1 DAY!

I'M GETTING MARRIED TOMORROW!

It is 12:03am and if I don't write now I never will.

Today is our last day as "single" folk!

It is also a very busy day!!

We have lots to do today but alot of help so I'm confident everything will get done.

Our day starts off bright and early with everyone meeting at our apartment at 9am. Some will stay at my place working on flowers, some will go to the reception location and work on making everything look amazing, the guys will get their tuxes, and everyone is hoping to get some cliff jumping in!

Then we are off to the rehearsal at 5pm then rehearsal dinner at 6pm. Then I say goodbye to my dearest love and head to the hotel for a girls night! I get to spend the night before my wedding with my future sisters and best friends.

I'm planning on putting up lots of pictures of all the little details of our wedding that I have been hiding from you all so the blog isn't over when our wedding is over so keep checking in! :)

I'm not sure I'll be able to get on again before I'M MARRIED so this is Jessica Walk signing out!

2 DAYS 2 DAYS!

The wedding weekend has begun!!

In 30 minutes I'll be meeting with the Pastor from Redeemer to pick up the keys.

At 11:30am I'm getting a manicure. Wish me luck! I've never had one before and I'm a little nervous. I'm hoping they turn out awesome and stay nice through the wedding.

I have my last staff meeting as a "single" gal from 2-4pm and then it is time to boogey.

My parents will be arriving in a few hours and after my staff meeting I will be cleaning the apartment (we are having quite a few people staying at our place throughout the weekend) and then we will be packing stuff up and bringing what we can to the different locations to free up my apartment a bit!

So many people have worked so hard for us to get to this point and I'm so ready to get this weekend started!!

Love you all!

3...

Well our joint bank account is all set up and we are no longer owners of our old bank accounts.

Tomorrow starts our wedding weekend. Our immediate families and one groomsmen are making their way here as the wedding festivities officially begins! We have been preparing for marriage for so long that is hard to believe we are finally here. I'm so truly blessed to the point where I can't take it all in! My life is so good.

My first week at my new job was stressful, long, and filled with mix-ups but I loved every moment. I am working a front desk in the dorms signing in the new students and their families and helping to assign them to their rooms. My staff rocks and I love interacting with the new students and their parents. I'm a bit bummed that I won't be working with them next week but I suppose I could just try and enjoy OUR HONEYMOON!

I have consumed a mass amount of chocolate in the last week and I've decided that the chocolate helps stabilizes my emotions so I'm not crying all week. :) haha With saying that I made some brownies with chocolate chips in it.. yum! And I also made cookies this past weekend. They were gone in a matter of days!! haha

Anyone still reading the blog?

Give me a shout! :)

See you all soon!

4...

Every day Ben and I update the fridge with our letter magnets! We have to get creative to make numbers out of letters.

The pile of wedding goodies that have found their home in the dining area.

The "wedding" room has exploded!! But it is organized! :)

I also packed what I could for the next week.

I need a bag for.

1. Friday Night: Girls night in the hotel

2. Saturday Night: WEDDING NIGHT!

3. Honeymoon/Vacation: Including our honeymoon, camping with my family, and my cousin's wedding.

We are really getting down to the last few things and it FEELS GOOD!

5!

I can count with ONE hand how many days left until I'm a Mrs.

The weather for our big day isn't looking too good.

Thunderstorms are being forecasted. Cross your fingers the weather clears up for an hour so we can get some pictures outside.

That's all the time I've got for today.. back to my to do list!

6

My parents stayed over last night and brought with them many many things..

3 coolers + a mini cooler

LOTS of napkins, cups, plants

decorations for the rehearsal dinner and brunch

punch bowl

Diet Coke (because our reception location has Pepsi products so we are brining in our own)

and MANY more things.

Currently my dining area and spare bedroom are a mess and my mom and I came up with a pretty hefty to do list for tomorrow.

And I started another job tonight. My third job, yikes! I'll put in 18 hours in the next 3 days and then Thursday hits which is the start of our wedding weekend!!

So I'll keep this post short and sweet as I head off to get a jump start on my to do list!

7!!!!!!

One week One week One week!!

This time next week we will be married!!!!

I think I will burst any day now from excitement!

I opened up the mailbox today and found our first card addressed as Mr. and Mrs!

It was funny (and VERY exciting) to see something addressed to me in this fashion. I better get used to it, and fast. :)

I also got a package today from my Aunty Jodi. Inside were a bunch of table runners for different seasons, holidays and occasions. I'm SO excited! I was going to make these (eventually....) and these are way better than I could ever do!!

Ben surprised me today by making me a bouquet! It is now the perfect centerpiece for the kitchen table! Who buys flowers when you can make your own bouquet! :D

My parents will be here soon to bring a car full of goodies up (including my dress!) so I'm off!

SEE YOU ALL IN ONE WEEK!! (or less than a week for some!) WAHOO!!

LOVE YOU ALL!

8...

This time next week we will be decorating our reception location, most of our bridal party will be in town, I'll be packed and ready to go for our honeymoon, all of our planning will pretty much be complete and we will be spending our last day of "single" life surrounded by our families and friends.

I'm finding myself smiling more and more as we get closer to the big day!

My mom seems to be a bit stressed out this week as she is busy making some food for the evening snacks, working on ceremony decorations and creating the table runners. Ben's mom is also pretty busy because she is doing the flowers for our wedding.

Tomorrow my parents are coming up to bring up a load of goodies including my WEDDING DRESS!!! I can't wait to see it again (I haven't seen it in months!). They are staying the night and we are going to be going over the seating chart and a few other reception details. The only problem is they have to sleep in the living room because the spare bedroom is FILLED with wedding things! :)

9...

My CA staff planned a BBQ/potluck for us and our families. What I didn't know was that it was also a surprise wedding party for Ben and I! Our friend, Andy, asked us to get in his car and see if we could hear the clunking noise his car was making. We rode around for awhile and came back to our BBQ site to see this!

(sorry for the strange looking pictures the camera was on a funky setting and I didn't realize it!)

A beautiful sign!

And gifts! My staff is truly wonderful.

We got ice packs for a cooler, mattress pad, and a pudgie pie maker!

Delicious cake that Jackie made! YUM!

There were also bubbles on the tables which we had lots of fun with.

Andy made friends with the three little girls who enjoyed jumping on his back and squishing him!

The adorable card we received!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Now here are a few more glimpses of our wedding!

I decided last minute to do another do-it-yourself project, call me crazy!

We received a few wedding presents while visiting Ben's family and also through the mail.

They are taunting me by sitting in our spare bedroom.

All that stuff is wedding things!! Our wedding has officially taken over our spare bedroom and half our living room!

On a side note, I start another job today. Wish me luck!

10...

Can you believe it?

It feels like just yesterday that we were at 100 days and here we are at 10!

The last time I wrote here was our to do list. I've since updated it! :)

* Writing out Thank Yous DONE

* Meeting with our vendors one final time ALMOST DONE (one last meeting with the DJ)

* Finalizing music selections and reception schedule DONE

* Putting together ceremony programs DONE

* Checking in with the last people who haven't sent in their RSVP DONE (as done as I think we'll be)

* Working on paperwork for name changes, joint bank accounts, etc. A WORK IN PROGRESS

Looking ahead our to do list is MUCH smaller. I'm no longer the least bit stressed and it feels so wonderful. I'm truly going to sit back and enjoy the next 10 days. We still have plenty to do but I'm passed the point of worrying about anything. This is such a special time in our lives and I love where we are at.

The past two weekends have been a blessing to us. We got to spend a weekend with my family while seeing my best friend Ashely and this past weekend we spent time with Ben's family and I got to see my other best friend, Lauren. It was so wonderful spending some time with family and friends and the next time we see them it will be for our wedding!

Here is a behind the scenes look at our lives in the last two weeks.

We started our first garden!

We are growing cucumbers, carrots, green beans, sugar snap peas, acorn squash, tomatoes and peppers. We are also taking part in the community garden (I'm the co-chair!) and there are MANY more glorious things in that part of the garden too!

We had quite the rain storm yesterday and Ben and I were running around trying to take in our plants and little peppers who aren't strong enough to be planted yet. Of course Ben had to try out his new rain gear! He stood out in the rain for a few minutes and came in as dry as could be!

On our drive back home this past weekend we stopped at a little roadside park with stairs leading to a gorgeous beach. We explored the beach and then walked through the water and played on all these rocks!

We also checked out this cool waterfall. We always see it on our trip and this time Ben stopped so we could get a good look at it!

Congrats!

I lost my maid of honor yesterday afternoon..

BUT

I now have a Matron of Honor!!

Congrats to Ashely and her husband Chad on their marriage.

Ash looked stunning, here is a glimpse!

I'm so lucky to be able to share in your special day.

(2 weeks and 6 days til our wedding!)

23 Days

This past month has been so busy that I've completely overlooked our blog and I'm so sorry.

We are getting down to all of the "small" stuff.

* Writing out Thank Yous

* Meeting with our vendors one final time

* Finalizing music selections and reception schedule

* Putting together ceremony programs

* Checking in with the last people who haven't sent in their RSVP

* Working on paperwork for name changes, joint bank accounts, etc.

Since school got out Ben has been able to help me A LOT. So this is a big shout out to him.. THANKS for all of your hard work and help with everything (even the crafty things you'd rather not do!).

What have we been doing?

* Bought and put ribbon on bubbles

* Put together little bathroom baskets

* Finished gifts for our bridal party

* Created place cards

* Finished everything for the kid's activity table

* Figured out rehearsal dinner set-up (chairs/tables/etc.)

* and SO much more.

I don't want to give too much away and spoil the surprises on our wedding day but I'll try to share a few glimpses.

To make it even more difficult there are no captions. :)

Any guesses on what the pictures are of?

See you all soon!

Bridal Shower #2

LOVE /'luv/

(noun, verb, and everything in between)

1: holding hands, walking in the rain, and not even knowing it's raining 2. being there for each other (no matter what) 3: that certain look 4: trust 5: passion 6: the best kind of friendship 7: gets better with time 8: a fairy tale that does come true

(I received this card at my bridal shower held in my hometown. It's perfect for a Language Arts major!)

This past Saturday was my Bridal Shower at home. My mom hosted the event with a lot of help from my Grandma Kathy, Maid of Honor, Ashely, and help from all of my aunts. The day was PERFECT (minus a few guests who couldn't be there).

I walked into to my church's Sunday School room to a room filled with brown, blue and a splash of lime green. Hydrangeas, tissue paper flowers (made by a girl I used to babysit, Hannah), towel cake, beautiful wedding-like cake, homemade wedding tree, LOTS of delicious food, homemade chocolate and a posterboard filled with pictures from my first shower.

Some picture have been added to Facebook but I'll put a few on here in case you didn't see them!

(I stole them off of Ashely's, Lauren and my mom's facebook.. THANKS!)

The set-up. Thanks to everyone who help set up!

A posterboard filled with pictures from my first shower.

A digital picture frame with photos of Ben and I.

Picture of me with Ben's family so everyone could see his two sisters who weren't able to join us.

A wedding tree that my Aunty Lisa made!

My cake that my aunts got for me! It was beautiful and TASTY!

The delicious food that my mom and Grandma worked so hard to make. It was so yummy! A special thanks to Aunty Bonnie for all of her work during the shower!

The gift table! I am so blessed.

The flowers my mom and friend, Hannah, made!

You can also see the Kleenex holders that my Grandma made as party favors and chocolate bride favor my Aunty Jodi made. Yummy!

Towel cake made by Aunty Jodi and cousin, Kaitlyn. This was filled with bathroom and kitchen towels, pot holders and bamboo utensils.

A closer look at the wedding tree!

Aunty Jodi starting our meal.

Ashely, Raena, me and Lauren! Thanks for all your help!

My helmet! :D

I had a wonderful bridal shower!!

I can't say THANKS enough to everyone who helped make my day so amazing!

Love you all!

Bachelorette Party!

Last Saturday evening my best friends, Ashely and Lauren threw a Bachelorette Party for me at Applebee's in my hometown.

It wasn't anything huge - just the way I wanted it!

It was the three of us, Ben's youngest sister and Tia, my brother's girlfriend.

We played a few games, had a few drinks, ate some delicious food, and enjoyed some scandalous moments! ;)

Ben's family had to head out of town late Saturday night so we headed back early and crashed Ben's bachelor party. We all spent some time together enjoying one another's company before Lauren and I went to bed. Ben's best man, Eric, my brother, Justin, and Ben spent a few hours playing video games as a fun end to a wonderful bachelor party!

I won't share many pictures of my fun night but here is a glimpse..

Lauren made party bags for all of us!

The party bags were filled with goodies!

Check out all the fun candy! Read each bag! :)

What a cute idea!

A big thanks to Lauren and Ashely for planning this! I had such a wonderful time and I'm so thankful to have such amazing friends!!

48 Days and Counting!

My school to do list is down to two items:
1. Presentation on Wednesday

2. Exam on Thursday

THEN I'M DONE!

My Community Adviser to do list is growing smaller each day as everything is wrapped up this upcoming Sunday.

I will continue to be a CA throughout the summer but the work load is WAY less and the job will be all around more enjoyable.

Fortunately, I was able to get a job for the summer and will be working a desk job similar to the one I have now. Unfortunately, the job starts in June. I did pick up a little janitor job for the summer that starts May 1st but that isn't a whole lot of pay - at all.

What does all this mean?

I have NO excuse for not emerging myself in all things wedding related. I relaxed a lot this weekend but now it is time to boogie! Or wedding is 48 days away so I need to get my butt moving.

Here is a glimpse of my Saturday Weekend Visitors! :)

Noah (usher) and my mom playing on Webkinz.

Ring bearers: Logan (left) and Jonah (right)

Here is what I've been working on!

2 Months!!

We are down to the final weeks!!

Unfortunately I don't have any new photos to share.

The Reasons:

1. We've been concentrating on gifts for everyone in our bridal party and we can't share what we got them!

2. I've been doing checking off some of the "boring" things off our to do list like making little appointments for various things like setting up a hair appointment for the morning of our wedding and making sure all my BMs and GMs have everything in order.

3. We have only 7 days left of classes so as the semester gets busier - we spend less time on wedding stuff.

BUT the good news is in 2 weeks we will be finishing up the school year! My final day is April 29th! YEAH!

This weekend is a BIG one for us!!

Here is a run down of our weekend in my hometown.

Friday: Ben's family and our best friends, Lauren and Eric are coming up and we are having dinner at my parents.

Saturday:

12pm: My Bridal Shower

6:30pm: Spa Party at my Aunt's

8:30pm: Bachelorette Party

And Ben is having a man night on Saturday. Eric, Ben's best friend, is planning something to celebrate Ben's bachelorhood. I believe the night starts off with all the guys and then the 21 year-olds are heading out.

Sunday:

Church with everyone then

My Maid of Honor's, Ashely, bridal shower!!

What a fun weekend!

See you all in 2 months!

Easter Miracle!

I got a special phone call today from one of my bridesmaids, Lauren and her husband, Ben's best man, Eric.

They just found out that she is expecting! Their daughter Addison will be a big sister come December!

CONGRATS Lauren and Eric!!!

Happy Easter

Christ has risen! Christ has risen indeed!