The Newest Member of my shoe family, Jimmy!!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!! Oh my goodness this year has flow by and before you know it we will be ushering in the New Year and be months away from finally tying the knot. But this thanksgiving I am grateful for so much. I have a wonderful fiancée, a loving family (who all think I am a good cook), great friends, and even a new friend name Jimmy. You see I met Jimmy yesterday while shopping. I know, I know most people don’t shop until the Friday after Thanksgiving but I love how dead malls and shopping places are on Wednesday.

Yesterday my parents and I met my brother at Arizona Mills for lunch and mainly to go check out the Kenneth Cole Outlet (my brother needed/wanted a pair of shoes that had been discontinued). Well I dragged my mom into the Off Sak 5^th Avenue store just to look, maybe even find a Bridal Shower dress, Rehearsal dinner dress, who knows anything. Well little did I know in the shoe area I would find my new best friend, Jimmy, Jimmy Choo. My mom has been great during the whole wedding planning process and one thing she asked for was that I wear orange shoes. Well orange shoes are way harder to find than I thought when I agreed to this great idea. I have spent countless hours searching the internet for orange shoes that are sexy, not that high, just the right orange, and don’t look like striper shoes. I had high expectations for my wedding day shoes as these would be the shoes that would carry me through the ceremony and the ones that would see me through as I walked hand in hand with my husband down the aisle as our family and friends looked on.

Well wouldn’t you know sitting on the discounted rack was Jimmy. Now this story is kind of like the story of the Goldilocks and the three bears. First my mom found one pair that was way to small, than one pair that was way to big. Getting a little disappointed I walked away sad that those damn near perfect shoes would not fit my too big or too small foot (depending on which sample I had on). Well I gave it one last go around to see if I had just missed seeing another pair. And there Jimmy sat beautiful as ever. I grabbed the box sat down and pulled them out and wouldn’t you have known they were BROKEN. My perfect sized shoe BROKEN. Good thing my mom is handy and without missing a beat goes “I can fix these.” So up to the register we went box in hand to see what the store could do in terms of letting us buy a pair of broken shoes. So we politely explained the situation to the woman ringing us up and than the manager and she said 30% off, hot damn, SOLD!!! So I got my perfect $1100 Jimmy Choo shoes for $185, I feel like I damn near robbed the store.

You may be wondering “wait 30% off $1100 is not $185” well let me explain. You see since Jimmy had already been on the discounted rack he was marked down to $345 than since all shoes on the discounted rack were 30% off I got that too thus making my Jimmy’s about 85% off. WOW I love me a great deal. Without future ado here’s Jimmy (please excuse my chubby little toes & my unpainted toe nails).

One Picture of Jimmy is never enough!!

xoxox
britt

Out Fitting the Kids

No I am not saying we have kids yet but Barry and I are really lucky to have some seasoned vets walking down the aisle with us. You see our flower girl and ring bearer have been in numerous weddings and have walked down many more aisle than I or Barry, even though they are many years our juniors. So we have put much thought into what they should wear.

Would I want the flower girl to be a spitting image of myself? NO way. I totally think that is creepy to put a little girl in a replica wedding dress. Would she wear a little UA cheerleader outfit? Nope, my mother vetoed that (and looking back I am glad she did). But than one day it came to me – TULLE. I want our beautiful flower girl, who even walks on her tip toes all the time, to look like a little ballerina dressed in tulle. Well describing this image to a few people invoked this lovely image in most of their heads (above), which isn’t exactly the look I was going for. Now fast forward a few weeks when Jen and I were at a bridal store looking for bridesmaid dresses and we stumbled upon the most perfect little dress (to your right) that I know would look awesome on our lovely flower girl. Upon falling in love with the dress I proceeded to look at the price tag. And who would have guessed that it was so ridiculously priced that for a while I was content on not having it. So turning to the internet I researched online bridal shops and requested many quotes to see if I would be able to actually justify the buying of this dress. Well as luck would have it I did receive a quote that has put this dress within my reach and thus ending the search for the perfect flower girl dress.

Now the ring bearer was a lot easier to decide on what he would be wearing once I convinced one person that it is in fact cute and not all my lovely formal photos would have him sporting such an awesome accessory. For the most part our ring bearer with wear the same suit and tie as all the groomsmen, but has he walks down the aisle he will be sporting a lovely UA basketball jersey (don’t worry it matches the wedding color scheme) over his monkey suit. I do think that all our groomsmen will be a little envious of his AWESOME attire, I know the groom is.

So with that almost everyone’s outfit has been set in stone 100%. The only few people I still need to worry about getting outfitted are my 3 lovely ladies who are standing up at the front with me and also my wonderful and supportive mother who has helped keep me sane and grounded during this entire process.

xoxox
britt

Overdue? Really?

With less than 8 months until the BIG day when we finally become husband and wife planning is finally in full swing. As every current and pass bride will tell you online wedding check lists are a great source of information and often a great tool to help keep you on track and ensure you don’t miss something “important.” (I say “important” because in all reality the only important thing is that you have two people who want to make a comment to each other, an officiant, and a witness. Everything else I consider icing on the cake or in this case butter cream icing on a wedding cake). So no matter how much help these tools provide, lately they have been a source of stress for me. You see when we started the planning process in June 2007 (wow that was long ago & to think of all the people who date and marry in a shorter time than our engagement blows my mind) we had plenty of time to hash everything out and the only thing on our “To-do List” was announce engagement, plan a budget, and decide what type of wedding you want. Well as of today I would say only 1 of those has been definitely done. Yep I am 100% positive most people know we are engaged and I also think that might be the only task on the list that was easy to accomplish and hasn’t changed a million and one times. In fact I think all our guest who got our STDs thought “well it is about time, haven’t they been engaged for over a year already?” But the other two plan a budget (we have a general idea of who is paying for what and what we would like to keep it under) & decide what type of wedding you want (this is constantly being altered a tweaked but for the most part is solid) are still fluid concepts in our wedding planning process & by fluid I mean they have the ability to change and be reevaluated as we learn and travel down this fun wedding planning path.

Well I am content with these being checked off the list as they have been hashed out enough and everyone who is important in the decision making process are all on the same page about them so they no longer show up on my list of things to do. But when I signed in a few days ago I noticed SIX count them SIX things that were OVERDUE. Wow who would have ever thought with all the time we have been engaged that we would procrastinate and have things that are overdue. Well I clicked to see what was overdue and they were some “important” tasks. These overdue tasks range from simple (start to think abut how you will wear your hair) to the “important” (Book a DJ & Florist). Good thing I still perspective still – if worst comes to worse I can do my own hair, I can play my Ipod, & I can go to the grocery store for flowers but no wonder women turn into BRIDEZILLAs. Without the help of my family, friends and my future hubbs I am sure I would not have perspective and would fall into the “wedding industry” trap and be all BRIDEZILLA up in here but so far I am cool and collected and after making my own to-do list without things being overdue I have learned I need to use the help of those who offer more and lucky for me I have many talented people who have offered to help. So my goal and on the top of my to-do list for the next 7+ months is to stay level headed and not become BRIDEZILLA.

xoxo

britt

Reasons why

I stumbled upon this while reading other people's blogs today and it was too good to pass up. Hope you all enjoy it as much as I did.

10 reason​ns Why Gay Marriage is Wrong According to those who votes Yes on 8 and 102...

1) Being​ gay is not natural.
*And real Americans always reject unnatural thing​s like eyeglasses,​ polyester, air conditioning, tattoos, piercing and silicon breasts.

2) Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay.
*In the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall.​

3) Legalizing​ gay marriage will open the door to all kinds​ of crazy​ behavior.
*People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal​standing and can sign a marriage contract.​ Lamps are next.​

4) Straight marriage has been around a long time and hasn’t changed at all.
*Hence​ why women​ are still​ property, blacks still​ can'​t marry​ white​s,​ and divorce is still​ illegal.

5) Straight marriage will be less meaningful if gay marriage were allow​ed;​
*And we can'​t let the sanctity of Britney Spear​s'​ 55-​hour just-​for-​fun marriage be destroyed or J Lo’s...​

6) Straight marriages are valid because they produce children.
*So there​fore,​ gay couple,​infer​tile couples,​ and old people shouldn’t be allow​ed to marry​ because our population isn’t out of control, our orphanages aren’t full yet, and the world needs more children.​

7) Obviously gay parents will raise gay children.​
*Since, of course, straight parents only raise straight children.

8) Gay marriage is not supported by religion.
*In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are imposed on the entire country. That’s why we have only one religion in America.​

9) Children can never succeed without a male and a female role model at home.
*Which is exactly why we as a society expressly forbid single parents to raise children?

10) Gay marriage will change the foundation of society; we could never adapt to new social norms.
*​Just like we haven’t adapted to cars,​the service-sector economy, or longer life spans.

xoxo
britt

Just Sad

Oh Catholic Church, how I love thee, but I do not always have to love what you do. This is very frustrating and sad. Religion is supposed to be about love and it is amazing how far away religions can get from that simple principle.

A priest in Greenville, S.C., says that Catholics who voted for Barack Obama should not receive Holy Communion because the president-elect supports abortion rights. "Voting for a pro-abortion politician when a plausible pro-life alternative exists constitutes material cooperation with intrinsic evil," the Rev. Jay Scott Newman writes in a letter to parishioners at St. Mary's Catholic Church.

http://news.aol.com/?feature=247897

Religion is supposed to be perfect, but the people in the religion are not always perfect. I am not defending this priest. What he did is terrible. He probably alienated a good portion, perhaps 50% of the members.

I will continue to go to Mass at a Catholic Church weekly. I view the organized religion as a family member - you may not always agree with that individual, but you continue to love them and forgive.

All churches should remain out of elections. The same goes for the Mormon Church (primarily) and other churches funding against gay marriage. The funding from churches could be better spent helping the homeless, poor, needy, sick - like Jesus did.

I am just tired of hearing about this every election. I think it is time to remove the non-profit status...

- Jen

A True Love Story

We are constantly viewing and reading bad news that it is great to find a heartwarming story. I just had to share this video:

Love always prevails. :-)

- Jen

Crazies

CNN article: Gun sales surge after Obama wins election

http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/11/11/obama.gun.sales/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

People are off their rockers. I am glad to know that we are in terrible economic times and people are running off to buy guns. Nice.

Scary!

According to FBI figures for the week of November 3 to 9, the bureau received more than 374,000 requests for background checks on gun purchasers -- a nearly 49 percent increase over the same period in 2007. Conatser said his store, Virginia Arms Company, has run out of some models -- such as the AR-15 rifle, the civilian version of the military's M-16 -- and is running low on others.

That is indeed what we need - more civilian versions of the military's M-16. I feel safer already.

Crazies.

- Jen

What to watch at the gym

Election Day ended gloriously after an Election Day party full of friends and good food. I am excited and incredibly optimistic about America’s future – excited to close Guantanamo Bay, excited to end the archaic practice of water boarding, excited to end the arrogant practice extraordinary rendition, excited to see funding for stem cell research….

But the news is driving me crazy. At the gym, it was watching E about Hugh Hefner’s ex-girlfriends (no thanks), TNT’s Charmed, or CNN talk about Michelle Obama.

I would be thrilled if they talked about Michelle’s own accomplishments, but I am tired of hearing what type of First Lady Michelle is going to be. We all know she is going to be great, but I am sick of hearing that she is going to “strike a balance between Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush.”

What was wrong with Hillary Clinton? Hillary was just as accomplished at Bill Clinton. People were offended by their professional partnership, something I am very happy I share with Matt. As Hillary said (paraphrased) about being First Lady – I’m not going to just make cookies. I personally do not want a First Lady who “just makes cookies.” And Hillary is not given credit for how well she raised Chelsea in the White House, only now people praise the Clinton’s ability to raise an intelligent and driven daughter.

Michelle Obama is just as impressive as Barack Obama and she is accomplished in her own right. She should not give up her impressive qualities, as Hillary Clinton chose not to do. Hillary is the Eleanor Roosevelt of this decade and I am extremely proud of her work as First Lady. It is just a shame she could not continue that work as the first female President. Someday…

Not that I am not a fan of Laura Bush. I actually admire the First Lady. (I also think she is a closet Democrat as she was a Democrat before she married Bush.) I think she is a very elegant and intelligent First Lady; I just wished she would have done more. Her favorability rating actually increased when she spoke out against Burma and for putting opposition leader on house arrest. I enjoy this side of Laura Bush.

I am also tired of hearing Michelle Obama being compared to Jackie Kennedy. There is much more to Michelle than her clothes and sense of fashion (although I love her “style” and there is a website dedicated to it - http://www.mrs-o.org/). I believe Michelle does a great job balancing the frivolous stuff with the important stuff.

I read the advice that Jackie Kennedy gave to Hillary Clinton when she became First Lady was to not let stylists create a fashion for Hillary, but rather she develop her own fashion. Was this all that Jackie was concerned with? I know she probably espoused advice on how to raise children in the White House and other miscellaneous things, but I believe the First Lady should be more concerned with other things than what she looks like.

I am excited to have a couple (lawyers) who are intelligent, driven, and compassionate in the White House.

How sweet are they?

- Jen

Quote of the Day

Jen shows Eric a picture of her wedding dress and this is Eric's comment "oh that's nice it doesn't have a huge tail you have to drag around all day." HAHA a tail I am 100% sure he was talking about a train on a wedding dress. Gotta love boys.

A dress tail...so LOVELY!

xoxo
britt

NEEDED: Bridesmaid Dresses

Finding the perfect wedding dress was an experience. It was an experience that when I plunked down my 50% deposit on mine I vowed to never look at another wedding dress website again (no 2 dress bride here). But as wedding planning has progressed entering bridal salons and looking at bridal designers’ websites also enters the mix again. You see it is time to find the perfect bridesmaid dresses for the lovely women of our bridal party. So while we were in California over Halloween weekend I drug my two cousins to a bridal salon to checkout their bridesmaid dress selection. They tore through the racks and found about 10 dresses that they wanted to try on. As they came out and model each dress we were able to eliminate most of the dresses and than based on their favorites we left the bridal salon having found 1 dress that would be a great possibility.

Fast forward a week and this morning Jen and I went into one of the local bridal stores and we also pulled about 10 dresses from the racks (some for her wedding and some for my wedding). As we tried them on and tried to ward off the sale woman from coming in while we were still dressing we were able to find another for my wedding and 3 great possibilities for Jen’s wedding. Overall bridesmaid dress shopping has been a delight and I think within the next few weeks we will be making a major decision on which dresses we will wear for Jen’s wedding and by January we will have finalized the dresses for my wedding. Getting things done is really exciting especially when they are HUGE checks like bridesmaid dresses.

Winner Winner? No way!

xoxo
brit

Two Steps Forward, One step Back?

I am sick to my stomach today. I am disappointed in all those Californians, Floridians, Arkansans, and Arizonans who voted in favor of further marginalizing a specific group of people. This appears to be the only LEGAL form of discrimination that is still allowed in a country that has come so far and has even elected our first minority president.

It is my understanding that the United States Constitution and State Constitutions are put in place to protect and give rights to individuals not to contract the rights of certain groups. It makes me sad to see so much hatred toward one group of people who are being targeted by many conservative religious groups whom believe their views and their teachings are good for all.

One of the main reasons the original settlers came here from Britain was the desire for religious freedom. They wanted a separation of church and state. Over the past few years we have seen a major blurring of that line. This needs to stop. We need to protect the rights of all people who want to live in a country without religious pressures being forced upon their government and rights as a citizen.

Proposition 102 passed in Arizona. This defined marriage between one man and one woman. From what I understand this was already the case here in Arizona so why spend so much energy and money spewing so much hate and change the constitution for something that was already law?

Proposition 8 in California also passed. Why? Seriously, it isn’t like the divorce rate has spiked in your state since same sex marriages started and your heterosexual marriage has been 100% unaffected by the unions of the 18,000+ marriages that loving couples have entered into since they have been allowed.

All the voters who voted for such discriminatory propositions’ (in the 4 states mentioned above) disappointment me greatly. I am also greatly disappointed in the Mormon Church and their parishioners. The made up at least 47% or 14.5 million dollars in support of these props. (Source) SICK absolutely SICK. Don’t talk about being a kind, caring, inclusive, and all welcoming religion and than support such hate.

I do hope one day I will be able to live in a country that does not treat one group differently based on race, sex, sexual orientation, or physical ability. Last night with the overwhelming election of OUR (even those who voted for someone else) new President we took two steps forward, but with the passing of such discriminatory propositions in four states me took one step back.

So today I am excited about what the next 4 years have in store for our country and I am also hoping that one day all couples will know what it feels like to be planning for a marriage to the one they love and intend to spend the rest of their life with.

xoxox
britt

Just a little funny

For all those who are "Fiscal Conservatives"

xoxo
britt

We have an environment!

We now have a livable outside area. It is complete with BBQ area, seating area, and plants. I don't know if Lilly likes the new backyard or if she is just adjusting to seeing other living things out there. So without making you wait any longer I give you photos...

Welcome (Ok it's just the gate but you get the idea)...

First glimpse...

Get a closer look...

A look from the back door...

A view of the area for the table (notice how well the ugly AC units are hidden)...

BBQ area right off the back door...

Lilly gave her stamp of approval only after barking at the plants...

So consider this an open invite to come and hang out in our new and improved living space.

xoxo
britt

Ballot Initiatives...

Tomorrow is a big day. I am excited to see what happens tomorrow, especially with ballot initiatives.

Abortion – South Dakota (once again) is trying to pass an abortion ban. I am so sick and tired of hearing about abortion. I firmly believe BOTH political parties are wrong about the issue. It is not about being pro-life or pro-choice. I asked fellow classmates in law school if they really think abortion will ever go away. If Roe v. Wade was overturned, it would go to the states, and some states would still allow it. Do “pro-lifers” (who also support the death penalty completely drive me crazy) really think they can completely eliminate it? NO.

Abortion has always and will always exist. Get over it.

How about we reduce the number of unintended pregnancies by providing easier access to birth control? Do you know how hard it is to get birth control pills and how expensive it is without insurance?? With taxes and bigger government (better health care), we can provide better access to birth control and thus reduce unintended pregnancies.

How about we reduce the number of sexual assaults in this country? Do you know there are statistics as high as 1 out of 4 females face an attempted or actual sexual assault? That is embarrassing. I am read that a state politician in New Hampshire focused on reducing the number of rapes in her state and it worked! Fancy that. Instead of arguing about whether abortions should be legal or not, why don’t we talk about why there are so many rapes in our country? It is time to move on.

What about reducing the infant mortality rate? Or what about the government providing for the children once they are born? As the saying goes for “pro-lifers,” life ends at birth for these babies… How about better education system, better access to child day care for low-income mothers who are scared?

Point being – so many other issues to talk about than just whether abortion should be legal. President Bush has had 8 years and nothing. What a waste of a vote that was based solely on the issue of abortion. South Dakota and the rest of the country needs to get over it.

And another “controversial issue”…

Gay Marriage – Arizona (once again) has a measure on the ballot to make gay marriage illegal. Who cares if Tom marries Joe? "Straight people" have done enough to screw up marriage. Why do people go out of their way to be so hateful? It is not our job to be judgmental, that is up to our Maker. Arizona voted this initiative down two years ago. What a waste of money to bring it up again. When we pulled out of the church parking lot yesterday, we were acousted with pro-life signs and gay marriage signs. I just want to go to church and be left alone with that stuff.

There are many bigger issues to worry about this election than gay marriage or abortion. Our economy is terrible, we are facing two to three wars (sometimes President Bush brings up the “war on terror”), health care is terrible in this country, people are losing jobs, gang-related crime is on the increase since 9/11 because the FBI has been focused on terrorism…

I am tired of people focusing on distracting issues. Lets talk about the real issues.

- Jen

Equality for ALL

Copy this sentence into your blog if you're in a heterosexual marriage (soon enough), and you don't want it "protected" by people who think GLBT marriage hurts it somehow.

VoteNOon102

xoxo
britt