the chapel is located to verify we can still use the chapel for our wedding, and we asked a Huge Favor from his brother…and he is now serving as the officiant for our ceremony. This should be a fun adventure. :-)

In the end, even after all of the stress and drama, we think everything worked out for the best.:-)

We have a lot of exciting things going on….and a lot to do in 31 Days. :-)

Pizza, Pizza!

2010-01-31T12:43:00.000-05:00

Jason & I got the privilege of babysitting my adorable niece Gabby this weekend. We decided it would be fun to make pizzas with her as a fun activity. If you've never let a 2.5-year-old play with pizza dough--go grab some...it's HILARIOUS. (as a side note, the pre-made pizza dough at Trader Joe's is excellent). She did a really great job, & seemed to have a lot of fun. We had a lot of fun getting to play with Gabby, and loved the opportunity...

Now to show the events of the evening :-)....

Gabby was not happy that I interrupted her hard work to make her pose for a picture...

We talked about different shapes the dough could turn into as we patted it out...

A few of the pizza dough shapes we ended up with :-)...

Gabby licking her "sauce schmearing" spoon...AFTER we were done schmearing sauce...

Gabby made both of these pizzas from scratch...

Gabby & Uncle Jason watching the pizzas bake & puff up...

She kept saying "Pizza done?"

Finished product :-)...and it was yummy...

Jason had to read the book we brought Gabby about 35 times...I'm pretty sure he has "Dance with Brobee" memorized now...

So normally I would have baked...but the mini dark chocolate cupcakes at Trader Joes looked too good. :-P

Gabby didn't seem to mind that they were store-bought...

Nope...didn't mind at all :-)...

Thanks for letting us come over & play Gabby!!! :-) You were a perfect angel as usual :-).

A Very Merry, Belated, Christmas!!

2010-01-24T21:21:00.000-05:00

So this is our Christmas update...since I'm so delayed getting this on the web...I'm going to keep it short & sweet. Overall, we had a lot of fun hanging out and celebrating the holidays with our families. We spent Christmas Eve with my parents, and then got up [really] early to be down to Evansville in time for breakfast & gift-opening with Jason's family. Much apologies to Jason's family though--because I apparently didn't get any photos down there. I will have to steal some from Amber. We did get a lot of video though--but I can't put that on the web currently because the camcorder is over at Jas's place...so I'll try to get it up soon. For now it will just have to be photo evidence that we celebrated the holidays with photos from my family...

Enjoy :-). We got a lot of things we really wanted (including the GPS pictured below)...and had a lot of laughs with our family. Merry Belated Christmas Everyone!!

Mom made Adorable Gingerbread People...

My niece Gabby proved her well-rounded nature, by dressing up in a Cinderella dress & playing with tools (and a tractor)

"I look pretty" ~Gabby

She cracks me up...

Dad watching Gabbers play with her tools...

Driving home from Evansville, we were stuck on I-70 for over an hour. Originally we were supossed to get home at around 3:30--note the time on the GPS...and our speed.

The line of cars behind us on the interstate...they were as far as we could see in both directions.

PS---Only 75 days until the Wedding!!! :-)

"Our Christmas"

2009-12-22T21:16:00.001-05:00

Starting the first holiday season we were dating (2006), Jason & I have celebrated "Our Christmas." It started as the weekend day that we exchanged gifts & made a special dinner to celebrate the holiday, before we would each go to our own families for the holiday. It was an excellent tradition to start, and it is one we still continue, even though we spend the actual holiday together now (we spend half of it with my family & half with his...making the exciting trek between Indy & Evansville early on Christmas morning). This past weekend we celebrated "Our Christmas."

First of all--Jason got his main Christmas present from me early...I took him to see "Star Wars in Concert" at Conseco Fieldhouse on 12/12. "Star Wars in Concert" is a live-orchestra playing of a lot of the music from Star Wars, with scenes from the movie flashing in the background. The music was great--it was great people watching--and we got to see lots of neat props from the movies.

Apparently the force is not strong with this one...

Ewoks! I want an ewok!...these were behind glass though

A very shiney C3P0...I still can't believe the actor fit inside of this costume...so skinny

This year, "Our Christmas" started with our gift exchange...this would best be demonstrated in photos....

We woke up to a "White Christmas" with a new 1.5 inches of snow...

Our beautiful tree...loaded with presents...

Bentley kept trying to stick his nose into all of the presents as they were being unwrapped...

Jason holding up his Vader ornament--representing his main Christmas present of the concert

The dogs finally realized they weren't getting presents...so started playing with one of their old toys...

So is it cheating that I bought Jason's "stocking stuffers" from our wedding registry? He needed this chisel so he can break into some geodes he found hiking/kayaking awhile back...Here he is breaking into Bentley...

Check out that bedhead...gotta love it...but also gotta love chocolate oranges :-P

I got a grown-up jewelry box for Christmas :-) It's HUGE...and I love it :-) I've wanted a grown-up jewelry box for a long time--maybe now I'll stop leaving my necklaces/earrings in every room...eh...probably not... :-P

Isn't it beautiful? He did a great job picking it out.

After our gift exchange we made brunch--and then went to go see Avatar in 3D. We both really enjoyed the movie. Unfortunately, we didn't appropriately plan for how long the movie was going to be...so we ended up having to go get dinner out Saturday night. We made our "Our Christmas" dinner on Sunday night instead. So really, we got to celebrate all weekend long :-). This year I made a fairly simple dinner of a baked ham, country style green beans, cornbread, & individual potatoes au gratin. It all ended up being quite yummy, if I can just brag a little :-P. Jason made a delicious blackberry cobbler for dessert.

Oh...and I guess this is pretty obvious in the photos above...but I now have glasses. I'm planning on wearing contacts about 75% of the time and my glasses the rest of the time...but honestly, enjoy rocking the glasses on occasion. What do you think? :-P... too scary? Gotta love the eyesight getting bad as I'm getting "old"...

Scary?...yes. :-P

Happy Holidays everyone!!! I wish everyone safe travels! ~Amy

A "Big Fail" for my blogging skills...

2009-12-17T20:47:00.001-05:00

If I was being graded on my blogging skills-- I would apparently get a big fat "F" for the end of the semester in Blogging 101. I've been wrapped up getting things ready for Christmas, and trying to survive the cold of winter. Is it too early to be wishing for spring? (and especially wishing for the wedding date in spring to be here? :-) ).

Thanksgiving went really well for both sides of our family...we had a great time with family, had a lot of laughs, and had a lot of good food (too much good food in fact). Here's photo evidence-- for some reason YEARS ago my dad started a tradition of having pictures of the meal taken before we can eat. So here is the turkey lunch spread from my side of the family...

Wedding planning has been sporadic--it's kind of at standstill until after the first of the year, then some stuff will kick into high gear. Other than an occasional Goodwill trip for a few decorating things for the reception (yes...I like eclectic reception...what better place to get the reception-site decor than goodwill? :-p). Today we made a big breakthrough decision: instead of my original uber-thrifty idea of making our own cupcakes/cake for the wedding reception--we are going to cave & go with really cute cupcakes & top tier concept from a local bakery, Sugar Mamas. I've had a couple of pieces of cake from here at different events & they were great.

I'll save the details about the cake for another post after we have set everything up [and made sure it's possible]....but the final product will be similar to this, but with totally different bakery products in style, design & color.

I ordered the stand today from Save-on-crafts.com. I can't wait until it gets here so I can start getting hands-on with how the stand will be decorated... I'm really excited that we decided to go ahead & buy the baked goods. This will save us A LOT of stress in the 48 hour time-period before the reception...and I'll be honest...my icing piping skills are reallllly rusty. :-P I think my mom was relieved too.. PLUS---now Jason & I get to go on a cake tasting...how could that possibly be bad?

That's all for now--I have a couple of holiday-themed posts in the works. Hopefully they'll be up by Christmas :-). At this rate though, no promises...

I'll leave you with a question though-- what do you think of this as a cake topper? ;-) (joking....maybe...)

Shooting things with guns...in Bed, Bath, & Beyond

2009-11-22T22:02:00.002-05:00

Jason: "Freeze! Or you'll loose your retinas!"

So Jason & I experienced one of the joys of engagement this weekend--getting to shoot things in stores with guns, or in other words, beginning our wedding registry. :-) We decided that since the bridal magazines & websites were telling me that this was supposed to initially be done more than 5 months before the ceremony [kind of difficult to do since we got engaged 6 months before the ceremony, not that I listen to those sites half of the time anyway], but we also decided that it could be handy for when people asked what we wanted for Christmas.

I still carry an extreme guilt that registering seems like a very egotistical/selfish thing to do--but at the same time I know people appreciate knowing what you like, what you want/need, and knowing they won't get you your 6th toaster of the day. With this being said--we had a blast! :-)

It was fun doing things like finding the towels we both liked the best, figuring out what we wanted our master bedroom colors to be, etc. It was also fun shooting each other with the laser beam guns (I think Jason probably scanned the rear pocket on my jeans about 500 times yesterday), laughing at some of the crazy things in the stores, & laughing at the shocked look on the Keystone Bed, Bath, & Beyond Bridal Registry Associate when we informed her that we will not be registering for fine china. :-P

Between noon & 6:00pm we began our registries at Bed, Bath & Beyond (BBB), Target, and Sears. BBB & Target fulfill the household needs for when we combine our houses next spring, Sears fulfills some of the tool needs Jason will need when he goes to escape to the garage once we combine house-holds, or for when he has to fix the stuff I break. :-P Jason was cracking me up--on most of the stuff in BBB & Target, he would just defer to me & what I thought was best, but when he did have an objection or a preference between two items...he had Great reasoning & it was frequently something I hadn't thought about. We make a great pair ;-) I am a little frightened a lava lamp might have made it to the registry list--I need to verify if it did & remove it if he had scanned it :-P.

Our reviews of the registering experience--

Bed Bath & Beyond-- the customer service was the best of the 3 (especially at the Keystone at the Crossing location on the north side, but was still pretty good at the Avon location). The Keystone location treated us like rock stars, they kept checking in with us, asking us if we needed anything, etc. The laser gun was the 2nd best/most user friendly version. I obviously love the HUGE selection of home goods this store has--since I've been a loyal addict of this store for the past 5+ years. I also like their online registry management software--it is pretty on-par with the Target system.

Target-- has the BEST most user friendly laser gun. They have the option where you can scroll back & delete things you've added during that trip, without having to visit a kiosk or go home to your computer. It would be nice if all of the laser guns had this feature that was this easy to use. Their customer service was comparable to Target as a baseline--which is normally pretty good. Oddly--our first sweep through Target only yielded about 10 items--it's a little higher after our second sweep today...

Sears-- was Horrible. We were reminded why we usually don't shop at this store [and why they are struggling as a company]- unfortunately this was one of the few stores that you can register at that has a large tool/hardware section. We toughed it out--but none of the employees, minus one 16 year old kid, had ANY CLUE what was going on, what to do with the registry gun when we were done, etc. The registry gun was horrible--circa early '90's technology, that timed out every 5 minutes, didn't display prices on the things you scanned, etc. Overall, it was not a good experience...but at least Jason was able to register for some good Craftsman tools after suffering through picking out kitchen accessories with me all day :-).

We realize that as the months tick by, we will need to adjust the registries based on item availability & what-not...but it feels Really Good to have another item partially ticked off of our Wedding Checklist :-). It was also a really fun way to spend an afternoon, was another verification that we are in fact getting married, and was a fun way to make it all seem more "real"...since sometimes I wake up wondering if it is still just a dream :-).

All and all, it was an excellent weekend. Now we are preparing for the approaching Thanksgiving Holiday, and for the long holiday weekend :-). Happy Holidays everyone!!

Me: "Look! It's the Swedish Chef!" (and a horrible picture, and ignore the really red eyes--I just got contacts for the first time ever on Friday...and my eyes are still trying to cope with the whole "intentional foreign objects" thing..I just can't resist putting on a chef hat though when I see one....)

Our Engagement Story

2009-11-17T23:09:00.002-05:00

Amy's version of the story:
It was E-A-R-L-Y on October 3rd, 2009...as in "before 5:00" AM early. I had been teasing Jason that he takes longer than me to get ready, and I was being a "brat" to get us out of the door on time. I just wanted to be one of the first 100 people in the door at Shedd Aquarium in Chicago-- so that we could get a Sea Otter Appreciation Week pin and to beat the crowd to the aquarium (I don't pretend not to be a nerd anymore). I thought it was odd for one of the few times in almost 3 years of dating, Jason took only around 15 minutes to get ready. He went to go get his car, and said he'd be back in a couple minutes. I immediately thought I was running late, put my bag by the front door, and was turning off lights and frantically doing the "final apartment check" prior to leaving town.

I was down to 1 light left on in my apartment minus my blue LED nightlight in my hallway. This is when Jason comes in and says "Happy 35-month anniversary Sweetheart." I had honestly forgotten (it would have hit me once we were in the car & I had caffeine in my system). I hugged him, gave him a kiss and said "Aww, you too honey." And proceeded to turn off the last light, assuming that we were getting ready to walk out the door. I then realized that he was on the floor. I then was worried and thinking "oh my gosh, did he just fall?!?!" Just when I started to help him up off of his knees, I realized there was something incredibly sparkly in his hand that was glowing almost neon blue from the blue LED nightlight. He then asked me to marry him...and I said "Of Course." :-)

Jason's version of the story:
At 4:57 AM on Oct. 3rd, 35 months to the day we started dating and 3 minutes until the start of a wonderful weekend in Chicago, in the electric glow of a blue LED night light I bent down on one knee and asked Amy if she'd marry me. She said yes.

Jason's version is a lot more romantic--and makes me seem to be less of a spazz. But our engagement story is very Us. :-P. All-in-all though...he made me a very happy girl :-).

~Amy

Where we're gettin' hitched...

2009-11-04T23:02:00.001-05:00

Our wedding ceremony will be a small private ceremony at a BEAUTIFUL little chapel in Evansville, Indiana. It is the camp chapel for Camp Reveal on the north side of Evansville. ~~The chapel/wedding services are operated by~~ ~~A Day to Remember Wedding Chapel, LLC~~. [revised: they closed down their business without notice]. Here are a few pictures of the chapel (all photos are property of A Day to Remember Wedding Chapel, LLC [who is now defunct]). I love the quaint/storybook feel of this place...it's very perfect for us.

Outside the Chapel

Another view of Outside...how cute is this place!

View of the Inside of the Chapel

The beautiful fireplace in the chapel

3 Happy, Wonderful Years

2009-11-03T00:01:00.004-05:00

So today, Jason and I celebrate 3 Happy, Wonderful years of being together. On November 3rd, 2006 at 11:30 am the journey began with a simple lunch, followed by a trip to the art museum (where our date was originally supposed to end)... but we then decided to follow that by dinner and people watching at the International Festival....followed by an 11:30pm showing of "The Departed." It was the Perfect first date.

It has been a great 3 years, filled with lots of wonderful memories, lots of laughs, and lots of love. Happy 3rd Anniversary Honey! Love you always, until Infinity+1!

~Amy (PS: ...and Happy 1 month anniversary of being engaged :-) )

A few photos from our journey:

Self-portrait session, Indianapolis Art Museum grounds March 2009

February 14, 2007-- when Jason stole my red food dye and used it all to draw hearts in the snow on my patio

July 2007 Buffett Concert

Seattle, May 2009

Portland, May 2009

Jason picked the perfect one...

2009-10-29T19:55:00.000-04:00

So since the engagement, I've been getting the statement "Let's see the ring!?" directed at me a lot. Now as a background, I never thought I'd be a "ring girl"...apparently I was wrong . I love it!

So now presenting...my beautiful engagement ring that Jason picked out. He could not have picked a better one :-). It's Perfect for me. He's Perfect for me :-).

~Amy

Very Basic Details--additional posts coming soon :-)

2009-10-29T19:38:00.001-04:00

Jason and I got engaged at 4:57am on Saturday, October 3rd, 2009--when we were on our way out the door for a fabulous weekend in Chicago, IL.

I obviously said yes...

We will be getting married at a small private ceremony on Saturday, April 10th, 2010 at 11:00am at the Chapel at Camp Reveal in Evansville, Indiana. A small luncheon will follow.

We will be having an open house celebration reception for all of our family and friends on Saturday, April 24th, 2010 from 2:00-6:00pm at Glenns Valley Nature Park in Indianapolis, Indiana. Please come and help us celebrate our day.

We would like to thank all of our friends & family for the congratulations and best wishes. You all mean the world to us.

Additional details and posts are coming in the near future, so please stay tuned.

~Amy

Where We're Registered

2009-10-04T23:20:00.005-04:00

We are registered at the following stores:

Bed Bath and Beyond- Click Here to View Registry
Target- Click Here to View Registry
Sears- Click Here to View Registry