Little Giant News

Ladies and gents,

I got a job. And not just a job, but like a GOOD job. My boss is awesome, a little all over the place, but awesome all the same. And the people I work with are freaking awesome. Seriously. I'm sure there will be days that I hate in my future, but honestly its just so refreshing to be at this job.

I should probably tell you where it is, right? Little Giant Ladders in Springville. Just this week I found out that the company gives you your birthday as a paid day off. Shut your mouth and tell me how freaking awesome that is, right? Cause for those of you who know me, you know I revere my birthday as the greatest holiday all year long. For years I have taken my birthday off and insisted that I should get paid to enjoy my birthday and guess what? Now I can. Talk about knowing that you're working for the right company.

The pay is awesome, the benefits are awesome, the people are awesome, and honestly... I'm thrilled to even be back at work. I work for the VP of Direct Sales. This basically means that there are several dozen men and women who go out over the road to sell ladders for Little Giant. At the end of their show, they have paperwork that needs to be turned in to verify sales, ship out orders and justify the expense of sending a rep out to the various locations. I get to sort through this paperwork, make sure it matches and organize the last minute needs of the sales team. In addition there are clerical tasks, schedules to maintain and problems to fix. It all sounds a little stressful, but I will say this... it's something new everyday and I LOVE THAT!

I've made some really great new friends working there already and it seems like I fit right in. I'll keep you posted as things move along. I'm going to try to be better about keeping up on the blogging. Adam and I have so much going on these days.

Speaking of Adam. He's been crazy busy working too. Over the past few weeks, he's been pulling 66 hour work weeks. I know its taxing on him to have to put so many hours in each week. I really appreciate that he's been so great at supporting us and he continues to do what it takes to take care of our small family. Love you babe.

July IS more fun that Christmas!

So allow me to explain...

In Utah, July is probably the best month of the year. 1. the weather is awesome. 2. The fourth of July and the twenty-fourth of July fall within the same calendar month meaning that those of you working shlubs get TWO paid holidays in the same month.

My parents, Steph & Tyler, Peyton and I all went to the 4th of July Parade in Provo. This was Peyton's first parade, and let's just say he was such an awesome little trooper! He was pleasant and happy the entire time! We were all so proud!

This video was taken on my phone, hence the weird format. But you can see he was having a blast.

Adam and I were lucky enough to go on a few day-dates. Basically these happen because he has a rare and random day off during the middle of the week. So we headed out tothe Living Planetarium, which we give a 2 out of 5 stars because we didn't really care for all the little kids everywhere and more importantly their annoying parents. After that we went to Red Mango for a refreshing treat. Adam loved it.

And so did I...

This month Adam, Tyler and Steph got into gold panning. I mean, they've dabbled in it before, but this month they really went balls to the walls with it. This trip they didn't find any gold, but I took a picture none the less.

Probably the best thing about the month of July is the rodeo. Adam and I were lucky enough to score seats 3 nights and 1 night we volunteered in the Kiwanis Concession booth at the rodeo. This picture is from the first night from our seats in the grandstands.

The second night we sat in the family's box with our friends Ashley and Derrick Brailsford. We had a really good time all around with them that night.

The 24th started off with the Parade in Spanish Fork. Again Peyton was AWESOME! He's such a cutie.

And no one loves grandma like this kid does. He just can't get enough of her.

For the rodeo on the 24th we sat just off to the side of the grandstands. So of course, this is a picture of us together at the rodeo. We call this "Rodeo Face."

While waiting my uncle Dan called us to see where we were at. When Adam wouldn't come down to meet him, Dan came up to grab Adam by the hand and made him dance with him. Super fun and embarrassing for Adam.

I was laughing so hard I chopped off their heads in the pictures.

This is a picture from the last night of the rodeo. We really had a blast all four nights!

We capped off the month by picking Adam's first tomato and feeding the ducks/fishing at Salem pond.

I also finally finished a craft-ish project I'd been working on since we got married. I bought these frames, but had to choose the pictures, change out the ribbon and hang them. I'm pretty happy with the way it all turned out.

So even without a job I've been busy!

As it turns out, summer is the season for picture taking. I've been keeping busy by taking and editing photos. Here is a small sampling of my work. I'm also redesigning the name of my small home photo company so keep an eye out for the new name (J.dub PHOTOGRAPHY) and some of my work.

We're moving!!!!

It's true. After some careful consideration and some number crunching, Adam and I decided to move. Really there were multiple reasons why we've decided to move. Some of them I can tell you about and others are a tad more private. Since this blog isn't very private I'll keep my big mouth shut. But the main reason we're moving has to do with money.

A family friend and neighbor of my parents recently had their basement apartment open up. After looking at it, Adam and I decided it was time for a move. We'll be saving close to 300 dollars a month at the new place but additionally we'll have air conditioning!!!! The house we've been renting has more space (not usable space, but more wasted space than anything) but no AC. Which, so far, has been fine since Utah has been having such a COLD summer. We've been SO thankful for the 60 degree weather and rain. But now with the 80's peeking out on a daily basis we're HATING this house! So the move to a basement apartment with AC will be greatly appreciated for the next few months. The other great perk is that we'll be literally 3 doors down from that damn cute nephew of mine (and my mom... which is a nice).

We were really fortunate. One of my friends from Re/Max has several haul-mark trailers that he lets his clients use to move. So I gave Clancey a call to see if we too could use one of the trailers. Luckily we were able to. And can I say that we were able to get EVERYTHING in that trailer in a matter of an hour and forty-five minutes! Everything!!! I was shocked to hell that we could move in one trip. It was SO nice to have. We're definitely fans of the Kenny Parcell team at the Re/Max in Spanish Fork. So if you need to buy or sell a house, you need to talk to Kenny. He's AWESOME. As Adam says, "Kenny Parcell is an effing genius!"

So now, a few days after having moved, we've got most of our new house put together. I'll be taking pics shortly and showing off our new digs.

Remember how I said we had 5 jobs?

Turns out we're down to two! LOL How does that happen, one might ask. Well, here's the deal... I was writing and editing for the Spanish Fork Sentinel. Then they decided that the publication could last any longer due to the AWFUL economy.

- one job.

Then my work with the chiropractor also ended because, well... we just weren't a good fit for each other. I tend to think that I was too honest and that he liked butt kissing too much. And let's be honest here, I'm a straight shooter. You know where you stand with me on any given moment. So due to some conflict between our personalities it just wasn't beneficial to anyone.

- the second job.

Adam had picked up a job sweeping parking lots at night. That kept him pretty busy but eventually due to lack of communication he quit doing that.

- the third job.

The funny thing we're realizing is that we were working ourselves to death. And for what? Money? Eh, that crap is overrated. As a good friend of mine said, "You can't take it with you." And how true is that? I mean, why hate your job just to have that extra dinner out or to buy that new pair of shoes you don't really need but look fabulous with that dress, right? So I guess what I'm saying is, we're doing alright even with the loss of those jobs. We definitely don't have to stick to just PB and jelly. We're really lucky in that regard.

I'm firmly of the opinion that there is something out there that is greater and just waiting for me. Something that will allow me to enjoy my work life. After all, that 40 hours a week can make or break a soul. I've learned that the hard way I suppose.

So what have I been doing with my time?

Well.... we planted a garden! And it's only been two and a half weeks so its kind of pathetic, but hey! We've got sprouts of cilantro. And if that's the only thing that grows then I'm going to figure out how to make a pesto out of cilantro. And we'll have cilantro pesto everything all summer long.

We've been fishing and gun shooting a few times. I bought Adam a Rugger 10.22 for his birthday. He's wanted one since he was 11 and I thought it was high time he had one.

So there you have it. We also went on vacation, but I'm waiting for a card reader to post those pics, so they'll be coming shortly along with a pretty cool update on how our birthdays went. Just so you know, I'm 25 folks. That's right I survived a quarter of a century and I got married before I became a menace to society. But all that later :)

Working, Working, Working

So basically our lives revolve around the 5 five jobs that we have between the two of us. Recently the newspaper I worked for decided it needed to shut its doors. So that eliminated a little bit of work from our plate. What can I say? Adam and I like to be busy.

Even with being busy, we've found ways to spend time with each other. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I don't work until around 1 or 2 in the afternoon. And since Adam doesn't have to be in with Provo PD until 12, we're able to spend those mornings together for the most part.

With everything going on between our jobs, I feel like we've lost a schedule and some of the structure I'm accustomed to. For anyone who really knows me, they know how much I value my sleep time. I can be a complete wreck if I'm not getting enough of the good stuff. I'm starting to see that's also the case for Adam. So I'm going to start working, hopefully with Adam's help, to restore some of that structure.

Besides all of that, we've been talking about taking a few different trips. We really want to head out to California to see Adam's friends and family who couldn't come out to the wedding. We'd also love to see that new little niece of ours. We'd also really love to take a trip out to Washington D.C. Sometime either this fall or next spring.

For now, that's about it. We have some birthdays coming up which should be a lot of fun. I have a big surprise for Adam's birthday that I know he'll just love.

Wedding Pictures Galore

So.... Anyone interested in what's been going on? Yeah, let's just say we're not exactly thrilled with the photographer we paid. She took two months to get our pictures back to us. Which, I know... I shouldn't be so picky, but really?! We paid you up front.

Enough with the whining. You came here for pictures! And I've decided to post some of the ones not found on Facebook.

My dress had these buttons down the back that were tough to lace up. So this is Stephanie, my sister and Matron of Honor doing my dress up.

Let's give Adam the credit he deserves, he was balling from the time he put on his tux to half way through the ceremony. Then he started balling again once we kissed. So here he is walking my mom down the isle while crying. Then this is me, reaching him at the end of the isle and pulling a sad/funny face at him so he'll stop crying already. I'm giving him shit, but really, it was sweet.

So... basically I'm an idiot and when we exchanged rings, I put Adam's on his right hand, not his left. I'm a fool and was so nervous I didn't even think about it. Luckily he caught on and ninja'd it over to his left hand for me. After I realized I felt so dumb!

Martin Corona was our little ring bearer. He's the son of Adam's long time friend Juan. And Kate Poulsen is my cousin who asked point blank when we got engaged if she could be the flower girl. They were so fun and looked SO cute together!

The picture on the left is of my bouquet but the picture on the right is what I wanted. So basically the colors of the callas were off and that big puffy flower, i think it's hydrangea but I'm not sure, was MIA. I know it seems trivial, but pink verses a more purple can make a girl cry on her wedding day.I think everyone has things they look back on and want to change. But one of my biggest complaints were my flowers. Granted in the picture my bouquet is beautiful. But it wasn't quite what I had ordered. Plus my flower girl's flowers were purple (which we promptly threw away and sent someone to the grocery store to buy something else to replace them) and the mini callas were pretty wilted when they arrived.


There were a few other small touches that we put on things which I absolutely loved. This was our card box. The nice thing about it is that it stays locked and the cards slide through the slot so once a card is in it, it's not being taken out easily. We just tied the color of ribbon we wanted on the sucker and called it good. Nothing too fancy, but we thought it fit the bill nicely. The other thing I've been getting lots of questions on is the monogram "W" and I'll be honest. I paid 12 whopping dollars for the damn thing on Amazon.com.

We basically hand tied every pink bow in the place. In all it must have been somewhere around 130 bows. I ordered some bulk tulle online in big bolts and just cut them around two yards a piece and tied like a mad woman. One of Adam's friends, Eric, was SO good at tying them. So it was super helpful to have him helping us as we went. The other thing our friends were awesome at was helping us with our drop ceiling. It was a lot of work and it wasn't easy. But it was pretty inexpensive and I felt like it made the space feel less like a gym and more like a location.


And last but not least is our cake. When we started talking about getting married I was dead set that I didn't want a traditional big cake. With Stephanie's wedding it was impossible to get rid of all the extra cake she had since we didn't cut hers up and serve it. So I knew that wasn't going to be the route I went. Instead we decided on a cupcake wedding cake. I had a hard time finding the right stand. I knew I wanted it to be more square and cake-like than round and tree-like. Finally I found the stand and decorated it with some help from my mom. We put a patterned paper on the top and wrapped the edges in ribbon. For the top of the cake we asked Cindy Shepherd to a round carrot cake with white butter cream frosting, not fondant. It turned out simply wonderful and we got rave reviews over the thing. The best part is, with the topper and everything we came in under $120 for the whole damn thing. And I think it looked incredible.


So that's that. We served cupcakes with some nuts, pink punch and hot pink chocolate dipped Oreos. And we stayed on the really inexpensive side not going over $2,000. It was SUPER easy and not nearly as stressful as I thought it would be. I'll be posting some pictures from our Honeymoon soon, hopefully!

A letter to my will-be husband

Dear Adam,

I was thinking tonight about what I'd write on our blog. After all I started this thing to chronicle our lives together. Tomorrow we will cement that. But it's been ages since I last updated it. I could talk about my bridals, that were arranged in a matter of three days, or I could talk about how the stress of this wedding has sent me crying in tears a number of times or even about how our family dinner with your family went so well. But after thinking about all those plans, actions and results I realized that it all comes down to you.

I'm not nervous. Lots of people have asked me about that. But what they don't seem to understand is that I know exactly what I'm getting with you. I am getting someone who loves me so much, he'll put his wants aside. I'm getting someone who loves me so much that he can't wait to see me each and every morning to kiss me hello. I'm getting someone who is willing to work his butt off so that we can be taken care of, provided for and still get the little extra things we want but don't need.

I am getting my best friend for the rest of my life. You love me when I'm happy, silly, cranky and just down right rude. And you somehow see past all of that. You're the one I call when I have amazing news. You're the one I want to hug me when I'm not feeling my best. You're the one I want to tell me everything is going to be just fine if I will just take deep breaths.

I call you boyband. It's a fun nickname I've had for you for over a year. I knew pretty early on in our relationship that you would one day be my husband. But for the time being you were only my boyfriend. Hence "Boy"friend and hus"band" were joined.

Tomorrow is that day. And although it's been a tough road to travel down the past three years, I wouldn't change it. Even the heart wrenching breakup taught me a lot about you and myself.

Life will be hard Adam. I can't promise I'll always be kind, sweet and loving. But I know you already know that and don't care. When things get rough, I hope I can remember how I'm feeling right now at this very moment. Your smile brings me such joy and your kisses make me melt. You are supportive and fiercely loyal to me.

I love you boyband and I'll see you in the morning.

Sincerely,

Jen

Wedding Dress Success!

So I went to do a fitting for my dress this morning. I took Adam with me because my sister and mom were both tied down at work and couldn't make the 10:30 am fitting time. Knowing that Adam would love to come with me, I asked and he was able to be there.

Once we arrived, I got my dress and was in it within just a few moments. Let me pause from my story and say that we LOVE Leslie Carr at Veronica Michael's. Seriously, she is one of the BEST wedding dress and formal dress business women around. While we found my dress somewhere else, we always have had Leslie do the alterations and even order bridesmaid dresses for us. During Steph's wedding, we special ordered dresses that we thought would be perfect. When they arrived we found out quickly that they were NOT perfect. Leslie was SO awesome that we were able to re-order new dresses in another color and she didn't charge us for the first set. Instead she ended up selling/renting them out.

So, I put on my dress and it fit like a glove. Seriously, one alteration is all it took. I was so relieved and so excited I started to just bawl. Adam, upon seeing me in the dress also started to tear up. As he says, he had to do a quick gut check so he didn't out right cry. It was amazing. The dress sat perfectly where it needed to be and was just perfect.

I couldn't believe that after one fitting the dress was all but ready to be taken home. I simply needed to add a bustle and have the dress steamed. My next appointment is for Thursday morning at 10:30 but Leslie said I could have it as soon as tomorrow. Since tomorrow is one of my longer days at work, I opted for Thursday.

It's so crazy to me that I've been stressing about this dress. I've worried for weeks about if it'd fit once it finally got here and then I worried about how many alterations I would have to have done just for it to fit right. Stephanie had around 5 or 6 alterations before her dress was just perfect and to find out that mine took all of one for the right fit was a HUGE relief.

Now I just need to call Jessica and schedule my bridals.

A Wedding Dress for a Wedding

So, my dress finally came from China... THANK GOODNESS! Yeah, I know I don't look really thrilled in either of these pictures, but that's because I was less than happy that we were pinning the shoulders up. In this first picture you can see my birdcage veil in my hands.


I really wasn't ready for this picture to be taken. Thanks Steph! :) haha but it's all good. You can see how much lace and beading is on this dress of mine. I'm pretty thrilled about how it looks now that we're going to let out the sides some. It'll make it sit better on the top of my body and we won't have to take in the shoulders.


Obviously this isn't how I'm going to do my hair. I just sort of had it down for the day because I really didn't want to mess with it much.

In other news, we have ordered our flowers. We have arranged for chair covers (free of charge! Thanks Debbie!) table cloths, sheer over lays, groomsmen's ties, nuts and chair ties.

Five weeks, and thing are definitely coming along.