Happy Birthday, Geoff!

 September 13th is Geoff's birthday and unfortunately he had a business trip that took him away on that day this year.  (Well, unfortunate for me because I didn't get to celebrate with him, but I don't think he minded, he got to go to a nice Steak House restaurant with some clients.)

So the Sunday before his trip, we had a little celebration with just the two of us.  Geoff picked homemade pizza with some rootbeer for dinner.

And then we finished off the night with Geoff making a wish over his "Notcho Mamma's Banana Pudding".  Yummmm!

Geoff left the morning of his birthday, so he at least could try to have a little treat with me.  On the kitchen counter a box of cereal was waiting for him, his favorite:

What a blessing you are in my life, Geoff!  You're an amazing man and I am so grateful to have you as my husband.  Looking forward to celebrating more birthday experiences with you.

Say yes...to MAKING the dress!

As much as I don't like to admit it, I can be a 'girly girl' sometimes.  One of those times just happened to be in December of 2003 when I was standing in a mile-long line at Wal-Mart waiting to check out.  In complete boredom I started scanning the sea of magazine covers that stood beside me and then it happened, the girl in me grabbed the one that said 'BRIDES'.  No, I wasn't dating anyone, interested in anyone, or remotely close to being a bride, but I opened that magazine anyways.  I was rhythmically flipping through the pages half-wondering how expensive all the rings, flowers and dresses were when all of a sudden I stopped.  There it was.  One of the most beautiful bridal gowns I had ever seen was staring right at me in crimson red. Great, now what do I do?  Do I be the pathetic, hopeless romantic girl and buy the thing so I can refer to it when my prince charming comes along?  Or do I act sensibly and put it back and figure out all of my dating dilemmas first?  Being that I am rarely sensible, I'm sure you know what I did next.

So there it sat for over 7 years under my bed.  About once a year I would find myself pulling out the photo to see if I still liked it.  I always did. 

Then it happened.  Prince Charming came along.  I was actually going to be a bride.  I pulled out the picture, this time as a valid wedding planner.  Yep.  Still loved it.  For years I had talked about how I wanted to make my wedding dress, but before I dove in, I decided to go dress shopping to see if I could try on dresses of similar style to make sure I like how it looked on me.  Doing this proved to be a good idea...and a bad idea.  There are A LOT of dresses out there.

So I tried some on...I liked some but started to fall in love with others.  I even began convincing myself that maybe I didn't want to completely make this dress, that I should buy one and alter it to my liking.  Hmmm.  Talk about stressing my Mom out.  Finding matching fabric and being able to alter the dress and make it look okay were just the beginning of her (completely valid) concerns.  I kept flipping through the pictures I took at the bridal shops and then finally pulled out the photo I had been dreaming about for the past seven years.  I called Mom and let her know I had decided, I wanted to make the dress.  Seconds later I had emails from her showing me patterns she had found that could be pieced together to create this gown.  I gave her all the needed measurements, she borrowed a dress form, got some muslin fabric and started creating a miracle.  After just one day of piecing things together and experimenting she had a complete mock dress to show me.  We skyped each other and I was in awe at what my Mother had accomplished.  It was so beautiful.  The next thing I knew she boxed up the mock dress, sent it to me so I could skype again, this time wearing it! 

A few weeks later in June, Mom flew out to Colorado so we could work on the dress together.  Needless to say, Mom did most of the work.

I enjoyed being a little worker bee and helping Mom with what I could. 

 I successfully pulled off the right sleeve...all by myself!

The days we spent sewing together were so much fun.  There were times we laughed so hard we cried, we brainstormed through tricky parts, skyped Dad for his opinions (of course), and became pros of getting the dress on and off in a matter of seconds as we fitted and fixed it into life. 

So here it is!  The finished, beautiful dress:

I obviously did not attend modeling school to know how to contort my body just right...

What great memories were made working with Mom on this dress that was to be worn on the best day of my life.  Thanks for the adventure, Mom!  I will treasure this experience with you always.

Honeymoon Heaven

As can be expected, Honeymoon plans were being made at the same time as the wedding was taking shape.  Geoff and I had a few conversations about what we thought would be nice for the week that followed our wedding day.  I mentioned my 'dream honeymoon' was always to visit Niagara Falls.  Geoff thought it would be a great place to visit and suggested we do so in a few years and even gave the scenario of dropping off the kids at Mom and Dad Nelson's in Pittsburgh to enjoy a weekend getaway alone.  How that can already sound refreshing and wonderful when one doesn't even know what it's like to have children is mind boggling to me, but just let me tell you, it did!

I was totally content with Geoff's future plan.  He then talked about the idea of visiting friends and family that would not be able to make it to the wedding and bring the celebration to them.  That sounded great to me, so Geoff got busy contacting his friends (and practically his second family) the Taylor's in Indianapolis, his Uncle Bill and Aunt Chris in Kansas, and Nana in St. Joe.  We also decided to head over to Utah so Geoff could meet my Grandparents there as well as some Aunts and Uncles.

Geoff took care of all the details: the rental car, the hotels, the routes--everything!  On the evening of a bridal shower my dear friends Nila and Meranda Peterson held, Geoff sat down with Karen Ballard who works in the Hotel Industry and started making reservations.  Mom and I were visiting with people there, but anytime we came into the room where Geoff and Karen were working, they'd FREAK out and make me leave.  I was so confused, Geoff and I discussed what we were going to do, so what was the big deal?  But, I thought it would be best to be polite and honor their wishes and got out.

The next time Geoff and I were together he excitedly told me the plans he made--we were getting married on a Saturday and then we'd leave early Sunday morning to be with the Taylors by that Sunday evening.  I admit, when I heard we were leaving the very next morning with no time to sleep in, I was a little disappointed and even questioned Geoff's reasoning on leaving so quickly after our wedding day.  To make it worse, I even whined to Karen and Meranda about his plan and asked why they didn't intervene when Geoff planned things so early the day after we got married.  They just shrugged their shoulders, said they tried, and offered very little pity.  Oh well, at least we're getting married, right?  I decided to be helpful and looked up church meetinghouses along our route to see where we could stop (depending what time we left) and forwarded the information to Geoff.

Our wonderful wedding day came and went too quickly.  When Geoff and I got to the hotel, my planning side kicked in and I started rattling off a 'to do' list.  We needed to return his tux, pack for the next day, figure out what time we were going to leave so we could make sure we knew what church building we'd be stopping at...I kept going on and on and on about what needed to get done.  As I was rambling off my game plan, I didn't take too much notice of the disinterest Geoff showed or accept the fact that Geoff was just not worried about a word I was saying.  I was in mid-sentence when Geoff calmly picked up an envelope and pulled out some papers.  "We're not going to Indianapolis tomorrow," he said.  "Yes we are, you booked the hotels, we need to stay on schedule," I thought.  By this time the papers revealed our first hotel reservation...in New York?  "We're going to Niagara Falls first."  Geoff couldn't stop smiling and I absolutely LOST IT.  "Are you kidding me?  How long have you had this planned?  Are we really going?  Is this for real?  How did you do this?"  I was jumbling everything together, so I doubt much of anything made sense that was coming out of my mouth, but that didn't seem to matter to Geoff...he just continued to smile, enjoying the fact that once again he completely surprised his overwhelmed and elated wife.

So there was no rushed morning-after-the-wedding travels.  We got up the next day without an alarm, packed everything up and hit the road at our convenience.  We stopped for Sacrament meeting and looked like investigators because we didn't get there with enough time to change.  So needless to say, we were approached by quite a few members after the meeting to welcome us.  Once we told them we were members...who just got married yesterday...the conversations quickly turned from 'are you investigating' to 'that is SO extremely exciting'!  The members were so friendly it took us quite a while to get back on the road...but eventually we did and we enjoyed the Pennsylvania 'highways' which consisted of hair-pin, blind turns and speed limits that ranged from 25 to 55 m.p.h.  That evening we got to the hotel in Buffalo, New York which was the fanciest hotel I had ever stayed in.  Geoff really went above and beyond with the arrangements he made.

The next morning we enjoyed not being in any type of rush as we walked around the parks and sites of beautiful Niagara Falls.  Needless to say, I was in heaven. As we were driving towards the Falls, Geoff told me his INITIAL plan was that he was going to have me drive on Sunday thinking the entire time Geoff was navigating us to the Taylor's...but then all of a sudden I would see something like this:

But because I was too high-strung on our wedding night, he knew he had to tell me right then and there.

So enough ramblings, here are some pics of our amazing, perfect day:

We, of course had to experience the Maid of the Mist

 The sun came out when we were on the ship and we got to enjoy a lovely rainbow in the falls.

 And since Geoff didn't think we got wet enough from that adventure, we also climbed along side of the American Falls.  How amazing it was to experience the power of the Falls, the mist alone was pelting us as if it was a major thunderstorm.  It was incredible.

 We were SOAKED.

 Geoff figured out how to use the panorama function on our camera, so we enjoyed capturing the sites with this feature.

 At night, they light up the falls (and mist) with colorful lights.

Needless to say, I didn't want the day to end, but it was a wonderful, memorable experience.

And I have my loving husband to thank for making this day, and every day, wonderful and memorable.

We Got Hitched!

It's hard to believe, but our wedding day finally came!  The entire day and week that followed was absolutely wonderful.  On Friday, July 8th both sides of the family were able to gather for dinner.  It was a beautiful evening and we were able to enjoy ourselves on the restaurant's patio.

 I was so excited when Elissa arrived!  She came all the way from Florida for the occasion!  

Thanks, Elissa!

Saturday, July 9th couldn't come soon enough, but it did and here I am with Rachel and Andrea getting my hair done.

 They were so kind and got up at 6 AM to help me out and did such a BEAUTIFUL job!  

Thanks so very much you guys, you are the very BEST!

 Mom decorated Janna's hair with flowers, it looked so gorgeous!

Mom, Dad, Janna and I arrived at the temple at 8 AM to meet up with Geoff so we could take pictures before our sealing (and before it got too hot.)  I was so excited when Geoff arrived and he blew me away with how dashing he looked in his tuxedo!

He went through the trouble of getting fitted in Denver and then picked it up in DC right after he landed in Washington and fought through rush hour traffic.  I hope he thought it was worth it, I sure did.

Our photographer, Ashley, was so fun and amazing, here are a few preview prints, more will be coming!

The sealing ceremony was absolutely beautiful.  The sealer talked a great deal about our responsibilities as husband and wife and the importance to keep the spirit in our home.  Geoff and I are so grateful to be fulfilling these roles with each other.

When the sealing was over, we went down to the lobby to be greeted by Geoff's family.  It truly was so wonderful to be surrounded by so many people we love.

After taking pictures in the lovely heat and humidity, we headed over to the Blair Mansion Restaurant (the same restaurant Mom and Dad had THEIR wedding luncheon in 1975!)

There, Dad performed the ring ceremony where we were reminded of the importance and sacredness of the covenants we made.

Afterwards we all enjoyed the great lunch buffet which was followed by a little family program.

Leah and Kaitlyn started things off with one of my all-time-favorite songs, "Something's Missing". They both did a wonderful job performing this sweet song, what a perfect memory for this special day.  Thanks so much girls!

Next, Janna made a presentation to Geoff and I.  Janna's sculptures have always meant a great deal to me.  Geoff saw her work and asked if she would be willing to make a sculpture of us for our wedding, we were so grateful she agreed and Mom and Dad were kind in helping her in these efforts.  She also wrote a touching poem about our courtship.  Thank you, Janna for your thoughtfulness.  Your gifts will be a treasure to us always.

Then my brothers surprised me with a beautiful quartet arrangement (which Mom wrote!!!) of a lovely song called "I Will".  They sounded amazing!  Thanks so much for doing this, it means so much.

After my brothers sang, the video Geoff and I put together with Daniel Witt was debuted.  It was such a hit!  We were so thrilled with how everything came together for the video and will cherish this record of our courtship forever!  Thanks to Jerry Cantrell and Chris Atencio for participating in this project.  We can't get over how perfect the video is.

Finally, my parents did a beautiful job singing "Grow Old With Me".  Genevieve accompanied them and it was a wonderful ending to the wedding program. 

 So much love and happiness radiated in the room.  Thanks to all who made the sacrifice to be there with us, you mean the world to us.

We are so excited and blessed to start the experience of forever living "Happily Ever After".

And I'm also excited to announce the end 

of Geoff's unmatched socks days!  :)