House Update

As I type, Mitch is putting in our hardwood floors!! Yay!!! Couple pictures. More to come.

In other news....I ran into our bed earlier....hard. It hurt. A purple bruise is starting to form.

*Disclaimer: Please ignore the freakishly white raw chicken leg looking apendage that this bruise is on.

Save the TaTa's

Last Saturday night, Mitch and I went to the Motocross event at Angels Stadium in Anaheim. It was a breast cancer awareness event also. So among the Save the TaTa's shirts and the waves of pink, there was a young guy sitting in front of us with the funniest homemade shirt I've ever seen. I asked to take a photo to commemorate the funniness. Behold the awesomeness:

Best breast cancer awareness shirt EVER! hahahahaha....."I stare because I care".....priceless.

I'm Comin' Back

So, I don't feel like I really talk all that much about my relationship with God on here and quite frankly the reasoning behind that is because I've been a pretty terrible friend/daughter to him this past year. I really allowed myself to get lost in the busyness of life. Also, with all the wedding planning, we were gone almost everyother weekend and that really didn't help. We went to church while we were in Merced, but I just honestly don't get as much out of the sermons at this church as I do in our home just down here. The pastor in our Merced church is much harder to understand and his sermons and so much harder for me to connect to and apply to my current daily life. However, when we attend services at our church down here, the sermons are like living water. I feed off of them and I feel them help me connect with God on such a deeper level.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not blaming this lack of connectiveness on anyone but myself. I really just allowed myself to set my life on cruise control and just live day to day and focus on the daily tasks at hand. Lately however, we have been attending our church every week and also, I witness Mitch turning into such an amazing man of God. He is always the first to tell me no when I would rather sleep in on a Sunday morning. Also, he always reminds me to pray before we have dinner and he is the ones that prays. I am just so amazed at the spiritual change that I have seen in him. Also, one of my friends on Facebook has done a complete 180 in the past year and also has turned into an amazing man of God. This is such an encouragement to see how he once was and who he is now. He stands up for what he believes in. He stands up for God. What an encouragement that is. I find so often that I shy away from controversial things in front of people that I don't know that well, but this friend is not afraid to lay it out on the line and stand for Christ. He is not concerned with what anyone thinks or says to him. He just stands for truth alone. I am continually being encouraged by not only the person this man has become, but also by Mitch and our pastors sermons. I'm finding my way back with the help of Christ and those that He has laid in my path :)

Distant, Detached, Disconnected

I really would like to blog more and I am lately feeling distant and disconnected because of my lack of internet connection at the house. But, soon that will change! August 7th is the day when the Maertens will become reconnected with life! TV! Internet! Oh the wonderment! Anywho.....Mitch and I recently went to the X Games for his birthday and had tons of fun! Here are a couple pics:

A Touch of Flair

So, Mitch and I made two fun decisions to make our wedding unique and add a touch of flair.

Decision #1: We were initially wanting a sweatheart table for just the two of us. We DID NOT want a traditional head table and we wanted all of our bridal party to be able to sit with their significant others or guests. I was going back through some wedding pictures that our photographer had done about 2 weeks ago and I found this head table idea that I LOVED and I was trying to figure out how to do it with our bridal party and our Reception hall layout. Well, we decided to go ahead and do it and I'm so excited! It is going to add to the "hang-out" party atmosphere.

We are putting our head table in the middle of the room and having us, our bridal party and their significant others all sit together! I know that's a little non-conventional, but hey....it's our wedding!

Decision #2

Feathers! I already knew (from talking with our florist) that I wanted to incorporate feathers into bouquets, boutineers, or centerpieces, but again, I was looking on our photographers website and got a great visual of how to tie these into bouquets and boutineers.

So I think that I'm going to have some black feathers in my hot pink bouquet and the groomsmen will have some black feathers too and maybe even the bridesmaids. Again, a little non-conventional, but hey, its our wedding!

Okay, that is my fun bit of flair that we decided to add to the wedding.

Lots of DIY

So, I have this really classy, fun, elegant, party atmosphere pictured in my head for the wedding reception. And as we all know (or maybe only those who are getting or have been married know) these things cost a ridiculous amount of money. You have to be willing to barter, haggle, and negotiate with people to get what you want for cheap. Hence, the decision to hand-sew each one of my 43 tables at the reception. Of course, many have offered to help and lend a sewing machinge (thanks for that!) but I was never too much of a fan of the standard polyester table cloths. I was initially going to use black ones, but my mom and I decided that might look too much like a funeral. So, last weekend, me, Mitch, and his parents went into the L.A. fashion district and I found this amazing material that I LOVE!



It is a fushia-colored crushed shimmer satin and I am absolutely in LOVE with it. Now, I researched this particular material as a table cloth and the EXACT same material rents at $30 per table. No thank you. I can make it for MUCH cheaper. So, end result, Mitch and I are driving into L.A. Friday morning and buying 404 (yes that number really says 404) yards of fabric to sew the table cloths ourselves! It will be quite the accomplishment :)

Bride Expo

Last weekend, Mitch and I went to a bride expo in L.A. to get some ideas on various things for the wedding. I was really glad that he went with me because I wanted him to see different ideas and help me make informed decisions. He surprisingly, really enjoyed it. We both kind of decided to do some sort of a centerpiece that incorporates Manzanita tree branches, hanging crystals, hanging votive candles and hanging flower ball things. I don't know how to really describe flower ball things. I'm kind of using some of these for ideas.

Mitch really likes this idea too! I'm thinking that it will be relatively cost effective considering the number of table that we will need to have (close to 50) because our guest list is so huge. Another thing that I fell in love with is using rhinestone buckles on the invitations somewhere. These are a couple of inspirations.

I will continue to post more stuff about the wedding as our planning continues. If you're interested..................we have a wedding website. You can see it, by going to http://www.theknot.com/ourwedding/StephanieOliver&MitchMaertens