It's been forever!

But there is a reason! :)

I know. It's been forever since I've posted anything here. I've been slightly occupied with a few others things that are involved with this event: Luke & Serena--Wedding Day--May 21, 2011.

And it's almost here! Less than a week! I can hardly believe a year has gone by already!

And yes, it will probably be a while before I'm back to blogging. First wedding week, then honeymoon week, then moving week. I'm looking forward to all three!!! :)

I'm ready to move in!

I'm soooooooo excited!!! Luke and I NOW have a house in Colorado Springs!!!!!! That was one of the super huge, major things to get accomplished before May and it's done! Found, signed, completed and finally ours!

And.....I love it (Luke does too!!)!!!! Luke was looking for something large enough that I would have space to continue my business and hold my office, sewing room and inventory! And he found it! It even has an unfinished basement that will hold all my shelves with supplies and inventory! It's perfectly fantastically wonderful!!!!! God provided just the home for us in His perfect timing!!!

And......I can't wait to move in!!! Last week Dad and I drove out to Colorado Springs with a carload of stuff. As Dad put it, "It didn't even make a dent in my stash." Hmmmm...I think it did! I have a couple empty shelves! :) Anyway, once I packed a few things, I was ready to pack up the rest of my stuff and move in!!! And in less than two months, I can do just that!!! I can't wait!!!!

Take a quick tour with me.....:)

Walk in the front door to the living room with a vaulted ceiling--love that!!! Luke and I looked at houses similar to that layout and loved it, although I wasn't sure if we'd get a house with that! :)

Now walk from the living room to the beautiful, large kitchen & dinning room...can't wait to start filling those cabinets!!!!

And that leads to the family room right across from the kitchen

From the family room, walk through the hallway and you'll find the one bedroom on the first floor

Now, let's go upstairs....:) This part I really, really love!! :) I've never ever had an "upstairs" as in second story upstairs and my sisters and I always thought that would be so fun! My Grandma insists that I'll get tired going up and down all the time and while that may be the case, I'm going to totally enjoy it once I move in!!! :)

This wall I'm so excited about! I know, I know--it's just a wall! BUT, it's the stairway wall that I plan to hang a collage of photos--and yes, I already have some of those planned photos boxed and ready to move to Colorado!! :)

Once you reach the small hallway upstairs, walk into the master bedroom (which is large enough to fit in Luke's cal. king size bed....just barely!) with adjoining bathroom.

And this is the ULTRA wonderful part I love---a HUGE walk-in closet!!!! :) :) And, not only is there one....

But, two walk-in closets!! Whoever lived here before or built this house must have had a ton of clothes!!! I have plenty, but ummmm, I know both Luke and I don't have two huge closets worth! :)

Walk out into the hallway to a bathroom on the left, stairs on the right and two bedrooms ahead!

And then into one bedroom---all the bedrooms have huge closets!! Which in my mind, you can never have too much closet space! :)

And then the second bedroom---just about every room has a ceiling fan! I'll put that long handle feather duster to good use! Most Colorado homes don't have air conditioning (including this one), so there's an abundant supply of ceiling fans. Apparently it doesn't usually get warm enough to warrant air conditioning. That will be something new to me; you could never live in SW Kansas in the summer without air conditioning!

Now, walk down one more hallway to the loft that is another room I love!!!

That even has a window that looks out at Pikes Peak! Granted, there is a tree in the neighbor's yard that partly blocks it, but....it's still there!!! :)

Look over the loft short wall to the living room and front door below!!! I soooo love this photo!!! :) Well, actually being there in person is better, but since I can't be there yet, I'll just look at the photos!! :)

And I'm ready to drop everything, start packing and loading in Kansas and unloading in Colorado! Only two more months!!!! :) Soon!!! :)

Two months....

...until I get to marry this wonderful guy that I love!
...until all the plans put into place over the last ten months become reality!
...until I'm living in Colorado permanently!

Only TWO months left!! (See the last two months of details here...)

Photo credit: Heartland Photography

Awwwww!!!!!

Pink roses from Luke--an early Valentine's gift!!!! :) :) :) ♥ ♥ ♥

Spoiled kitties!

Really. Honestly. My two cats have no idea just how spoiled they really are. For a multitude of reasons--one being right now as my lap has been overtaken for one of them as I'm trying to type. ;)

My cats have taken quite a bit of time getting used to Luke. When he's here, they aren't particularly thrilled, so I've started bribing them with extra canned food every morning when he's here.

So Luke bought a entire box of 32 cans of food just for them for Christmas. Told you they were spoiled! So my question to Luke was, "Are you going to be in Kansas 32 days before May?" ;) lol!!

They weren't too thrilled with the box until I opened it up. In addition to the 32 cans was a plastic ball and a bag of treats.

The ball they didn't really take much to.

The bag of treats? Oh, yeah---they knew exactly what that was! You have no idea how many of those bags of treats Skittles has taken down off the shelf and eaten without my knowledge. Usually I find the bag the next morning. On the floor. Empty. Torn up. Clawed to shreds. And lacking treats.

However, the ball was made to put the treats in it. Then as the cats would roll it around, the treats would fall out. Ummm, hmmmm. So I showed them the treats inside.

And then rolled the ball. The ball isn't too exciting for them. The treats they want. Skittles figured out to roll the ball, but Scamper still hasn't gotten it yet. I believe this will keep their attention for hours on end. They have yet to accomplish getting the treats out. :)

What Colorado Springs has that Dodge City doesn't!

Right after Thanksgiving I spent five days in Colorado Springs. Why? Well, there's just quite a few things that that massive city contains that Dodge City just doesn't have!

Cold, freezing air - The first thing you notice about Colorado Springs is the air. It's colder. Much colder. It's really hard to document this in a photograph, so just picture freezing and shivering. THAT'S what it looks like!

Mountains - Yes, those rather large hills are called mountains and I have to admit that seeing this sight while driving around takes a little bit of getting used to. The good thing?! Those mountains always tell me that that direction is west--it helps to keep my sense of direction!


Current Factory Outlet - In my searching of shops for invitations, I found this store! Ohhhhhhh---I love that place already! I knew I'd love that place once I walked in the door and saw a spinning rack of stickers.


My intent was to look for invites there, which I did do. But I also had to wander up and down each aisle to look at everything else as well. Paper, stickers, cardstock, notecards--all that fun stuff!

Shopping, shopping and more shopping - I came to CO Springs with a list. A rather long, organized, detailed shopping list. And this city contains many more shopping opportunities than DC! And Luke and I spent a great deal of time shopping, looking and registry shopping!

See this cute little, itty, bitty casserole dish?! Isn't is sooooo cute?! I love it! It's the littliest thing, but it's so adorable. Granted, it was at JCPenny's which we do have here, but believe me--they don't have that.

Kohls - This store is neat! Especially their kitchen dept. It's filled with fun stuff. Like these cute snowman dishes. Aren't they fun?!?! Yes, you only use them once a year, but still.....I love them!

Parking meters - Oh yes! And then this---the parking meter! One of the places where I was looking at invitations was downtown and you had to pay for parking. And believe it or not, I have never paid for parking in my entire life. Another thing Colorado Springs has that Dodge City doesn't.
Luke - Perhaps the most important thing, or rather person that DC doesn't contain?! Yep, that would be him!

November whirlwind weeks!

November has seemed like a flurry of activities! Not only was I in three states (in addition to Kansas!) this month, but there just seemed to be plenty going on!

Week 1 - I made a quick trip to Oklahoma City over two days. My main reason for going was to do some specific wedding shopping, but it also was a fun opportunity to spend a little bit of time with Jena. I have to make those times count--her schedule keeps booked up enough that it's tough to find a couple days that she has free! Jena is training to run the Dallas marathon in December. That Saturday I was there, she was up and running by 5:30 am til about 8:30--16 miles! Glad it's her and not me! I'd never make it!

Week 2 - Kansas City, Missouri! Yep, you guessed it--wedding shopping! Erinn and I spent some time in Kansas City specifically shopping for wedding gowns, which I am soooo, sooooo happy to say I finally found! Yay!! Yay!! Cross that 2000+ mileage search off my list! Believe it or not, I actually was able to find just what I wanted! Hooray! Plus the days spent with Erinn, Noah and some of her family were a treat!

Week 3 - At church we had a Fall Festival meal instead of our annual traditional fellowship meal the Sunday before Thanksgiving. I always love being able to help with that. Saturday and Sunday were busy days getting everything prepared, then serving the meal and then cleanup. But definitely good times!

at Joe & Karen's wedding!

Some friends at church, Joe & Karen--their wedding was the 20th! That is the first of three weddings coming up in the next year in our church (mine being the third!). For some strange reason I look at weddings a little bit differently now than a year ago--can't imagine why! ;) It's fun to see the different ideas in decorations, flowers, tables, programs, etc--anticipating what I'll do in May!

Luke was here the third weekend this month! He was here just as long as he usually is--Saturday night through Monday, but it seemed like a short trip for some reason. Of course, I had lots on my list to discuss and do. That always seems to be the way it is.

We found these invitations that fit Dodge City perfectly
but not quite the theme of my wedding!

Week 4 - Thanksgiving week! This was the first Thanksgiving in two years that we've been home! And a first that just Dad and myself were here. Last year we went to Kentucky to visit Ryan and Krissa and the year before we went to Alabama to visit Krissa who was working there. This year Jena had to work all weekend and since Ryan and Krissa were just home in August, they stayed in Kentucky. So Dad and I spent a nice, quiet day at home and then went to Tim & Erinn's house for dinner. Perfect day!

And then this last weekend in November I'm in Colorado spending several days with Luke and doing more wedding planning/shopping!

What a fun, exciting and busy month!

My cats jealous? Can it be true?!

My cats love me. With one exception--Luke. They have learned that when he is here, they do not have my undivided attention and they are not happy! At first when Luke started visiting, they would just run and hide when he was around. They have improved much since that time--even letting him pet them. But they still don't like the fact that him being here takes me away from them.

Therefore, I started bribing them a few months ago. I will give them extra treats of food on the days he's here. And the funny thing is--they know it! They will scream consistently until I feed them that special treat every single morning Luke is here. When he isn't here, they don't beg one single bit for it. They know when he's here, they won't get much attention from me, but they will get special food to eat. And since they know they'll be ignored, they demand the food!

They have learned to tolerate his being here, but it never ceases--the moment he leaves and I sit down to do anything, they are right beside me or in my lap within 10 seconds. They know he's gone and they are back to having just me.

Not jealous at all, are they?! ;)

Six months!

Luke and I have been engaged an entire six months! Looking back on the months gone by, six months does not really seem that long! The past few months have flown so unbelievably quick!

A year ago, I never would have believed that I would have been engaged in a year's time to such a wonderful, Godly man! But God has blessed me so much in having Luke in my life--forever!! :)

Family Pics!!!

When Luke, Ryan, Krissa and Jena were home at the end of August, we managed to squeeze in a set of family pics! I've been waiting for years to get a set of family photos on the wall in the hallway and finally now have it! Yay!!!!!!! I'm so thrilled!!!

LukeandSerena.com! :)

I love the fact that I'm getting married in an age where technology is so, well, ummm....in my case, necessary! :) Therefore one of the things on the top of my list in regards to wedding planning was to create a wedding website for Luke and myself.

Once I had engagement photos and wedding colors decided, I went to work! Hours later, here's the result! I love it! Most of my wedding blogging will be on that website instead of here, so check there for wedding updates and news! :)

www.lukeandserena.com

Fall Engagement Photos

From the very beginning I knew I wanted to have engagement photos taken in the Colorado Springs area--ones that included Colorado scenery such as mountains. Something slightly different than Kansas. :)

A couple weeks ago, Luke and I went to Estes Park and had a photo shoot done! Just as we were ready to start, it started pouring rain! But after about 20 minutes, the sky cleared up, it was beautiful and we even had a rainbow! Perfect! :)

Here's a few and there's more here...