Photographer found! plus more updates

After spending so much time looking at different photographers and comparing prices, we've finally settled with one company - Whiteday.  Basically, it's a Korean-owned company that provides not only photography but also gown/tux rental, pre-wedding day photo shoot, wedding coordinator for the day of and many other small things.  I can't say that it's cheap to go through them but it definitely saves a lot of hassle to find other things ourselves.  I guess you can call it a one-stop shop thingy.  What sold us on this package were 3 things - the pre-wedding shoot had studio and outdoor poses which were pretty nice (especially the beach pics - we both love the beach) and we wear their gowns and tux (so we dont' hafta dirty ours); this package comes with 4 albums - 1 large one, 1 mini one that's an exact replica of the large one to take around to show ppl, and 2 parents albums; and lastly our friends who are getting married next spring are also doing their wedding package through them and they totally convinced us to go with that company - they were raving about how good the photographer was at their pre-wedding photoshoot.  And since we were recommended by them, the company threw in some other miscallaneous stuff into the package for us.  All in all, I'm quite satisfied right now - the person we were dealing with was very good.  She recommended stuff for us that would help us cut down on our wedding expenses.

So on the same note about wedding....I found my wedding dress!!  And since I bought a wedding dress, we get to substitute our wedding gown rental in the package with a tux rental.  I'll still be using their veil and accessories tho.  The dress I  bought was dirt cheap!  Got it at David's Bridal in the States on my way back up from our Yellowstone Park camping trip.  Found it in the clearance rack - it was $199.99 with an additional $50 off!  Downside to it is that it's 1 size too big for me so I will need alterations done.  That'll be sad if the alterations become more expensive than the dress itself. haha.  Anyone know of a good wedding dress seamstress?

Since I mentioned Yellowstone Park, I'll just say this:  if you've never gone before, you hafta go at least once in your lifetime.  It's GORGEOUS there!  I'm truly amazed at God's creation - if you ever doubt God's existence, you just hafta step into Yellowstone and it'll convince you that there's gotta be someone out there that created all these things.  Albeit it is a volcanoe crater, and even tho most of landscape is made by the volcanic blast - the trees growing, the geyers, the hotsprings, the waterfalls, the wildlife....just unbelievable.  If you want to see pics, just email me and I'll fwd you the link to my pics online. 

A&G's wedding

Helping out at A & G's wedding sure gave me some ideas for what I would need to do for my wedding =) Here are some pictures from that day:

the happy groom smiling at the back of the limo

chilling at Steveston, waiting for our frozen yogourt

A & G's favourite bbt place

The Date has been SET!!!

More wedding updates:

We have now set the date for our wedding =) July 26, 2008! How exciting...just a little bit over a year. But we still need to find a church to hold the ceremony...at least the restaurant for the dinner reception has been booked. One down and a gazillion more things to go. Ah, the joy of wedding planning =P

R and I had a photoshoot recently. It was fun! Funny story was that both of us showed up wearing very similar colours to each other without knowing beforehand. Thanks to M and T for doing such a great job...apparently now that they're in higher demand from other ppl/couples (and with having their own cameras now...haha), they have up their rates. It'll cost more than a dinner for them to do a photoshoot [the latest I heard was dinner AND bbt ;) LOL].

On a side note: my maid of honour is moving back TODAY! YAY!!!! After so many years away, she's finally back.

eeeeeks

So we still haven't set the date for our wedding yet...but seems like my want for a small wedding ain't gonna happen. Our max was 200 ppl (and that to me is already considered pretty big) BUT apparently it's not big enough. For those who know me, I don't like big crowds...oh wells. I guess it is a once in a lifetime event for ppl to celebrate our marriage with us =)

I'll be keeping everyone posted about my wedding plans on this blog so check back once in a while to see if there's a new post!

My Ring!!

Ring in the box

Ring on my finger

Can't wipe THAT smile off my face

Yesterday was the bestest day of my life! hehe. Who would have thought that I would get engaged. It all started out like a normal typical Sunday...church, lunch...a meeting and then to R's house. We were all going to go to a friend's house to watch the hockey game. Little would I know that I would be woken up from my nap to be proposed to. haha. Must have been a funny sight...here I was all groggy and not wanting to wake up and R's telling me to wake up or I'd miss something. Finally I did wake up and he proposed. Shock and grogginess added together = saying "really" a gazillion times. hehe. After all the talking to parents and such, we headed over to our friend's house to watch the Canucks game. THEY WON!! What a way to end my day =D Now I'll be floating on cloud 9 for a while. Pics of the ring to come...stay posted!

Spring Break?

Not really for me since I'm working at my other job instead of taking time off. People at my part-time job always ask me why I'm working insteading of having a break...my answer? I'm gonna work as much as I can while I'm still young and can handle it =) Gotta save up! Hopefully one day I'll have enough money to get a place on my own...instead of paying rent, I can pay towards a mortgage...fun stuff =p

Speaking of saving up...I really should stop buying books. I think I'm addicted to buying books! eeeeks. Not that reading isn't good...but now all my bookshelves are full and I have books lying all over my apt. haha, not cool. I think next time I'll go to the library instead of Chapters...maybe that'll help me since most of my books I only read maybe a max of two times (unless I really like it...like Pride and Prejudice! hehe...read that like a gallion times). The one collection that I really want to keep buying until it's finished is my Calvin and Hobbes collection. Still a long way to go =( One day....one day

13 days of of on-scale pay! WOOHOO!! Crossing my fingers for more to come =D

Yet another trip =D

Vegas...compared to last time when I went (which was less than a year ago), there seems to be a lot of construction. Stardust hotel is getting knocked down and new buildings/hotels/casinos are being built all along the strip. Yet, everything still is the same....the neon lights, the gambling, the alcohol and of course the insane amount of food (e.g. buffets and prime rib dinners). Oh! and also the shopping! I got me some insane deals =) For example: from Banana Republic I got a skirt for $6.97 (versus reg price of $59.99). Bought me 3 pairs of shoes (all under $25) and bunch of clothes (e.g. polo shirt for $1.49, shirts for $3.50 each). What can I say, deals just some how find me and so I must buy. haha.

I think this trip was so not good for my digestive system. Eating buffets 2 nights in a row...not good! lol. And prime rib dinner and half a plate of spaghetti at 11pm. Speaking of spaghetti...I had to pose for a "Lady and the Tramp" type of pic...that R =p Totally made me turn all red

Ear plugs were a total "sleep-saver" for me! I was able to sleep like a baby at night. hehe. Tho I didn't really sleep much in general...'specially the last night since we had to be up and ready by 6am to catch a bus to the airport and that night we didnt' even get home til at least 1am.

Check this pic out: A chocolate fountain located in Bellagio that took 2 years to build! crazy stuff

Updates

Wow, been a while since I've made any postings. What have I been up to lately? Well, I really enjoyed my Christmas holiday. R took me up to Whistler for a night. It was so pretty up there with the snow and all =) Wish the holiday was longer but oh wells, can't be off all the time. Weather here has been insane...with crazy wind storms and LOTS of snow! Makes roads really icy...not cool to drive on. Thankfully I haven't caused any accidents yet. haha. Went to the wedding fair with J and her cousin. Crazy busy! Being the bridesmaids, we were in charge of dropping off all the ballots into the boxes of every vendor in the hopes of winning a prize or 2...about 150 of them! Talk about having to be prepared =p Spent about 4 hours there. We took all available magazines, brochures, food samples...basically anything that we could have for free. haha. I love freebies. But after going to the fair, made me realize how much planning is needed for a wedding and how complicated/complex it can be (but only if you let it)! Eloping or destination weddings sure sounds a lot better and easier (and cheaper!). haha

Now that school's up and running again, I've been getting some calls but not enough. Hopefully it'll start picking up again. Strangely I've been teaching more HS than elementary so that going back to elementary seems weird. Totally different approach (those who teach will know what I'm talking about). Sometimes I wonder if I should teach HS instead of elementary. I actually don't mind it anymore...the kids definitely don't intimidate me like I thought that they would. Although I have only taught HS in one district and maybe the kids in that district is just generally good compared to other districts. haha. Who knows...not that I'm complaining. Well, I'm looking forward to my next vacation in exactly 11 days! Vegas here I come! What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, right? ;)