SEVEN DAYS!!!

Have you happened to check out our blog's count down timer?? We have 7 days...seven days...um, 7 days...

It sounds crazy, but I've actually become much calmer as the wedding inches closer. In fact, I think I'm scaring my mother with how laid-back I've become with everything. Mom's making lists and remembering things. Do you know my mom? Well if you do, you understand the seriousness of the situation. Mom doesn't remember anything. I think she may have a tad of Alzheimers. I'm usually happy with the fact that she remembers I'm her daughter. Her favorite daughter ;P

I've also begun to have worse sleep patterns than usual. So I'm exhausted and acting quite a bit more ridiculous than normal. Jon and Mom keep telling me that once we're finally married we will get back to acting normal. I'm not sure if that is going to be more shocking for him or not. Unfortunately, I'm a totally nerd. But Mom has reassured me that Jon is probably just as nerdy as me! Must be a match made in heaven!

Oh, by the way, I've posted a few engagement party pics on my Facebook!

Long, Drawn Out, & Downright Sappy...

(I'm a week late with this post!)

When is the best time to post new blog posts on your wedding blog? I'd say it's perfect right after a weekend of family drama, a long day of work, a nice conversation with your Marine brother who hasn't been home in over a year, a glass of wine, and listening to the Pandora station Florence & The Machine.

It's been a long week...actually, it's only Tuesday, but last week has effectively bled into this week and it feels like I forgot to have a weekend. And so goes the roller coaster ride of Life & Wedding Planning :)

This weekend is our Engagement Party! I'm quite excited, however, I have yet to find an Engagement Party-worthy dress. Jon & I are the star attractions so I'm really hoping that my shopping trip with Sasha tomorrow will be successful! Elizabeth came over last night and we're putting the finishing touches on the Engagement Party...it's going to be beautiful! My soon-to-be sister-in-law, Valerie, believes this is going to be the best party Anchorage has ever seen. I 'spose that's what happens when Alaska meets the Lower 48.

I have to give Alaska props. I don't live in an igloo, nor do I ride a dog sled to work. In fact, Alaska seems to be quite civilized, boasting two Walmarts (one of which is a Super Walmart), two Costcos, a number of boutiques and theaters, strip malls, Barnes & Noble, a variety of foreign cuisine eateries, and a few malls. The population of Anchorage is over half the size of Portland, Oregon.

I am also able to say that Alaska is the single most gorgeous place I've ever seen on Earth, and while I've not been everywhere, I've spanned a few continents and been to a variety of beautiful places, including the Alps, and still find this true. I am privileged to call Alaska my home.

So guess what?! I take Jon's name in 30 days! He is wonderful, plain and simple. I'm the luckiest. He has been through too much with me and my family and it's drama and yet he's been my strongest supporter. I'm a happy girl :)



We've chosen our "First Dance" song! I love it! Here's the story...

It happened when I had to leave Jon in January to work in Boston for six weeks. I was missing him terribly since we saw each other every day for months and suddenly we found ourselves 3,000 miles away for weeks. As most of you know, my family loves to keep it interesting and I had friend drama AND work drama, as well as the stress created by living day-to-day in a place that isn't your home. I cried a lot that first week without him, but he flew out to see me three weeks in. He wanted to meet my mother and so we made a weekend in NYC the perfect time. Of course NYC made it extra interesting with 3 foot, 2 hour snowstorms, un-drivable city streets, missed flights, and lost luggage, but we made it through by laughing quite a bit.


After Jon left, I went to see the "Country Strong" movie with my sister and a friend. After hearing "Give into Me", I text Jon and told him he "just had" to listen to it. He did. In fact he listened to it over and over and memorized the lyrics. This is quite the feat for a man who has listened to the same band for years and never realized he couldn't understand the lyrics before I asked him a few weeks ago what on earth the girl was slurring into the microphone ;)

Anyhow, Jon memorized the lyrics and listened to Our Song whenever he missed me. We've tried to match other songs to our relationship, but "Give into Me" has just been the perfect one. Those lyrics will be a permanent part of our relationship on the 11th of June.


Whitney conquering Boston's snow...

Boston was an interesting place and will forever hold interesting memories. Jon and I had our first argument in Boston. An Alaskan winter doesn't even compare to winter on the East Coast. I'd take an Alaskan winter over a Boston winter any day. That city has issues with snow. Jon and I also had our first super expensive meal at the top of one of Boston's tallest buildings, overlooking the wintery city, wearing a new black dress, listening to live jazz, and feasting on stuffed lobster and steak. It was a truly beautiful evening and break through in our relationship.

Four weeks later Jon flew into Portland to ask my Father for my hand in marriage ~ one of the most exciting days of my life. It was amazing the peace I felt at the prospect of marrying Jon. I had never felt love before. He showed me that being afraid isn't a part of love. Jon has broken through all my walls. He makes me whole and confident. I feel loved and beautiful, strong and able.

Dad recognized this and after a few hours by himself with Jon, he agreed to give me to Jon. They picked out a Sequoya tree and earrings as gifts. Did you know that there are still Sequoya trees from the time that Jesus roamed the Earth? Could there be a better expression to signify a desire to forever be one with the person you love?

Let's fast forward to now. I'm stressed with all that Life throws at us, including the beauty it provides, but Jon has now been forced into making some difficult decisions for us as a family that show me he loves me and he wants me to be happy and safe and that he is looking out for my best interest. This is a new part of love that I get to explore. I am...well, I am happy and content. I wish the English language had more descriptive words. I'm having trouble expressing myself about my emotions toward Jon. And you know what? That's a real good feeling.



I love this man. I can't imagine how I am able to be his, but he wants this as much as I do and he's as happy as I feel. He is mine, and I am his. And this may be sappy, but you should have stopped reading at "I'd say it's a perfect time right after a weekend of family drama..." ;)

Our First Home!

After sifting through several dozen apartments for rent we have found our first home! As you all know, searching for a place to live can be quite the challenge when you're running on a timeline and on a budget. If you don't already know, apartments in Anchorage are pretty spendy. It's rare to find an apartment that has everything you're looking (not even counting the luxuries) for under a $1000.00 dollars a month.

We wanted a 2 bedroom apartment with a washer/dryer in a good part of town. Not as easy to find as you'd think. Fortunately, with the help of Meadow (Jon's sister) and Craigslist, we found our perfect place just in time!

The Craigslist description, with no picture mind you, said "Off of Old Seward and Klatt, 2br, 1bath, wd, owner pays gas, quiet neighborhood". After a bit of skepticism, we finally went to see the apartment, and to our relief, the owner liked us. Well, Sara accidentally hugged the landlord, she was so excited about the apartment.

Time to move in!

Novel written with two thumbs

Sara and I hit it off amazingly well from day one. And from day one we started texting each other from our phones. I remember looking with discontent at others before I met Sara and asked why would anyone resort to texting when they dated? Well the short answer is that it fills in every moment you can't be together. Whether at work or traveling we were working on writing our love novel.

One day about 3 months ago I realized that it was time to find a way to save all my messages from my iPhone (something not so easy). And if you have an iPhone you quickly realize that hitting the "Load Earlier Messages" button only works to a point. Well today I found a way to get the messages on a word document. Can you guess how many pages worth of text messages? 449 pages! How many times do you think we said Love in our messages? 1,246. Rather than give you all the details, it would be better to just share a couple conversations. Below are a few.

Random talk

Jon: Introducing => Sara! <= Miss Remarkable~

Sara: I am so rolling my eyes right now

Planning to see Singing in the Rain performance.
Sara:Ooo what u thinking?

Jon: Well I'm thinking we should go, what is your availability? Can I squeeze in an appointment? :)

Sara: Hmmm depends on what day, I might be able to pencil u in

Jon:Well let me look at my schedule too...... Looks like I got the rest of my life open. Except for today, there is some chick I'm seeing tonight at 7

Sara: Lol I just might marry u; )