Day of reckoning

This morning I walked into my office and

was once again reminded that we may

not pay for our indiscretions the minute we commit them,

but rather sometime in the future the

consequences

sneak up on us.

I blogged awhile ago about giving into

temptation.

I purchased cookies from those dirty rotten and conniving Girl scouts.

I did so knowing that

I would not get my cookies right away.

I was safe from the effects of eating four boxes of delectable yumminess.

Safe for a time, for at that moment I caved to pressure

there were no consequences.

No added pounds.

No added sugar highs or lows.

No extra inches and no lying about

the existence of cookies in my car.

But today I had to face the consequences of my

decisions.

I walked in my office only to see them.

Sitting there waiting for my gluttonous belly.

Beckoning my taste buds.

Waiting for me to cave.

I tried to be strong but

I lasted 7.25 minutes.

Moving Mini style

James and I have been packing up my stuff and hauling it away to his house faithfully every night for the last week or so. It's been great to pack boxes and get them gone. Somehow that makes me feel more productive than leaving tons and tons of boxes laying around the house.

The one setback we have is that we've been using James's Mini Cooper to haul boxes away each night. This means that we have one huge limiting factor in how much can be packed in a single day. It has really hindered our progress. Of course the Mini is the only limiting factor. It couldn't be that things aren't getting packed quickly because we had to watch Heroes on Monday, or Tuesday we sat down to cuddle and fell asleep for an hour. Stuff like that hasn't been happening every night for the past week. The packing is going so slow because we can only haul boxes away in a Mini. Ya, that's totally it.

30 days and counting

Today officially marks 30 days before James and I get married. It's crazy that the wedding is this close. When we got engaged in September it seemed like the wedding was so far away. In fact it was so far away that I figured I didn't need to do a whole lot of planning at that point. Well, that was about six months ago and now the wedding is so close that it's becoming a real event.

To date, the wedding has been an abstract event. It's been floating out there in the ether--an intangible dream. I've been planning and paying for the wedding. I've sent out invitations and purchased a dress, but that was all for some fairy tale that is supposed to come true. It hit me today, as I was staring at the wedding countdown on Facebook, that this is REAL. I really get to marry James. I really get to wear the dress and hug the guests. I'm staring down barrel of 30 days. One month. 720 hours. 43,200 minutes. Once that time elapses, I'll have a blur of a day filled with I do's, tears, hugs, pictures, and happiness. 30 days. There is so much to do and yet so little to finish planning. This is an day that will mark a lifetime and begin an Eternity and it's real. It's so real that I can taste the joy that will accompany it. 30 days . . .

Invitations

AFTER THREE NIGHTS of folding, stuffing, sealing envelopes,

James and I have finally finished out our wedding invitations.

We did over 400 invitations and

in the process I believe I stickied off the fingerprints

on my right index finger.

Now they are in the mail and coming to a mailbox near you.

Sisters

LAST WEEKEND my Dad made it to Nebraska for a few short hours--Just long enough to go through the Winter Quarters Temple with James and to whisk Nicole back to Utah. I'm really sad to see her go. It's been so good to get to know my little sister again. I had so much fun living, working, and playing with my sister. She really is an exceptional woman and I'm going to miss being able to see her often.

Nicole's leaving has given me a chance to ponder her coming. Two years ago Nicole was not a happy person. She was hurting on the inside and was determined not to let anyone in to help her heal. At that time, I had just graduated law school and was starting to prepare for the bar but I just couldn't get the prompting out of my head to invite her to come live with me. I figured it was fruitless because I'd tried multiple times before and was rebuffed. It just kept bugging me that she needed to be in Nebraska, so I decided to offer her a place to live one more time. Of course the invitation was declined, but a week or so later, my mother mentioned that Nicole was actually considering moving. Nicole wasn't ecstatic about it, but she made up her mind to move to Omaha.

Things were rough when she first got here. Nicole really didn't want to be in Omaha and she was still determined not to let her heart heal. One night, we even had a huge blow up fight and I thought I'd lost her. She was going to move back to Utah and I knew she needed to stay here. I felt terrible and am so glad that she didn't go home that day.

After Nicole had been here a few weeks, our relationship improved and we started having fun together (can we say all night Bubble Bobble tournaments?). That's when it happened. We went to a multi-stake activity and she met HIM. Creighton Nelson: recent returned missionary, dental assistant, the man she would eventually marry. Before long it was evident that Nicole would not be leaving at the end of the summer. She lived with me until January 4, 2008 when she was sealed to Creighton in the Salt Lake Temple. After that, I didn't see her quite as much, but I always knew that my sister was close and if I needed anything that she was there.

During the time that Nicole was here she was my roommate, my assistant at work, a pain in the rear, the comic relief, a growing sister in the gospel, and most important she was my friend. I thank my Heavenly Father for the time I've been able to spend with her while she resided in Omaha and have been given a greater respect for my youngest sister. I miss her.

Valentine's Day

THIS VALENTINE'S DAY, James & I put a limit on how much we were going to spend on each other. There were two valid reasons for the spending cap. First we're trying to save every penny for the wedding and second, I wanted to see how creative we, okay James, could get on $20.00. The results were impressive.

James made me a wonderful dinner of chicken cordon blue, corn, and basanti rice. He also purchased a tort from the local Lithuanian bakery. Unfortunately, I don't know how good it is because he bought it on the way to my house and I keep forgetting to bring it to his place. But that's okay, we'll just have a delayed dessert. Yummy. The best part of him making me dinner was that he made me go upstairs and have a nap while he cooked. I couldn't ask for more.

My gift to him was the candy bar bouquet pictured above. I wanted to do a cookie bouquet, but let's face it, I'm lazy and he likes candy bars as much as he likes cookies. Besides, I think I did a smashing job and all the other men that have seen it have been insanely jealous, so I think that's validation to my gift giving skills.

James's final gift of the evening was to rent a love story for me. He surprised me with Nick and Norah's Infinite Play list. Cute movie, but not exactly an ooey gooey love story. I've yet to get him to watch a real chick flick. I suppose there's always next year.

Big Oopps

The following is a copy of the ticket that I purchased for my father to fly from Grand Junction, Colorado to Omaha, Nebraska. We're really excited about his trip because he's coming out to be with James as James receives his Endowment in the Winter Quarter's Temple and to pack up Nicole and take her home while Creighton's at Basic Training.

Frontier Airlines Reservation Code: DQBHLM Ticket number: 4222162239586 Issuing airline: FRONTIER AIRLINES Date issued: 06FEB09

Passenger: HOLYOAK/PAUL MR

		13MAR FRONTIER AIRLINES F9 3144 From: GRAND JUNCTION, CO Departs:955A To: DENVER, CO Arrives:1058A Economy Seat: Check-In Required Confirmed Not valid before: 13MAR Not valid after: 13MAR Fare basis: T21SBXI5 Operated by : LYNX AVIATION 13MAR FRONTIER AIRLINES F9 436 From: DENVER, CO Departs:1150A To: OMAHA, NE Arrives: 213P Economy Seat: Check-In Required Confirmed Not valid before: 13MAR Not valid after: 13MAR Fare basis: T21PXW5

When I found Dad's ticket, I was so excited because it was such a good deal and everyone had been looking, but couldn't find one that was affordable. I was a smart cookie and decided to go to Kayak.com. The first thing I found was this $139.00 ticket. Talk about ecstatic. I called Dad and we booked it right then and there.

Dad got to Grand Junction this morning all safe and sound, but was a little surprised that he didn't have a seat on the airplane. His bright daughter booked the tickets for the WRONG MONTH. Who does that? Normal people schedule things for the wrong time of day, not a whole wrong month. Only someone with my oopps skills can accomplish such a thing.

Well, multiple phone calls and counter agents later, Dad booked himself a flight out of Grand Junction for today that will get him to Omaha on time to do everything that we've got planned for him in a short 12 hour period. And on the bright side, the ticket agent for Frontier said that the ticket was refundable or could be used toward the purchase of another ticket (say one to come see me in April?). So all is not lost. I just feel sheepish and will probably be the butt of many jokes to come.

Superbowl

SUNDAY was James's birthday and to celebrate we through a Superbowl party. We had a pretty good turnout and had a ton of yumminess to ingest. I have to admit that I didn't watch most of the game, rather I spent my time in the kitchen with the females doing what females do during a Superbowl party. I did venture into the living room a few times and was surprised to see ALL the males (canine and otherwise) absorbed in the melee that is the Superbowl.