Bridals

So here are a few of my Bridals. They were taken at The Garden Park Ward.

 



So cute story about this pic with this random little girl. So we were taking pictures when this lady comes over and asked if her daughter could take her picture with me. She thought I was Cinderella and wasn't cooperating while they were taking their family pictures because she couldn't stop staring at me. Well I couldn't say no! It was so cute and totally made my day!

 



 

This is my gorgeous bouquet that my grandpa made for me. He ended up doing three different ones between this one, one for the temple, and one for the reception. This one is by far my favorite!

 

 

Here is the whole group he came along. My Lisa, My Mom and My Grandma. So glad they were able to come along.

 

The Story of a Girl and Her Dress

So when it comes to my wedding dress, it's quite a long story. I actually bought my dress 2 almost 3 months before we were officially engaged. Yes I know it sounds a little crazy, and I had a lot of episodes of buyers remorse after but that's not important. I actually didn't plan on buying one that soon. But we were going to be visiting my grandparents in Oregon and there were only two people in the world that I had to have go dress shopping with me and that was my mom and my grandma. Now seeing as I had no idea when Colton was actually going to propose, I didn't know if my grandma would be able to be there to go shopping when he finally did. So I decided that we should go look while we were visiting her.

 

So my mom, grandma and I headed up to Tricities to go to David's Bridal. I had looked on their website and had found a dress that I was convinced was the one. So I grabbed that one and a couple others and headed off to the dressing room. I was so excited and put my favorite on first. I loved it! It was everything I thought I wanted, simple and plain, lots of tulle, and I was sure that I was going home with that one. Boy was I wrong. I put on the second dress, and suddenly realized this was going to be a much harder decision than I thought because I loved it too. It still had tulle, but it was different from the first, and this one had some bling, not a lot, but enough for me to realize that I didn't want something as plain as the first dress. This one was also a winner because it had a corsette back, something I'd always wanted in a wedding dress. It also made me look super skinny, which is also a bonus. My mom and grandma were in love too, but I couldn't make a decision yet because I did still love the first and hadn't even tried the third on yet. When I tried the third one on I was finally able to say that there was definately a dress that wasn't for me. It was pretty, but felt more like a prom dress than a wedding dress. After this I was feeling a little lost. I loved both the first two but I still wanted to try on more. So the consultant who was helping me asked me what I liked and didn't like about all the dresses and then went and pulled another one she thought fit what I wanted. I tried it on and it was pretty, but I didn't love it. By this point I was overwhelmed. I really wanted to try on more but knew that would just confuse me more. So I said no more dresses, and put the second one back on. When I came out the consultant brought some shoes, put a veil on, and asked me how I wanted to feel on my wedding day. I said I just wanted to be able to look at Colton and know he was thinking "that's the most beautiful girl I've ever seen". As I walked around, my grandma and mom were telling me how much they loved the dress I knew it was the one. And yes we all started crying. Didn't think I would, but I did. Here is the dress that I bought...

 

 

Now I know that doesn't look temple modest, and it wasn't. But before I get to that story I have to mention something really funny about my shopping experience. When you go to try on dresses they give you a bra to use, so you don't have straps hanging out and it sucks you all in. Well I gave her my size and when I put the bra on it was huge! I thought maybe I was just smaller than I thought and didn't really think much of it. Well after I picked my dress and they were bagging it all up they asked if I wanted to buy the bra and slip. I said no to the bra but they wanted to write down the size anyway just in case I change my mind. Well when this other worker checked the size she found that the cup size was a D! No wonder it was huge! We got a good laugh out of that one.

 

So onto the altering of my dress. I know this is long, I'm sorry. So we brought the dress back to Utah and took it to the David's Bridal here to get it altered. When they told us how much we about died. Ridiculously expensive. But the lady that did it was super nice and did a lot more than she charged us for so that was nice. The only thing she didn't do was add beading to the sleeves. My mom did that. We didn't want to pay another ridiculous amount of money, so my mom said she would do it. It turned out to be a lot more stress than we thought. Between finding the right beads, putting the right amount on, and satisfying a very picky bride, my mom was stressed. But it turned out amazing! It was perfect and I am so happy that she put up with everything to do it. Here is how it turned out...

 

 

I love my dress! It's not what I thought I wanted, but it's perfect!

A New Look

So if you haven't noticed my blog now looks a little different. I figure that now I'm married I would make this mine and Colton's instead of just mine. Granited I will probably be the only one posting but that's fine. This will be about our adventures as newly weds. I also am going to be playing catch up with weddingness for a while seeing as I haven't put anything about the wedding. So stay tuned.

Engagements

So the issue of a wedding photographer was well, an issue. I had someone in my ward I thought would do a good job and would be fairly cheap, since my budget isn't very big I was really going for the cheap part. Well Colton, being into photography, is super picky about this subject. So it was decided after a little debating that Colton would pay for the photographer and we would cover all the flowers, since my grandpa is doing them. Well it was decided that we would use Colton's friend Jeff Bates. For our engagements we went up Tollgate Canyon which is where my family's cabin is. I think it went well and we were able to get all the pictures done before the rain hit. One funny story though. We drove up to a spot above the cabin, it's actually the top of the mountain. We really wanted pictures there, especially since Colton had originally wanted to propose there and that hadn't worked out. Well we get up there and there is a girl just sitting up there and as we're getting our stuff out she asks us if we could leave and come back later because her brother was on his way to propose to his girlfriend. So needless to say we still have no picture up there. Oh well. Here are a few of my faves...I hope you enjoy them as much as I do :)

 

 

We Finally Have a Temple!

So this may sound weird to some of you but I am so happy to say we FINALLY have the Temple reserved. It really has been such a pain and after finally getting it done I don't understand why.

So here's the story... About a week or so after we got engaged, Colton came over so we could call the Temple together. After being on hold for probably 10 minutes, Colton finally got through to this lady. He told her we wanted to reserve a room for a marriage and sealing. She asked him what time and for our membership numbers (which we did not have with us). Then she asked him if we were endowed and when he said no she then asked if we had current temple recommends. When he said no again she proceeded to tell him that we couldn't reserve anything until we had current temple recommends. He just said ok and then hung up and told me what she said. I was angry because that made absolutely no sense and I tend to overreact. After talking to others though we decided that the lady was crazy because nobody had ever heard that before.

So I decided to call again a couple of weeks later. But this time when I called I got a message saying that the temple was closed for two weeks for cleaning/maintenance work whatever. At this point I was getting really frustrated. I decided this was a sign and it could mean one of two things. Either God was telling us that we are awful people and he doesn't want us in the Temple or Satan was trying to discourage us and doesn't want us to go to the Temple because he is Satan and doesn't want us to be happy. I was hoping it was the second option but if things went screwy a third time I was going with the first option.

Luckily though the third time is a charm and this time things went smooth as can be, confirming that the first lady we talked to was indeed crazy. So we are officially getting married at 9:00 am at the Oquirrh Mountain Temple :) Yay!



Wedding Plans Are Coming Along

Can I just say I am loving planning this wedding! While I'm not getting everything exactly how I want, it's going to be pretty darn close! We went over and looked at the gym at the church the other day so we can figure out lighting. I'm wanting an outdoorsy feel with dimmer lighting and Christmas lights above like a tent so it looks like stars with Chinese lanterns hanging. My colors are orange and yellow which are helping with the fall theme. The backdrop is going to be wood with greenery on and around it. The center pieces are going to be bare branches with flowers and pumpkins surrounding it. It probably sounds weird, but it really is going to be gorgeous! At least I think so.

It's hard to believe this wedding I've been dreaming about forever is finally happening! I'm so excited! And it's a bonus that I'm marrying my best friend, which is what I've always wanted. It is 74 days away (yes I am counting) which seems so far away but at the same time it's coming so fast! I feel like August is almost over already and it's only beginning. I'm trying to enjoy this time and not wish it away, but I can't wait for the day to come. It has been a long road getting here and I can't wait for a new chapter of my life to start.

Colton and I have started planning the honeymoon, which is making this all the more real. I can't wait. It's going to be so fun. The plan thus far is going to Disneyland. We are kind of Disneyland obsessed people and this will be our third trip there together. But this will be the first time we get to go alone. I'm excited for our first trip together and it should be lots of fun.

I'm so glad plans are coming along.



Blast From the Past

So the last couple days I have been digging up pictures for Colton so he can begin working on our video to play at the reception. All I can say is, there are a lot of pictures! Colton is going to hate me when he gets my huge stack of prints plus all my digitals. Also I've discovered that I was almost non-existant in Jr. High. The only pictures I have, which are very few, are from YW activities and dance pictures. Apparently all I did during those days was YW and dance. Oh well. Here is some pics I found that I thought I would share :)

 Wasn't I cute...

 What can I say...I've been wedding obsessed since I was little

My first dance pic

He Liked It So He FINALLY Put A Ring On It!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes people I am excited to say that after all these years Colton and I are finally, officially, getting married! I am so happy and excited that it has finally happened that I can hardly contain myself. So here's the story...

Saturday Colton and I were planning on going to my cabin for the afternoon/evening. He'd asked me if we could so that he could cut down some trees for my grandparents. I was reluctant because my Lloyd grandparents were here from Oregon and I didn't want to ditch them. But they said that was fine so that was the plan. Well Friday night was a bit of a rough night for me. I had a dress fitting (yes I already have a dress which is a story for another day), and it was really hard to go in and realize I'm still not really engaged and I felt like my chances of actually getting to wear the dress were pretty slim, along with being excited about how much I loved it and not being able to say anything to anyone put me in kind of sad mood. Then I get home and find out two more people I know are engaged and that kind of sent me over the edge. So needless to say I went to bed pretty upset at Colton, and he knew it too.

Saturday morning I woke up still pretty upset. I didn't really want to go anywhere with him that day but didn't want to back out on our plans. Well, because of the major fire that was going on down in Eagle Mountain, and the high winds, Colton decided it would be better not to go to the cabin, but instead go to Lagoon. I didn't really want to, but he said we could go swimming which I'd been craving to do all summer. My mom and grandma told me I should go, and my grandma was really on me about being nice to Colton (which should've been my first clue that something was up). So we left for Lagoon and I have to admit I wasn't the nicest. We stopped to get something to eat and I was really on him about the fact that certain people had gotten engaged before us. I remember him saying "good things are on the horizon" or something like that, and my response was "I'll believe it when I see it".

Once we started swimming I began to be a little happier. While it was super hot, the wind made swimming kind of unpleasent, so we didn't swim very long. As we were walking to the car to put our swim stuff away we ran into Brad and the babies. We decided to hang out with them and after we put our stuff away. I have to admit, hanging out with Colton's nieces always boosts my mood, which was probably good for him. By dinner time I was a much happier person then I'd been that morning.

A few things happened that should've given me clues that he was going to propose, but I wasn't really paying attention, or I tried to talk myself down so as not to get my hopes up. First of all I kept staring at his pocket. He was wearing cargo pants and had big pockets, which could easily hide a ring box. I seriously kept looking at his pocket thinking, "he could totally have a ring in there" but then kept telling myself  he didn't so that I wouldn't get my hopes up. There was also this conversation with Melissa about the Ferris Wheel. Colton had told me that he wanted to propose on the Ferris Wheel at sunset. I hate the Ferris Wheel so I wasn't exactly a fan of this idea. But for some reason Melissa brought it up at dinner and was really trying to push going on it. But I refused. Also, Brad kept saying "you guys don't have to hang out with us, you can  go do your own thing". I didn't really think anything of it because he usually says that when we go to Lagoon with them, he was just saying it a lot more than usual. But like I said, I was kind of clueless.

Well after one of Brad's "you guys can go", Colton says he needs a drink and to use the bathroom and we'll meet up with them in a little bit. I remember suddenly getting this wave of like butterflies and thinking "he's going to propose", but I quickly dismissed it and told myself he wasn't going to, no need to get my hopes up. Well as we started walking back from the bathroom, Colton started walking really slow and wanting to take detours. At one point he stopped and said he needed a hug, which I thought was weird. Then a little ways farther he turned me around and got down on one knee! I was shocked! I was so excited and shocked I barely remember him saying, "Aleigh, will you marry me?" of course I said yes! I was so happy I just kept hugging and kissing him. I couldn't believe it finally happened!

Honestly, I still can't believe it's actually happening. I've been waiting for this for so long, and now we're finally getting married. I really am so happy. I'm excited to plan our wedding, I've been looking forward to that for as long as I can remember. But I'm even more excited to be marrying my best friend, and getting to spend eternity with him!

Out of the Mouths of Babes...

So tonight at dinner Kyler was rambling about me being light or something (I wasn't really listening) and then says I'm "a little fat". So later I ask him why he thought I was fat and the following conversation followed...

Kyler: I didn't say that.

Me: Yes you did.

Kyler: No I said you were light.

Mom: Kyler am I fat?

Kyler: Sort of

Me: Kyler you don't ever tell someone they are fat. Even if they ask you should always say no.

Kyler: But the truth is important.

Me: But this is something that's okay to lie about. Unless someone is really fat and it is making them sick and they can't get out of bed.

Kyler: But you're light and you can't get out of bed...

So basically I just got told by a 6 year old. This kid is funny though and gave us all a good laugh. Love you Kyler :)

I'm Back!

Hello blogging world, it's been a while! And I mean like, a long while. If my calculations are correct, over a year while. I'm sorry. I don't really know why I stopped, I just did. I didn't really think about my blog until recently, when I've had a lot of time to do nothing, and found that, while I'm in pretty much the same place a year ago, a lot has happened and I have not recorded it anywhere. And there is a lot that is about to happen that I want to remember. I know that there are probably two people that actually read this, but I'm not doing this for them I'm doing this for myself. I don't want to forget memories. So from now on I'm going to do better, for real this time!

So while I'm here I thought I'd do a quick review of what's happened over the last year....

First off, I officially graduated college!!! Woot Woot. College was definitely hard but I don't regret doing it at all. And I don't regret my decision to go to SUU either!

After graduation I got to take my first trip to Seattle, WA for Kati and Blake's wedding. It was a short but fun trip.

Literally two days later I had to go back down to Cedar for Dance Magic's Recital. It felt so good to see all my kids perform one more time, and also get to dance myself :) I loved all my kids, especially my Jr. Premier girls. They were all so amazing and I miss them so much but I know they're all still being the amazing dancers I know they are!

About a month later I got my first full time job. I became a One Year Old Teacher at Small World's Child Care Center. It was an okay job. I met some awesome people who have become my really good friends. I also fell madly in love with some adorable kids! I never knew I could love and care for kids that weren't my own, but I did. But while I made friends and loved my kids, it was not the job for me and I left in March.

In August, I bought my first car!!! I love it and it is so nice to finally have my own!

In October I took a trip with Colton to the Happiest Place on Earth...Disneyland!!! We went with Brad and Melissa and their cute girls, and Chris and Amber and their boys, and Melissa's family. It was seriously the funnest trip! So many good times and memories that will not soon be forgotten! I can't wait to go again!

Also in October was mine and Colton's 4 year anniversary. I can't believe it's been that long, but it has and despite all the bumps along the way, I don't regret a second of those 4 years. I love Colton and that's all there is too it!

In November I turned 22 and got a new calling. I was called as the Beehive Personal Progress Leader. I wasn't sure how I felt at first, but I really do love it. It's hard sometimes, and coming up with activities that all the girls will enjoy is difficult, but I'm glad that I'm doing this and am really enjoying myself, even if it does make me feel old, lol.

In February, I started teaching dance again. In my basement :) I had some mom's in my ward ask if I would teach their daughters because they were unhappy with studios around. So after some cleaning out of the basement, I started teaching 9 girls from the neighborhood. It has been so fun! I love my girls, even when they are being stinkers. They are a fun group and I'm glad that I decided to embark on this adventure.

In March, Colton got offered a full time position at Varian X-Ray Products where he'd been working as an Intern for about two years. I also got two new jobs...on the same day. First I got offered a job at my old dance studio, Becky's School of Dance. It was an interesting situation that brought me back, but I'm so happy to be back. I loved dancing at that studio and I love that now I get to teach there. On the same day, I got offered a job at ABC Great Beginnings, another day care. It seemed like a good decision so I took it. After two days there though I realized that I really don't want to work in day care anymore. So after some serious prayer, I put in my two weeks notice on the second day. Crazy, I know, but it was a decision I needed to make and I haven't regretted it.

April was a crazy month that seriously flew. The first week we went on a family trip to visit my grandparents in Oregon. We went to the coast, shopping, and just had some good family time together. It was a good trip. When I got back I started my new job and quit my new job.

And now here we are, in May and things are still happening. Colton finally graduated and I couldn't be prouder! He is officially an engineer and working full time at Varian, which means big things for us...but I'll discuss that more as it happens :) While I am again unemployed I'm not worried. I probably should be, but I'm not. I have a couple of interviews lined up and I know everything will work out. Because it always does.