Write- How, What, When, Where, Why!

JOURNALS....

My failed attempts to keep journals has been great. In fact I have a whole box of journals only 1/4 or if I'm lucky 1/2 way full of entries.

Every once in awhile I'll get this sudden gust of desire to keep a journal. I'll get a new journal and start writing all the things happening in my life! But unfortunately this gust turns into nothing after a pretty short period of time. WHY? Well probably for a number of reasons. Don't have TIME to write everything I want to on a daily basis, and I can't decide what the most convenient way to keep a journal is.

Is the standard notebook and pen the best way to go? Should I go electronic using a word document or something? What do I really want to keep a journal of?

Well I googled some "journal keep ideas" and it seems like everyone has different kinds of journals to keep, but no one really talked about how to keep them. I expected to find something on the best way to keep a journal while living in the year 2012! Perhaps no one else knows the best way to do this either...

So here is my thoughts: I love memories. And I have a HORRIBLE time remembering them. I know I need to keep a journal. So, I'm going to try the old fashioned way for now. Reason being that I can tape tickets, pictures, stickers, receipts, etc. onto paper. I love adding those little details to my memories.

However, call me crazy, I'm going to try 5 different journals....

#1- Travel Journal. Whenever we travel somewhere as a couple, I want to have a specific journal of pictures, foods we ate, where we stayed, all the fun things we did! Probably starting with our honeymoon!

#2- Gratitude Journal. This will hopefully be my most frequently used. Something I want to try and do every night before I go to bed, right down what I'm grateful for that day! There is something different about a person who is truly grateful in their life.

#3- Dan Journal. Keeping the notes he's written, dates we've gone on, projects we've finished together, moments he's rescued me (like when I lost my car keys yesterday), all the new reasons I discover I love him every day!

#4- Bucket List Journal. Things we want to do and accomplish together! Fun and serious, far and wide! Write our experience when we accomplish them!

#5- Spiritual Journal. This will be with me every week at church, at firesides, baptisms, during my personal study and companionship study with Dan. Just to write thoughts, impressions, etc.

I guess essentially this blog can count as some form of a journal. Probably more of my random thoughts journal for friends and family to read!

Wish me luck on this endeavor and if you have any helpful hints or tidbits on what's worked for you, I'm all ears!

Now I've got to go purchase some journals...

Wedding Helps!!!

So planning a wedding isn't exactly easy!

There were so many things to do and some of them I had NO CLUE where to start! So this is a blog dedicated to anyone who is planning a wedding and needs a direction or place to start!

Before you do anything- print this TO-DO LIST off! It gives you a timeline of where you should be and saved my life!!!  http://www.ldsweddings.com/articles/4months.html 

Photographers:

Amanda Proudfit: I saw that one of my friends was getting some cute portfolio pics done as she was getting ready to graduate college. I saw that she had them done through Proudfit Photography. I check out there website and found out that they did engagements for a SUPER good deal! ($75) They are currently running 50% off portfolio building prices. Amanda is SO artistic. She has a great eye for uniqueness and making things beautiful. Can't go wrong here. Check her out!
http://proudfitphotography.com/
http://www.facebook.com/#!/proudfitphotography

Videographer:

Katie Nielson: Katie is the MOST reasonably priced, creative, beautiful videographer you'll ever meet! I met Katie about 3 months before I got married when she started working at my last job. She does videography as a second job- I thought it was pretty cool. I personally wasn't planning on having anything to do with a videographer. I thought they were just another "wedding tradition" that sucked peoples wedding funds. BUT THEN I WATCHED KATIE'S SAMPLES on her blog... I almost cried they were so amazing. She has her own style. It's not just like a home video. It's super classy. I'm telling you, YOU HAVE TO go through Katie! I can't rave about her enough! Check out her blog below and watch for yourself, then look at her AMAZING prices. It's a no brainer. Her email and facebook link are below as well. PS- Katie is hilarious on top of being amazing at this! You'll have so much fun with her!
Blog: http://kchristinevideography.blogspot.com/

Email:katiechristine1989@gmail.com

Facebook:http://facebook.com/kcnielson

Wedding Decorations:

Kris Larsen: Meeting Kris was a miracle. Her daughter worked with my mom at the hospital and told us we should go over to her house and check out her stuff. Oh my did she have the most amazing wedding decorations we'd ever seen. Hiring Kris to do my wedding saved my life!!! She took care of pretty much everything! This was one part of my wedding I would do exactly the same again. It made things stress free and everything was exactly how I envisioned. I loved our reception thanks to Kris!
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/One-Fine-Day-Wedding-Event-Planning
Email:
Phone #: 801-668-0433

Massage:

Abby Stuart: The best thing you can do for yourself is get a massage! When it's the week of your wedding, go see Abby. She will change your life! She is right out of Weber Canyon and has a massage studio in her home. Abby is THE nicest lady you'll ever meet. She only charges $40 for a full hour, head to toe, massage. I think that is an awesome deal, the best I have found. CALL HER!
Phone #: 801-479-1027

Ring Shopping:

Here are my feelings about some of the places we went ring shopping and where we found the best deal:
- Shane Co: Sales guy didn't give a rats left ear about what we wanted. Wouldn't help us, just kept handing us rings we didn't like after we told him several times what we were looking for. Waste of time.
- Jerricks: Jerricks was awesome. Had some of the greatest variety I've seen. Really really cool guy. Very helpful
- SE Needhams: SO OVERATED. They had hardly any selection, had hardly any room to sit. Was a huge disappointment.
- Jonathan Jewelers: This is where we got our ring! Jonathan was so willing to custom build our ring and not charge us every dime. He was fast, great to work with, really respected us and did everything he could to make us happy! SO GREAT!
www.jonathansjewelry.com/
(801) 943-0303 
6900 Highland Drive, Salt Lake City, UT 84121

Wedding Dresses:

This is a hard one for me to talk about- I had horrible experience, after horrible experience wedding dress shopping! It was awful. Simply because I didn't feel like the customer, I felt like the farm girl taking orders. Every dress shop told me when I could come, how many dresses I could try on, some wouldn't even let me touch/look at the dresses they had. I could only describe what I wanted. I hated it. I like freedom, choices!

My advice is to go to the small less known shops- avoid David's Bridal and major Utah dress shops. Way over priced, and look like every other dress I've seen. The two dress shops I liked the best were Fairy Godmother Bridal and Fantasy Bridal. They were still way pushy, but had the most unique and variety of dresses I'd seen. 

Google their names if you are interested!

Wedding Cakes:

Ingrid Roeschmann: Ingrid is from Chile and she is SO cute! She is the wife of one of my former co-workers. What I loved about Ingrid is that she is a perfectionist. I showed her what I wanted my cake to look like and she went and bought a Cricut to make the details sharp and crisp! She is one of the only people who actually does REAL fillings in cakes. She did Nutella & Strawberrys, Nutella and nuts, IT WAS SO GOOD! I love Nutella! Contact her over facebook! OH and she is a GREAT DEAL TOO!
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ingrid.roeschmann

Reception Music:

Marny Proudfit: This girl is LEGIT!!!! Oh my gosh I couldn't have asked for a better voice! She will make it big someday! Listen to her and make the decision for yourself!
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/marnyproudfit
Listen to her Music Here: http://www.soundcloud.com/marnyproudfit

My Last Advice- Over all I would say, keep it simple. Don't forget the true meaning of what this is actually all about! Don't get lost in the details of napkins and the color of your nails. But keep a healthy balance of having fun planning and preparing yourself to make the biggest commitment to the love of your life! Your wedding is only ONE day in this huge grand scheme of things, your marriage is eternity. Being married is the best, you'll love it!