24 Days Away

I cannot believe where time has gone! I am getting married to the man of my dreams in 24 days!!! Ahhhh it is soo surreal to me! I am sooo excited, have lots to do still, but checking my list off more and more everyday. If it was not for my mom, I do not know what I would do. She is the BEST!!!! Planning 1/2 of your wedding long distance is not easy but my mom has done so much for me & has had so much fun planning and helping me! I was able to go home last weekend but only for 2 days! My mom threw me the most beautiful shower ever!! I was so blessed & touched by everyone & everything. It was very personal and all of my close friends & family were there to share it with me. My mom had a huge blown meal from appetizers, cream corn, green bean casserole, chicken, to chocolate covered strawberries & home made cream puffs made from scratch my Sara my sister. My mom had some of the best games ever & they were so fun & personal. Thanks mom, Shawna, Sara, and Amanda for throwing me a beautiful shower and all of the work you did for it!!! I love you!

It is really starting to hit my family especially my mom & sisters, that I am getting married and I am not at home anymore. With me moving to Georgia is really started to hit home to my family & I. This transition is hard & challenging, but I know that God has called us here, so making this sacrifice only means that God has something greater in store for Keegan & I. I am still looking for a job & I am trusting that God will bring the right one my way. I am just praying that something comes soon!

Well... the countdown is now on... Keegan & I are currently working on finalizing the rehearsal dinner. Below is a list of things that I am currently working on:
1. Programs
2. Finalzing music
3. Making schedules for the entire weekend
4. Finish ordering gifts for some
5. Finalize all of the small details with the banquet hall
6. Getting all of the decorations together for the ceremoney

One thing that I cannot decide is the color of the napkins for the reception. They have a light skimmery purple but my color for the wedding is dark puple. I was thinking black napkins but now I am back to white. Any suggestions?

Well that is all for now folks! If you have a blog & I am not following you let me know : )

Blog Award & 10 Year Plans

Thanks to Lindsay of "Life As Lindsay May" for the Bogart Award! This is soo much fun & a honor : ) Thanks Lindsay!!

"This award means you're really going places, Baby. You'll still be blogging about your great adventures 10 years from now, and I'll still be reading them."

{THE RULES}

1. Post where you would like to be in 10 years
2. Pass it on to 10 other special Bloggers!

In the next 10 years I will be married to my best friend, Keegan, for 10 years; Keegan will be a youth pastor; we will be living by my family; we will have 2 or 3 kids; I will be a stay at home mom doing some kind of side job working from my home; we will have a beautiful home to raise our children in & lots of room to entertain in!!

Well now on the 'now' note... I OFFICIALLY moved to GEORGIA!!! This has been the biggest move of my life yet! I miss my family terribly!! I am just trusting God that during this transition time that He will guide & direct me & show me how He wants to use me down here. I absolutely LOVE being with Keegan & being able to spend time with him & not have to worry that our visit is going to be a short little weekend. Keegan flew up & drove me down here on Friday, however in the midst of all of this he has strept throat. So he dropped me off Friday night & I did not see him until Sunday night, so I was kinda bummed. I am just trying to get settled & looking for a job. There is just sooo many changes at once that its hard. I am being looked at now as a pastor's wife, which is awesome, but scary to me at the same time. I am already the 'new girl.' ha! The people here though have been extremely nice & welcoming. I am excited to start this new journey of life!!

I really love the church that we are apart of. You should check it out: http://www.churchatchapelhill.com. If you have time you should watch one of our live online services on Saturday at 6pm or 9am or 10:45am Sunday all eastern times. I am very blessed & excited to be apart of such an awesome movement going on here. The church is rapidly growing & the people are passionate about God. Check out this video clip: http://is.gd/9VLxh . This was done at our church this past weekend going along with the message: "Tithing the Knot."

One thing that I love about Georgia already is the sweet tea & warm weather!!!

First Shower

I had my first shower last weekend hosted by 3 of my bridesmaids. It was such an amazing time & Keegan & I were truly blessed. It was so great to see all of my friends & be able to celebrate with them. My shower was at Ruthanne's house & she was an excellent host. She decorated everything so beautiful & had a really cute punch bowl that tasted amazing! We played 3 games: 'The Purse Game' where you are given a list of items & you check off the items that you have in your purse & then total up the points. I won that game!! The next game we played was 'Who knows Christa the Best', of course my maid of honor, Alexis, won that game. She was not allowed to win so Jackie won the game!! They also asked Keegan a series of questions about me & I answered them & then they asked me a series of questions about Keegan & read Keegan's answers out loud to see how well we know each other. We know each other very well & sooo ready for marriage ; ) One question that we pretty must answered word for word was: "Christa, where do you see you & Keegan 10 years from now?" Answer: "We will be married, Keegan will be a youth pastor, I will be a stay at home mom, we will have 2-3 kids, & we will be living near my family."

It was sooo much fun to be able to spend time with my bridesmaids. We hung out all weekend long & we even did a little shopping!! We always find the greatest deals together. It is quite funny because we can all fit the same size of jeans even though we all have different body types! It reminds me of the 'Sisters of the Traveling Pants!' We picked out bridesmaids dresses! The color is called lapis, a dark royal purple color. I am very excited about the dresses. We still have to pick out shoes & I think we are going to get silver shoes.

My dress came in & I have my first dress fitting this week before I move on Friday!!!!! It is soo gorgeous & I cannot wait to wear it!!!! I got one pair of shoes ; ) I got my white shoes that I will be wearing at the ceremoney & reception. I also want a color shoe for fun pictures. How can I resist, or any women for that matter!! I just have to determine the color & find the shoes I want!

The Date is Official

We have officially set our wedding date!! I am marrying my best friend on Saturday April 17th, 2010!! It is only 74 days away!! I cannot wait & I am extremely happy. Keegan & I actually met 3 years ago today. I guess I will share the story of how we met : ) Every year since freshman year in college, Gina invited all of her friends to her house for her birthday. Gina is from Green Bay, Wisconsin so we all road tripped it up! My sophomore year out of the 16 people who went Keegan was one of them. Gina's mom made us all lasagna for dinner & later that night a bunch of us started to get hungry so we dished up some more lasagna. In he process of warming everything I warmed up Keegan's plate & dished him out his lasagna & he was like "Ooooo yeah she knows that food is the way to a man's heart." We laugh about it now. Keegan noticed me that weekend & was interested, I on the other hand was not looking at the moment. I just got out of a relationship & was in no rush! At school before we met, he knew of me & saw because he was friends with all of my friends & he was always like "I want to get to know that girl." It definitely was God ordained as I look back 3 years later. I was finally caught on the hook ; ) His floor was actually my brother floor that year also. After eating lasagna a group of us, including Keegan & I, played cards & then we all settled in & watched a movie. That weekend was a great start to our relationship & one to remember for sure. Ironically, we met on my half birthday ; )

There is sooo much wedding planning that I have to accomplish before moving. Here is my to-do-list that I am hoping to accomplish this week:
1. Have my bridesmaids buy their dress & find their shoes- I am going with my bridesmaids on Saturday to get that done
2. Buy my veil & under garments
3. DIY Invitations- Keegan designed them & I am going to assemble them & mail them out.
4. Buy the flower girl dress- I already picked it out
5. Starting compiling the menu for the reception
6. Confirm the time of the ceremony- We are thinking 2pm. I wanted it to be at 4pm however since it is going to be at my church & we are mostly doing everything ourselves, they need enough time to clean up since we have church the next morning. It is going to take a couple hours to clean up & my dad doesn't want to be in bed at midnight. So we compromised & I understand as well that cleanup is a huge thing & will be a lot of work.
7. Look for my shoes- I already know the style I am aiming for.
8. Send out save-the-date emails to out of town guest that I know need an advance notice. I know it might sound cheesy but we don't have time to send out save-the-dates & I want to give people ample time to make arrangements. This is especially for Keegan's family as they all live out-of-state.
9. Set up appts with the florist- Got some ideas as to what flowers I want.

We will see how far I get on the list. I will be gone this weekend, so that takes a lot of time away. I am having my first shower on Saturday! My friends in Minneapolis are throwing me one. I am very excited & I cannot wait to see all of my wonderful friends again. I miss you all!! I have ran into one problem though, a BIG problem for me (ha!)... I cannot decide what to wear. I want to wear a dress, however it is freezing there. It is not summer yet so that takes away from all of the cute summer dresses that are coming out! I went to look for something on Saturday with my sister & came home with NOTHING! I think I am going to go look at work for something. Got any suggestions???

Found The Dress

It has been a while since I blogged. I have been meaning to, but have been very busy lately. Thanks to Lindsay for pushing me to get on it! Well... I found THE DRESS! It was one of the best feelings ever! My mom was even sold, she kept telling me, "Christa it's the one!" When I first went to look at dresses I had a different style in mind, but when I tried this new style on, I surprising loved it. I am in the process of getting all of the accessories together for the dress. I just cannot wait to walk down the aisle & say I do to my best friend in the dress!!

The date has not been finalized as of today, but the tentative date is April 24th. There have been many things that had to be figured out before we finalize the date. We actually should be finalizing the date before Friday. We do have the location for the ceremony & the reception. It is going to be at my church. At first I did not want it to be here, but after talking this through with my parents, we can actually do a lot of unique things. Also, the best part is that there is no time limit!!

I am the oldest child so my parents haven't planned a wedding in 25 years. I am the first grand-daughter to get married on my dad's side & the 2nd oldest grandchild to get married on my mom's side- my cousin got married 10 years ago! So, with all of that, wedding planning is very new in our family. With the help of some friends, I have gotten a lot of questions answered. It is great being able to use friends as resources, especially those who recently just got married or who are going through the planning process right now. I have been so busy lately, that I feel like a lot of my thoughts about the wedding are so scattered, I need time to organize & gather my thoughts. After the date is finalized, I think it will relieve some of the pressure that I feel. Planning a wedding within 3 months, is not going to be an easy task, but I am sure up for it. Keegan has been & is really good making sure I do not get stressed. If you have any tips about planning a wedding, please share of your secrets : )

Well, I officially put in my resignation for my job. I am going to be moving to Georgia February 19th, if everything goes as planned. I will be staying with a couple in Georgia who are the same age as Keegan & I. Keegan has known Brett for 12 years & he is his bestman also. I am sooo excited to FINALLY be with Keegan everyday & just being able to enjoy life together. It is going to be a HUGE adjustment for me- living in the south, being a pastors wife, away from my family, having to find a job, & having to make all new friends. I am very nervous about this change but excited also. I am trusting God that everything will work out & that as I am pulled totally out of my comfort zone that I will find peace & comfort in God.

This past weekend Keegan & I took engagement pictures & did our bridal registry. I went down to Atlanta to do all of this. A guy in the church blessed us with our engagment photos, which was a huge blessing. Thanks Will! I will post them soon. We registered at Target, Bed Bath & Beyond, & Macy's. We mostly registered at Bed Bath & Beyond. It was a ton of fun getting to choose from so many different options. We had a very busy weekend, but we were blessed because my flight got cancelled Sunday night due to tornado warnings & bad weather, so I got to stay another night & watch the Vikings game (I rather not talk about that) and spend some more time actually relaxing with Keegan. Well that is the update about my life thus far of being engaged for 1 month & 2 days : ) It is pretty crazy but exciting at once. I am soo looking forward to being a married women & this new journey. I will get some pictures up soon & let you know the actual confirmed wedding date.

The Proposal

It was a beautiful Christmas morning, spending time with the family, eating a delicious breakfast made by my mom, and opening presents. Keegan wrapped my present 's' beautifully in two separate boxes all tired together making the look of a tower. When I opened the first box it was only one shoe of a pair. When opening the next box it was the other shoe of the pair that I wanted. I found it odd that he was tricking me into thinking I was getting two gifts when in reality I only got one. Later that afternoon we all traveled to my grandma's house for Christmas as it snowed and snowed and snowed. This was only the start to one of the best days and most definitely the greatest Christmas in my entire life! There were 10 of us driving in a 8 passenger van all cramped up for three hours traveling home. We didn't end up getting home until after 11pm. By this time I was exhausted and could not wait to get out of the car. I was hungry, thirsty, and wanted to snuggle up and watch a good movie with Keegan. However, Keegan had plans of his own.

On the way home he whispered into my ear asking if I would like to go on an adventure with him when we got home. I laughed and said "no, its soo late and it's Christmas." I was thrown off by the fact that he asked me to go out on Christmas night especially since he knows I love adventures, none of this made any sense to me. Well, as we just got home he asked me again to go on an adventure with him. I kept saying "no." It was Christmas night, nothing was open, it was snowing out like crazy and it was 11:15pm at night... "so what are we going to do?" I asked him because there is nothing to do. He said, "don't worry about it, get your coat, boots and let's go!" I kept saying "no" and went down the hall to get my pajamas on. By this time Shawna and Sara, my sisters, were get annoyed with me and kept telling me to go! So I changed and got a little more comfy by putting a sweatshirt on. As I was waiting for Keegan, Nathan, my brother said to me "Christa, you know we are going to get engaged and I am telling you this because you are in denial and don't think it is going to happen. So go and get engaged," not knowing what the night was to hold. I told him he was crazy and I am not going to get engaged.

So, Keegan came and met me outside where I was handed a beautiful bouquet of red roses. I was stunned at how he got them, borrowing my Mom's car earlier that morning and finding the nearest open grocery store without me knowing. As he walked toward me had a Christmas bag in his hand; I immediately thought another present!! I said, "you got me another present?!" and he responded and said, "yes." So he opened the car door for me and he had our song playing in the background, "Amazed" by Lone Star. It was very romantic. He took me by the hand and said that the name of our adventure is called, "I Remember When..." So, he started off with "I Remember When you went to Hawai'i on vacation and I was at camp in Kansas City. And we wrote each other in our journals." He then handed me the journal that I wrote him and asked me to read some things that I wrote. It was fun reading some of the things and reminiscing together. So we were driving, talking, and having a great time reminiscing about the past 3 years since we met.

We entered downtown Chicago and pulled up next to Maggiano's where we had our first date. He pulled out the receipt for the meal of our first date and said "On February 2, 2007 I first met you, on your half birthday. (which I didn't even remember!) On February 15, 2008 I remember when we had our first date at Maggiano's. You had fettuccini alfredo and barely ate anything." He then continued to say that shortly after that we started dating on March 15, 2008. He knew exactly what I was wearing and everything! The next stop on the list was the AMC theater. He pulled over to the side of the road and said "I remember when we were watching Evan Almighty and we held hands for the first time." He took my left hand and held it and gave me the movie.

The next stop was Navy Pier, he turned on the song "What a wonderful world" by Louie Armstrong and said "I remember when we danced for the first time to this song on August 9th, 2008 at your friend Stephanie's wedding, last summer. And I want to dance with you." So he came around to my door, opened it and started to dance with me in front of Navy Pier with the snow falling all around us. It so happens that a taxi cab was sitting in front of us and I was so embarrassed of that we were dancing on the sidewalk. The guy must of thought we were nuts! The next stop on the list was Millennium Park. Keegan stopped along the side of the road once again and said "I remember when I first came to Chicago to visit you and met your family on July 28th, 2007 along with all of your friends. We came down to Chicago and Millemium Park where we took pictures and hung out." We then parked and got out of the car after finding a parking spot. As we were walking, the wind felt like it was carrying me away. It was freezing outside and the wind was blowing so hard that I could not feel my fingers. Keegan was holding me tight to his side and told me in the end it would all be worth it "I PROMISE, trust me!" At this point I was starting to think that maybe he was going to propose but I was in such denial. I knew that it was going to happen any time but did not expect it that night.

We went over to Daley Plaza and there was a wind breaker there so it was not as cold. There was an ice skating rink and there were some college students playing hockey on it. Keegan took my hand and we started skating on the ice in our shoes. He started to hold me and talk to me all serious. I started to think am I dreaming?!?! What is going on?!?! Shortly after he hugged me and held me close as he said how much he loved and cherished me. He looked me dead in the eyes and said "Christa Ann Elleson with your dad's approval," as soon as he said that tears started to run down my face. That statement meant so much to us both but more or less me since he is my father=) He started to tear up and as I blinked he was down on one knee and asked me to marry him as he took out a box with a beautiful diamond ring sparkling inside. I quickly said "yes!" and he placed the most beautiful ring ever on my finger. He picked me up and swung me around and yelled "we are engaged!"

It was 12:45am, and it was so beautiful as snow was falling from above, and the entire city was peaceful and quiet. It felt like we had the entire city to ourselves. Even the hockey players were in their own little world and did not bother us nor did they know what was going on. After they found out what happened they could not believe that they just witnessed an engagement and congratulated us. They were so nice that they took pictures for us. As we were walking to the car Keegan yelled "She said YES!" It was very romantic & special. I felt like I was dreaming and that it was not real. I have never felt that feeling before, it was magical ;-)

All the way home I kept looking at my ring as it sparkled and made me grin ear to ear. We called family and friends at 1:30 in the morning letting them know of the news. As we got home around 2:30am my entire family was up and waiting for us. It was the greatest way to end my Christmas day. It was funny because when I asked Keegan what he wanted for Christmas 2 months prior he kept telling me all he wanted for Christmas was me, to me it was such a cliché answer but he got what he wanted. We have now been apart for 1.5 years and I am soo thrilled to be ending this long distant relationship and excited to start our new journey together, marriage. Keegan is the love of my life and I cannot wait to see what God has in store for us. I am excited to move to Georgia and become a wife to my future husband, Mr. Keegan Walsh.