Reception Site...Found!

On June 5th, 2010, I will officially be Mrs. Jeff Larson! We found a BEAUTIFUL reception site, the Springdale Country Club, and I feel a thousand times better knowing that things are starting to fall into place! We were so lucky that they are reciprocating our Country Club membership from Fort Smith, I love this place!

Sorry, some of these pictures are low quality, I had my old camera and it's barely working!

The second, smaller dining area...

One view of the main dining area...

This is where we will put our cake...

A fire pit for a cigar roller and a place for the boys to smoke the cigars...

Where the food will go...

Another view of the main dining area and the DJ/dance floor will go in the back section...

Where we'll put engagement pictures and pictures of our parents and grandparents on their wedding day...

Front entrance...

I'm excited!!

Work, School, Wedding, Friends...Crazy Weekend Ahead!

I'm so busy I don't know what to do first...blog of course! =) I've been in a whirlwind ever since we got home. Telling everyone about the engagement and showing them my ring has been so much fun! Unfortunately, it takes time away from the million things I need to get caught up on.

This is the last week before our final for my class and I have a final exam to study for, a paper to write, and homework to catch up on. I think I'm going to have to stay home Friday night and work on everything, unless I can get a lot of it done between now and then.

Meanwhile, this weekend my parents are coming up and we're all going to look at reception location possibilities because pretty much everything is already booked up that we've looked at =( The place I really wanted to have it at, Botanical Gardens, only has 3 dates available and they're all not around when we want to have the wedding. But we're still going to go out there and see if we can make it work.


Also, Saturday night a friend of ours is having a Cook-Out at his house. So I'm going to have to rush home, get ready and make a dish to bring. I'm thinking fruit salad or something quick like that. Anyone have any good, easy side-dish recipes?

We had Date Night last night and I cooked some yummy salmon, rice, and green beans. We watched "Marley and Me" but I made him turn it off when I knew the dog was about to die. I think Jeff knew I would cry all night and make Vincent sleep with me if I saw that ending! He was like "awww, I love my sensitive girl!"

Well, back to my long to-do list, have a great day, tomorrow is Friday!

We're Home! Links to Pictures!

We're home! I'm so sleepy and have so much to do, work and class tomorrow are going to be brutal! Since I took about 500 pictures on the trip, I thought I would just send the Facebook links so that you guys can view them easier. You can view them even if you don't have an account on Facebook. Enjoy!

Florence:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2201111&id=20607600&l=3d8e558846

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2201129&id=20607600&l=ead3718598

Cinque Terre:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2201132&id=20607600&l=ee651523e2

Munich:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2201137&id=20607600&l=2fa9608ffa

IM ENGAGED!!!!

Gutentag from Germany! Im sitting at our hotel restaurant in Munich enjoying a nice hot cafe latte and I thought I would drop a quick note to let you all know that Im engaged!!! (If you didnt already know from Facebook!)

It was an amazing proposal...he did it while we were on the hillside of our villa overlooking the night time skyline of Florence. I cried and laughed for about 5 minutes then we went back to the house and told his parents and sister, brother in law, and neice...they were very excited!

My ring is absolutely beautiful and I cant wait to post pictures of it! Im the happiest girl in the world right now!

We leave to go back to the states tomorrow morning and Im really excited to see everyone and show pictures and tell stories. Talk to you soon!!

Tomorrow! Tomorrow! We're leaving tomorrow! It's only a day awayyyyyyy!

We leave for Italy tomorrow! Woo hoooooo! I am so excited, I've definitely already mentally checked out so I hope no one decides to ask me to do anything difficult today. And I REALLY hope I can pull it together enough to concentrate on studying for and taking my midterm tonight.

I have a pretty busy day today, of course. I've got to finish a ton of school stuff, study for and take my midterm, exchange currency, get some last minute things at Wal-Mart, nail appointment, finish my packing list, and start organizing things for packing tomorrow.

Our plane leaves at 5:55pm so thank goodness I'll have a lot of the day free to get things done tomorrow. I want to do some last minute cleaning for my cousin and his wife, and I'll want to work out obviously. Wow, these next 2 days are going to be craziness!

We finally made our reservations in Cinque Terre and Munich. We're staying at some AWESOME places! The house we're staying at in Cinque Terre is literally on the side of a mountain and we hike up 500 meters to get to it. We have an ocean view terrace connected to our room and the view is amazing! Check this out!:

And our hotel in Munich is at a great location, it's right by the train station and Haufbrau and all kinds of local attractions. I am soooooo excited!

And of course the villa that we're staying at in Florence for the first 5 days doesn't even seem real because it's so gorgeous. I am soooooo excited!

So far the weather looks amazing too...highs in the mid to upper 80's and sunny. 0% chance of rain, woo hoo! Oh my gosh, I have got to get these butterflies in my stomach under control!

Alrighty, back to accomplishing all the tasks in my busy day, have a great Monday!

5 Days and Counting, I am So Excited!!!

I cannot BELIEVE that we leave for Italy in 5 days! It seems like just yesterday we were counting down the MONTHS and now it's already here. I've been crazy busy trying to get everything we need for the trip, finalize lots of to do lists and packing lists, get things done ahead of time for school, and I've had tons of stuff to do at work and lots of fun events at night and on the weekends lately. I'm gonna need a big ole' nap when I get back from this trip!

I picked up the backpack I ordered and I LOVE IT! I can't wait to get it home and see all the compartments and features. I didn't have time to look through it after I got it at lunch today. Isn't it cute and girly though?!

I've been getting tons of advise from people that have been to Europe which is great because I haven't a clue what to expect. Basically I've been told:

1. They'll steal you blind if you aren't aware of your surroundings
2. They'll run you over in the street because they're the craziest drivers ever
3. Do not wear shorts or jeans because if you look like a tourist you will get taken advantage of/things will get stolen
4. Make tons of copies of passport, credit, and debit card emergency numbers
5. Bring water everywhere you go because it gets HOT walking around everywhere
6. Wear sunscreen
7. Say a little prayer every time you get into a taxi
8. Don't forget adapters/converters
9. The men LOVE American women so BEWARE!
10. Get ready to find the best deals you've ever seen on Gucci, Armani, Burberry, etc. at the factory outlets!!
11. Cherish every moment because this is one of the most beautiful places on Earth!!!

So yeah, I can't wait!!

I am however a little uneasy about the flight. I'm not the best flier, sometimes I am and sometimes I'm not. But I've got some medication to help if I start to feel the familiar creeping on of a panic attack (it's the worst feeling ever btw). This whole Air France flight thing on the news REALLY freaked me out.

This has been a really fun week so far. We had Girl's Night on Tuesday night at Louie's to celebrate Tara's last day of teaching before summer break and to celebrate my going to Italy. It was fun, I love catching up with everyone and having good conversations.

Then last night, we had a surprise birthday party for my friend Gina at the Pesto Cafe. It was a hilarious night and I don't think we stopped laughing the entire time. I've got some funny pictures to upload but I don't have my camera with me today.

And tonight Jeff and I have joint hair appointments with Deborah at Dead Swanky! I'm so glad I finally got him to start using my stylist, she's done wonders with his hair, as in, it's EVEN now!! lol

I think we're going to a pool party on Saturday and possibly the lake (if I get everything done in time) on Sunday. My To Do List for the weekend consists of:

1. Finish Reading and Notes for class (Chapters 7,8,9)
2. Finish Homework Assignments for Chapters 6,7,8
3. Study for Midterm (monday)
4. BodyAttack on Saturday
5. BodyCombat and BodyPump on Sunday
6. LAUNDRY
7. Clean and Organize house for John and Michelle's visit while I'm gone - My cousin and his wife are going to be house/kitty sitters while I'm away! =)
8. Exchange currency
9. Finish packing list and decide which suitcase I'm taking
10. Make a list of restaurants and fun things to do for John and Michelle's visit
11. Load iPod with new songs
12. Did I mention study for a midterm? yeah

I think my fun little Polyvore collage I created does a good job explaining what my style on the trip will be like! I'm actually excited to start packing:

Ok, back to checking things off the lists, have a great rest of the week!