My new OBSESSiON!

This may sound a little crazy and far-fetched, but I decided I really want a horse drawn carriage for my get-away on my wedding day... however I can't find anyone that knows someone that has anything similar and I refuse to pay a large sum of money to have one. If anyone can help me out, I would greatly appreciate it.

WEDDiNG WEDDiNG WEDDiNG WEDDiNG....

That is the only thing that can be processed by my brain right now. I'm not gonna lie, it's SUPER ANNOYiNG. I wish that my brain would go back to normal, but the way things are going right now... that is proving to not be how this is gonna happen. Here is a list of things I still need to do- just using this as my thinking pad, or these things probably won't get done.

Make centerpieces
*still need canning jars, glass beads
Get wedding dress altered
Decide on a photographer, florist and cake maker
so much more to do... but the most important is
finding a job to pay for my wedding..... :(
Just my thoughts... will post a better, more exciting overview of my life when it happens.

LATE POSTS

Sorry for the two late posts, but I had to get them put on there before I go crazy with wedding plans and run out of time to blog! Speaking of which, if anyone wants to help with my wedding, please text/call or even e-mail me… however you want to contact me is fine! I’m going to be making a list of things I need volunteers for, so please let me know if you’re interested! Thanks so much, and please keep posting… it’s the only things that makes time go by for me… besides ripping off those paper links of mine! haha Have a great week everyone! Love and miss you all!

FUN ON THE RANCH!

So, before I move back to Arizona to plan our wedding Scott and I decided it was best to make our rounds and visit family. Our first stop was to see his dad and stepmom (John and Judy) who live on the ranch where Scott lived until he was 17. We got there Friday night around 10 PM and went right to bed. We awoke to the smell of waffles and bacon cookin’ away! We had breakfast and then sat down to watch General Conference. After listening to the wonderful speakers, Scott and his dad went out and did some house work putting up a porch. Meanwhile, Judy and I did some baking. I learned how to use an apple peeler and make apple pie filling.

BEFORE and AFTER:

Taste testing=pure happinessss.

After the boys were done outside they saddled up two of the horses so Scott and I could go for a ride. I have only ridden 2 other horses in my life so I expressed to Scott my desire to go for a good ride between sessions of conference. We rode around the ranch property and enjoyed the wonderful creations the Lord has made for us- from landscape to the cool breeze that blew away the sun’s rays. This is me on Maggie…

Following the ride, we ate an amazing lunch that consisted of homemade chili, potato salad and buttered bread. When our tummies became full, we relocated to the couches to watch the second and final session of conference for the day. After the session was over we watch The Best Two Years and then made dinner. While dinner was being prepared, I made my mom’s famous Chocolate Meringue Pie. I realized how much I miss baking and CANNOT wait to be a cute little housewife! I learned a lot of little tricks in the kitchen from Judy and even more life lessons from Scott. I loved listening to his mission stories he told throughout the day and his insights from the words spoken today in General Conference.

TODAY’S BiG ACHiEVEMENT: learning to cut men’s hair!

I have been able to cut girl’s hair for a few years now, but I never knew how to cut guys hair ‘til now. Scott took the time and patience to teach me, and let alone… on HiS HEAD!

It probably wasn’t the smartest idea the day before we plan to get our engagement pictures taken, but oh well. He reassured me that he could fix it if I messed up and that everything would be alright. I must admit it didn’t turn out too bad…

Don’t worry… that isn’t the finished project… You’ll just have to wait to see the engagement pictures for the final look!

Speaking of engagement… we also got a look at our FiRST wedding gift! John sent me a picture of it last week, but I finally got to see it today! It’s my FAVORiTE color and I will definitely need one in our first house. Can you guess what it is?

 

 

It is…..

 

 

A WASHiNG MACHiNE!

 

Isn’t it cute?!? The best part is that it’s ELECTRiC and it actually works… I’m not too sure how clean it will get our clothes, but I guess we’ll have to find out.

WHiTE FLURRiES…

FORECAST for September 29, 2009: Eighty-five degrees

FORECAST for September 30, 2009: Thirty-four degrees AND…

 

<h2>SNOW!!!</h2>

I know for some of you that snow is no big deal… well for an Mesa, Arizona girl that has only been in snow a handful of times… this was a BiG deal! This was also the first time I remember being in snowfall…

       Scott and I wrote on our cars… I know, it’s silly but cute and fun!

Sorry for the short post, but it’s late, and I’m super tired, so I’m off to bed!

Good 'ol fashioned PAPER CHAiNS...

That is Scott's paper chain taped to his wall... ready to start being torn apart!

Yep, that's right. Scott and I went back to the first grade level and made paper chains as a countdown... forget calendars and the new high-tech flashy buttons that are digital countdowns.
We chose to do these and hang them in our rooms so we could count down the days 'til we get married.We made it color coded so that each color ends the small countdown to the next check point so to speak.
Orange-13 days to Halloween.
Yellow-26 days to Thanksgiving.
Pink-2 days to my BiRTHDAY.
Blue-17 days to Scott's BiRTHDAY.
Green-2 days until Scott comes to ARiZONA!
Red-8 days to Christmas.
WHiTE is 8 days until OUR WEDDiNG!!!

WOOHOOO I'm so excited for this countdown to BEGiN!
Leaving for ARiZONA tomorrow morning!

Engagement photos...

So I have a few of the many pictures we had taken for our engagement picture photo shoot. When I get the rest, I will definitely post them as well!

I have two other posts that I have saved on my computer that I haven't posted yet, because I haven't had access to Wi-Fi, so when I get the chance, I will post them asap... yes, they will be a little out of order, but oh well!

To check out our AMAZiNG photographer- www.bellajourneephotography.com

Mmmmm

So last week on my days off work, I took a short road trip to go visit my AMAZiNG fiance! I stayed with his step-sister, and hung out with her while he was at school. Scott and I had a BLAST exploring the town where we’ll be living after we get married!

The night before I left, the three of us were hanging out and I had just changed into comfy clothes to get ready to lounge around. Somehow the size of pants came up and Scott made the comment that he bet he could fit in my pants… so I challenged him and gave them to him to try on… sure enough, they fit. I was kinda upset at first, but then had to laugh. Especially when he started modeling them around the ‘flat’        I HAD to get some pictures… so enjoy. haha. The best thing about Buckle pants is that they look good on anyone!

Sorry the picture is crooked... he was too tall for my camera.

  

The rest are close-ups of him showing off his backside, so I won’t show those off in public. ;) Only mostly because he knows where to find my blog and I don’t want to upset him. Anyway… enjoy!

“MOST WANTED”

Well, it so seems that other than the news, the only thing people want is pictures… I love how pictures are most desired when there is limited quantity.

   Scott claims that he is NOT photogenic… I think he is amazingly good looking NO MATTER WHAT!  However, I have realized that we really don’t have many quality pictures of the two of us together. There are a few, but I am a picture NAZi and won’t post any that I don’t like (specifically of me). So, you will all have to wait until we get pictures taken… We’ll be getting our engagement pictures done hopefully pretty soon, so after we choose what we want to put on our announcements, I will put a few others up for all to see! On another note, I do have very few pictures of the ring, and in my opinion, they don’t do the ring any justice because it’s more beautiful in person… however, for those of you that aren’t near me to see it, the pictures will just have to do for now.

This was me in my room being silly and taking pictures literally like an hour after he proposed.

It’s a little out of focus on the stone, so you can’t quite see all the facets and small details, but I love the picture!

This is the side view of the Tulip style setting that my ring has… the ring looks as if it’s made of yellow gold and not white, because it’s so shiny that it reflects my skin and makes it look different… but in reality it is white gold.

Anyway, hopefully that will quench your desires until we can get some professional/ higher quality pictures up. Please give me feedback and if anyone wants to help with wedding planning, please let me know.

ENGAGED!!!

When I lived in Arizona I met a sister missionary in the visitor's center of the Mesa, Arizona temple. Her name was Krista Stewart and she referred me to take the missionary discussions. Long story short, about a month later I was baptized. Since that day, I have been dreaming about my dream guy and wondering when he was gonna enter my life. Never did I think it would happen as fast as it did.
When I moved to Montana I got the chance to be reunited with her and catch up on life since her mission. After spending some time together, she told me about this guy she thought would be an AMAZiNG match for me. On Saturday, we spent the night at the Maughan's house. They live in her ward and the following day I went to church with her and the Maughan family. Little did I know that they were serious about setting us up as well... although it didn't take much work for them, I'll still give them some credit.
I ended up being strategically placed next to Scott on the bench in the chapel- not by choice, but I definately was NOT complaining. I sat and read scriptures before church began and as I did, one of the speakers came and sat in front of me. He reached over and tapped my knee to get my attention and to start a conversation with me. I tried to end it as quickly as possible and get back to my reading. After the unwanted guest returned to his seat on the stand, I put my scriptures away and prepared myself for church to start. Scott left to go bless the sacrament and while he did my mind was going CRAZY. So, after he blessed the sacrament and returned to our row, the fun began. I know... I should have been paying attention, and I was, but he was distracting me a little too much. I was instantly attracted to him and couldn't help but be curious as to what was going through his mind about this obvious set up. SiDE NOTE: The Maughan family are his cousins and the night before they had been grilling me to see if we would be a good match. They had warned me about his pet peeve of being touched- due to his recent return from his mission last March. Because of that warning, I made extra sure that I sat a good 8-12 inches away from him so he wasn't uncomfortable. HAHA. Anyway, after the first speaker had finished and sat down I felt a nudge in my left side. I looked down and saw that Scott was passing me a note. I read the note and wrote back... he asked "Who was that guy?" (referring to the guy that had just spoken, which was the guy that had sat down in front of me before church began to strike up a conversation). I hesitantly wrote back "My exboyfriend. We haven't seen or spoken since we broke up." Scott replied something along the lines of 'oh, so that knee tap had to have been awkward'... the conversation continued for another few minutes and then stopped so we could listen to the second speaker.
I asked him if I could sit with him in Sunday School, because Krista was going to teach and I didn't know anyone else. He of course agreed and our conversation started once again a few minutes after Sunday School began. He started the conversation, again, on his little note pad this time asking me what perfume I was wearing... 'WOW' I thought to myself... I won't go into all the details, but in our conversation I gave subtle hints of an interest in a possible future of even just a friendship and it didn't stop there. We had a potluck after church- sat next to Scott. I went back to the Maughan's to spend Sunday with an LDS family, and obviously with the hopes of getting to know this Scott guy better. We played a few family games where Scott coached me- I ended up winning. Later on, we sat on the couch talking and I accidently hit his leg with my foot and then later on bumped his arm with mine, both times apologizing greatly. He asked why I was so sorry, and I went on to explain about how his family had warned me about his dislike of being touched. He started laughing and went on to tell me about how it was just being touched by his family that he didn't like... girls weren't a problem. Many know, I'm an affectionate and touchy person. Needless to say, after that conversation the day ended up with the result of us holding hands and cuddling on the couch watching the Work and the Glory. I know, no biggie, but when I had been warned the night before about NOT touching him, I thought for sure I would have to break him out of the recent Returned Missionary mode...
The next day he drove through town on his way to Idaho for a rodeo, and made a point to stop and visit me. We watched a movie at a friend's house and then he took me back home. He was supposed to leave to start his LONG drive to Idaho, but we couldn't help but to keep talking. A *few* hours later he finally left, after our long get to know you session. Oh, and P.S. our first kiss happened that night- can I say ''AMAZiNG''?!? (and for you Premiere/LiGHT girls, you know how much competition he had!). We talked constantly as often as we could and didn't let a minute go by without thinking of each other. A few days later he asked if I wanted to go to a rodeo with him in a town an hour away from where I live. I of course accepted and excitedly prepared myself for this experience to come. I had never watched someone I cared about ride in a rodeo, and I NEVER realized how dangerous it was until I saw him get bucked off that BULL... yeah, you read that right... a B-U-L-L! Anyway, there's so many more details to come, so I'll skip the little ones there. We went to Applebee's after the rodeo and then made a pitstop at a pull of on the way home. It was origionally to let Scott 'stretch his legs', but ended up in a SUPER romantic star-gazing date. We sat and watched the stars... wished on shooting stars and enjoyed the presence of the spirit. I have never had such a spiritual revelation in my LiFE! I ignored it at first, because I thought it was just butterflies... but when it hit me, Oh my, it hit me hard.
That night we said 'I love you' and it was so natural... the next morning I woke up and realized I KNEW I was gonna spend the rest of eternity with this WONDERFUL (that's an understatement) man. I proceeded to tell him that he was probably gonna think I was crazy, but I needed to tell him something. I went on to tell him that all I could think of was the words "When you know, you know." I waited anxiously for Scott's reply and it wasn't as crazy as I thought it was gonna be. He told me that the ONLY words he had in his head the night before were ''when you know, you know.'' We shared our wishes with each other that had been made on the shooting stars the night before, and how we love each other so much. Things just went from there... he moved to the college town 3 hours away last saturday to go to school, but we know that's what is best for now. We will both be making trips to see each other as often as possible.
Now for the part you have ALL been waiting for!

August 30th, 2009

After getting off work, Scott met me at my house. We had planned a casual picnic for the 45 min he was gonna have in town to visit me. So, I made chicken salad sandwhiches and packed some other snacks that morning before work. We went to a place up here called Giant Springs... we found a little place by the water to sit and have our picnic. We ate and talked, A LOT. That's what threw me off. Other than the fact that I knew the independent jeweler we went through for our rings was out of town... Scott wasn't acting nervous AT ALL. I was just convinced that he would be nervous when he was getting close to asking me, but HE WASN'T! So, about 10 minutes before I knew we had to leave, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his CHAPSTiCK! I thought for sure he was gonna ask me... haha nope. I knew that the jeweler was out of town for the ENTiRE week, so I didn't know why I was hoping he would have the ring. It would have been impossible, because to my knowledge, and their sneeky planning, they had led me to believe that Scott hadn't even called about the ring yet. Smart men, I'll give them credit. I tried so hard to figure out a time when Scott would have had the chance to meet with him... it just wasn't possible. So, he put his chapstick away and fiddled around in his pocket- pulled out his hand, still nothing. Then I felt guilty for wanting it and getting mad he hadn't asked me, so I left it alone. Literally three minutes later he said "ok, I don't know how I'm gonna do this without messing things up" I looked down and there it was in his HAND!!!!!! I just wrapped my arms around him and hugged him really close! He held me, and then said 'so, can I please have your hand?' I just laughed, felt like an idiot and slowly made my hand off his shoulder and into his view. He looked me in the eyes and asked "Autumn, will you marry me?" AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! I QUiETLY said 'yeah...'
Then he slipped the ring on and kissed me! Its was ABSOLUTELY PERFECT!




I would write more, but this migraine is killing me. I owed EVERYONE this story and didn't want to tell it eight thousand times... so there you all go...

Maybe I will edit it and make it better/more detailed. If you have questions, please ask!