Happy Holidays!

Matt and I both hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and Christmas! We sure did! As we get ready to ring in 2009, we wish you many blessings in the New Year!

We're sad to see 2008 go! It was a great year (for the most part!) but we hope 2009 is just as good and even better to us and to the rest of you as 2008 was!

Be safe tonight and we'll see you in 2009! :]

We're Married!

We're back from the honeymoon and are all settled back into the normal routine.

We had a beautiful day in Santa Barbara celebrating with a great group of family and friends. We missed those who couldn't make it. It was a dream come true! Matt's grandparents and two cousins, Haylee and Blaire made it in and it was so nice to meet them! I also got to meet Matt's longtime friend, Andy! It was so nice to have all of our good friends (bridal party) and immediate family here to help us celebrate. Dinner was great and we had so much fun dancing with everyone! The Fess Parker DoubleTree was amazing and we just love the staff there. They made us feel like celebrities for the weekend. All of our wedding vendors were great and seemed to be more like friends than wedding vendors. All in all, we wish we could relive our big day over and over again. If you'd like to view our professional pictures click the wedding gallery to the left or visit Jessica Lewis's blog to the left and scroll down till you see us! We can't wait to see the wedding video that Gina at Lola Video puts together for us!

Matt and I stayed in Santa Barbara for the honeymoon. Our car broke down on the honeymoon which resulted in us having to get a rental car for 3 days, tow the truck to the shop, and pay for repairs....there went all the money that we were supposed to spend on activities, food, shopping, etc. while there. Turns out our radiator broke...$600 laters for the repairs we got the truck back. We went down to the beach to celebrate that day and as a huge wave hit Matt, his wedding ring came off never to be found again...believe me, we tried. We searched the shore and in the water till sunset that day and woke up early the next morning to search again. No luck. While our honeymoon wasn't completely the relaxing time that we had looked forward to, we still were able to enjoy ourselves. I think we'll have a honeymoon redo in Hawaii or something! ;]

Matt and I are going to try and write about our favorite highlights from our big day soon!

Hope everyone is doing well! ♥

How Time Flies!

Wow - the wedding is now less than 3 weeks away! We've been planning this event for so long that it doesn't seem like it is finally around the corner! It is slowly sinking it that it's almost our time to become husband and wife!

Our family and friends start to arrive in 2 weeks! I think at that point, we'll both start to feel like this is REALLY happening. We can't wait to see all of our loved ones and to have so many of them here all at once!

Planning has been going to well. I'm honestly bored most days because I did so many of these things forever ago so I'm not like most brides who are stressing and running around at this point. The only thing that has caused Matt and I some stress is our guestlist. Our food minimum at the hotel was for 131 guests. We invited 172 and figured that we would have close to 131 RSVP as acccepts....NOT THE CASE AT ALL! At this point, we have a grand 70 people coming. Yes, that is half of what we needed to meet our food minimum so we are praying so hard that some last minute RSVPs will come in!

Matt is up for a promotion so keep him in your thoughts/prayers. He is really passionate about what he does and I think he really deserves this promotion and would do a great job at it.

Life is going well! Can't wait to see what this month has in store for us!

Woah!

Life is so busy lately! Between the wedding planning, school, and working online...time is flying by!

Speaking of time flying by, we leave for SB tomorrow to meet with our wedding planner and the staff at the Fess Parker DoubleTree to go through our weddin details, choose the menu, and do a wlak through of the site. When we signed the contract, I thought it would seem like forever until May 29th rolled around and now, here we are! We are officially 3 months out an I get more and more excited with each passing day...well, at least when the stress from planning it doens't get in the way! Just kidding! I have been so lucky with it all and whatever problems that have come up, have worked themselves out in even more amazing ways.

We get to attend a wedding of a good friend of mine, Shellie Thomas and Brad Bowman, this Saturday. They are getting marrie don the same date and are having their reception at the same hotel that Matt and I would have been at if things had worked out the way we originally planned. Crazy!

I'll write more later!

Lastest Happenings

Matt and I went to see Paramore, Dear and the Head Lights, and Jimmy Eat World on Sunday which was so much fun. It was a great show and we were within 10 feet of the stage when JEW came out to perform...AMAZING! It was my birthday present from Matt but I wanted to take him even more because it was his first time seeing them live. Seriously one of the best times!

Matt and I had a pretty uneventful weekend. He was off for two days so we got to just hang out!

We get to go see Augustana on Thursday at another Klly Lounge and then Spill Campus on the 13th. My birthday is on the 15th so I'm going to try to get some people together on Monday I think.

Nothing has really changed since the last blog entry. If anything, I'm feeling more out of it. I'm at a great place in my life but would love for some people to share in it more than they are.

I'm so tried to reconnecting other friends and then feeling like I get pushed aside. I can't take it. It's seriously crushing to me. I just have this strong sense that I'm the third wheel. Maybe I'm just insecure about some of my friendships but this is how I feel. On the other hand, maybe I'm just in a rut and am feeling extra aware of everything. I don't know. I just know that I wish I could combined some aspects of my life from a couple of years ago with some aspects of my life now.

Enough complaining. I know it's got to be annoying...haha. I'm off to enjoy the rest of the night with my lovely fiance!

Friendship and Relationships

Only 5 more months until the wedding!




In other news, I'm feeling completely distant with almost every single one of my friends (not all of them, you know who you are). I'm starting to wonder if I kid myself when I think that I have [best] friends other than Matt...I always feel like my good friends have other friends that they are closer with??? I guess it kind of feels like we are both the third wheel sometimes. The kind of friends that people only come to when they need us or something or don't have anyone else to do thngs with.

Three years ago it wasn't uncommon for me to see Kell every single weekend. Same with Jamie too. Kellie would come over to do nothing. Back then we didn't care about having something to do. One time Kellie came over and we were perfectly entertained by going and getting apple pie, goofing around, and watching a movie. She used to call me to run errands just so we could have some time to hang out. I was kidding with Matt and Sara a couple of weeks ago that Sara was basically my "date" for a good year or so before Matt moved out too. It seems like I go through phases of being close with one friend and then close to another. I want t be close with a variety of people at ONCE.

Matt and I thought that by now, we'd all be hanging out on a regular basis and that we'd all be equally as good of friends if that makes any sense. It seems that won't ever happen, although there are moments that tend to capture how we thought life would be like Santa Barbara trips and our big get togethers when Ren comes into town. Those are often the highlights of my year! That and when peole come over for holidays. I used to love the 4th of July celebrations we had - one year with the friends here and another year with my friends and family at Grammie's. I hope we have time to enjoy our friends being here for the wedding and that we all get to enjoy ourselves...have group time...girl time....and guy time! :]

If I didn't have Matt, I'd be a complete LONER! Haha

I know I should be thankful that I found such a true love, and I am, but it would be nice to have friends around that we were close with again like how things used to be. I miss having girl time too with some of the girls.

What changed? Why did it change? This isn't all part of "growing up" is it?

Goodnight!

Life

About two weeks ago, Matt and I had been out shopping for some wedding stuff. We had a nice time out and then came home to set some of it up to see what it looked like. Not 2 minutes after we got home, we heard the worst screeching sound you could possibly imagine. Looking immediately at each other, we then heard a large sound - a sound the could only be made by a car hitting something. We got in Matt's truck and drove to the street behind our house where we saw numerous people walking to the corner that faces Gosford Road. A late 1960's sedan had been going north on Gosford and had flown over the median, through 3 lanes of traffic on the southbound side, and flew into a huge shopping center sign. Police and an ambulance arrived at the same time that we saw the wreck. We watched as 2 firefighters approached the vehicle which was so badly damaged that we couldn't tell if it was the front or back of the vehicle that was facing us. They immediately, went over to the two EMTs that were getting the stretcher out of the ambulance. All of the sudden the mood changed from a sense of panic as if there was a life to save to the complete opposite. A hook and ladder fire truck then pulled up. A fire fighter from that truck got out and spoke with another firefighter that had already been on scene, got back into his truck and pulled forward to block any view that any of us had of the scene but not before two of those yellow blankets were pulled and placed over what we could only assume were the remains of a body or bodies. At that point, it hit too close for comfort and Matt and I decided to leave.

That night we watched the news and no mention was made of the horrible accident. I woke up the next morning and checked our newspaper's website to find that a 24 year old had been killed in the accident. I sat there is disbelief, not because I had never seen anything like this happen before. Anyone who went to Stockdale High School understands how life threatening car accidents can be because we lost 3 or more class mates to them, but actually hearing the sound as he died and actually seeing it made it different this time around. The lack of coverage by both the newspaper and the news made me mad. They covered another accident where a motorcyclist had lost his life so much that night and the next day but made little mention of this 24 year old who lost his life. They made it seem like he was less important. The coverage was lacking so much so that I have decided to write our news channel as they have a program called "Keeping Us Accountable" where viewers can write in with thoughts and concerns about the stories that they air.

The next night, I was sitting on the couch as my mom and Matt were in the kitchen. I heard two loud bangs and thought nothing of it as we have two large dogs that live behind us that are always making noise. Mom and Matt didn't hear the first time but the third one was loud enough to actually rattle the windows. They quickly looked at me and saw the windows above me shaking. The helicopter started to circle just like the night before. Watching the news that night hoping to find out more info about the accident from the night before, they started showing pictures of the shopping center sign that was involved but the car was not the car that we had seen. Turns out another car crashed at the same location, taking out the memorial that had been laid for the 24 year old who had passed there the night before, taking out a huge transformer box that had knocked power out across the street, and hit the same sign! This guy was lucky enough to survive.

Turns out that the 24 year old was named Christian and left behind a fiance and daughter not to mention a sister and mother. His life was cut short and I can't help but think of that accident when I pass by the horribly damaged sign and see the marks that his car left on the road as we tried to stop his car. No reports have been made of why his accident occurred.

I have always known that life is never guaranteed. I've seen my fair share of class mates passing away from cancer and car accidents, another class mate and good friend going through a battle with flesh eating bacteria that caused her to be close to death and also caused her to have many operations and amputations done, my grandfather losing his battle with cancer, and Matt's grandmother losing her life as well when we all thought that she would make it.

This thought has been further embedded into my mind - you can never be sure that the next moment of your life will be the same. In a matter of seconds your life can be taken or dramatically changed - not just by health reasons either. Looking back, my life was dramatically changed the night my father decided to leave us, and by several other events. Little did I know then, as an 11 year old, that my life would never be the same. Don't take a moment for granted! Don't assume that you'll have another chance to tell someone that you love them or that you'll have another day to live your life. It doesn't always happen that way so be thankful for what you have, who is in your life, and what you have been able to do!!

On a different note, Matt, Brandon, and I took off to Santa Barbara yesterday to have a day trip and meet with a photographer that we had found. We met with Jessica Lewis who is amazing and booked her! She's adorable and our wedding pictures are going to be AMAZING! We also went to the mission, beach, Stern's Wharf, SB Zoo, and out to eat. We had great weather and it was even better to be out of Bakersfield for a day. :] We are almost 5 months out and have all of our vendors booked!

All of my late start classes have started so it'll be a busy 2 months! Blah!

Everything else is going great!

So with that said, I love you all and hope that your lives are touched and that you are blessed with many many beautiful days!

Jenae

Wedding Countdown

ONLY 6 MORE MONTHS UNTIL THE WEDDING!!!!!!! Ahhhhh! :]

And So It Begins

I used to have an Xanga way back when Matt and I first started dating and it has been fun to go back and read so I figured it's time to start blogging again since Matt and I are in such a fun and different time in our lives. There is so much going on and changing! Some of our family and friends are on here so we decided this would be a good way to go. We love reading about what is going on in your lives and maybe if you are bored one day, our blog will provide you with something to do :P

Life has been busy but enjoyable for the most part. As I am typing this, I am listening to Pictures of You by The Last Goodnight who we got to see in concert thanks to our good friend Sara! It was a great show. They came to town a couple of weeks ago to play at the Fox Theater for a KLLY Lounge which are shows put on by our local radio station that you can only win tickets to. They are smaller shows and they host a meet and greet after the show where you get to meet the band, take pictures with them, and get autographed posters. We also got to see Sara Bareilles who is one of my favorite artists right now, Emerson Hart of Tonic, Vanessa Carlton, and Missy Higgens all within the last 2 months. We average a show every two weeks or so. It's nice to spend time with Sara and Jordan and take in a free show! We have also seen Collective Soul, Ben Folds Five, Jacob Young, and some others. We'll get to see Matt Nathanson on March 10th. With our money being so tight because of the wedding, this is one of our only forms of entertainment and getting out of the house! :]

Speaking of the wedding, wedding planning has been going well. As of tonight when we send off two more contracts we'll have all of our vendors booked which is a load off. We are really ahead of the game and that feels great! Can you believe it is only 6 months away!? It's been 6 years in the making but worth every moment. I am so lucky! We're anxious for May to get here so we can send out our invitations and start getting RSVPs back. We're really hoping that a good portion of our guests can make it. It's really important to Matt and I for everyone to be there..if it wasn't, we would have eloped! ;] Plus, we have to have 131 guests show up in order to meet our food minimum. I'm keeping my fingers crossed! See our wedding website that is linked to the right.

Matt and I will be graduating at the end of this semester with our double major in Business Administration and Economics! We're almost done! It's scary, exciting, and nerve racking all at the same time. I have to enter into the "real" world whatever that is! I have no clue what I want to do...there are probably 10 or more things that I would like to do, I just don't know what is practical and what would be the right choice. Matt's set at Best Buy. Even though things haven't been completely great there this last year, it's a good job with good benefits and he is great at what he does. They are opening a new store and I believe that he'll be able to get whatever position he'd like...it's time for his hard work to pay off. As for me, well see where life takes me!

Matt and I have been really sick for the last couple of weeks. I look forward to feeling human again so we can get back to our work outs. We want to be healthier and look good for the wedding! Nobody likes a fat bride! Haha..seriously though, I need to get back to it!

A couple of weeks ago we got to spend some time in Santa Barbara. The hotel we are getting married at had a bridal show. The show was a complete let down but it was fun since Sara, Kellie, and Brandon were able to make it! We missed you Ren! We hit up State Street in the pouring rain and splashed in puddles, went to the beach and took tons of pictures, had a BBQ, and stayed up way to late playing crazy games of Uno. We also came up with nicknames for each other..mine is Naener, Matt is Bunions, Sara is Tri-tip, Kellie is Pooter, and Brandon is Marlin. These nick-names perfectly describe the love we have for one another! Nobod will ever be able to guess how they came about. ;] It was so cool to see snow on the Grapevine on the way over there and on the way back we got to spend about an hour at the top of the Grapevine waiting to be escorted off of the mountain because of black ice. We had two days of rain and two days of some of the most beautiful weather that I have ever had while at the beach! I hope we are lucky enough to have that same great weather on the wedding day. That would be icing on the cake.

Matt and I have decided to live with my mom for a couple of months to a year after the wedding. We think it's the best decision for us in the long run. We really want to build a new house! With the housing market the way it is, now is the time to buy. We have a house picked out at a development already and just need to get a big enough down payment so that our monthly payments would be low enough. We have to do this before the lots are all sold...that's the rush. Good thing they just opened the development and said it should take about a year to fill all of them. This house fits us perfectly. We want a house that we can stay in forever so we can actually pay our house off. Living rent free for a year would allow us to build our dream house and to have low monthly payments so we wouldn't have to worry about losing it. Too many people are losing their homes and it is so sad to see. We have been close as well. We want to be cautious and as educated as we can be about the home buying process so we can at least try to avoid this ever happening to us. A lot of times it's out of people's control though. It's that uncertainty that makes it scary.

That has been our life for the last couple of months! - Jenae & Matt