WEDDING DAY!

Today I walk down the isle and become Mr and Mrs Gregory Nichols! :) My day is finally here!!!

The last few days before I become Mrs. Nichols

As the final days approach before the wedding things are still crazy as ever. Almost everything is ready but there are still a few things remaining. Family starts arriving tomorrow and will be here through the wedding. I have family coming from Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Florida. I feel so special that they would be able to make the trip out here for my wedding. Everything is coming together the slide show is finished, all the favors are done, the bridal party gifts have been completed, and now all I have to do is pick up my dress and make sure the other two bridesmaids dresses are picked up and ok. I am going to get my nails done with some of my girls on thursday before the rehearsal! These last few days I want to be really fun and not stressful because its my final days as single! :)

3 days left until the wedding and then let the honeymoon begin!

Bridal Shower #1

On Monday June 1st the women of Trinity Baptist Church threw me a bridal shower. I feel so blessed to be a part of a church that is willing to do something like this for me. The shower was great! I had a blast and learned a few things about men (that were written by men) to help remind me how their mind works and how to be a successful wife. I will always keep my little "reminder box". A good one was that Greg gets really crappy when he hasn't eaten in a while and I can always tell, so that is a good time for me to ask him when the last time he has eaten and feed him if he needs food. 

My soon to be mother-in-law wrote the devotional for the shower and it was absolutely beautiful. I know that she loves me very much and thinks that I am a great match for her son. It is always hard, especially when its your first child, to let them go and see them happy and on their own. I hope children are a long ways down the road for us but I am happy to have such wonderful "grandparents" on both sides of the family to take care of my future kids. 

I opened my presents and they all are going to be helpful, especially in the kitchen, because I know that Greg and I will never go hungry because of how many recipes we got. Of course you need food to make the recipes, but that is another story. There were also a few unmentionable items that I received which are going to be great :) but there is no need to explain any details on that topic.

Thank you to all who put the shower together for me. I feel truly blessed! I had a great time :)

The Semester is Over!!

The spring 2009 semester is finally over! No more finals, papers, or tests. :) Even though the end of the semester is always tough, it went really well and all of my hard studying really paid off. Towards the end it was really hard to tell myself, go to the library it will be the last time... you can do it. It was a very fun and interesting conversation to have with myself. Greg was really supportive of me and helped me push through to the end. I had 2 finals the last day and they were back to back. The first one started at 7:30am. I just think that is wrong. No student should be asked to think that early in the morning. We are stressed out enough as it is and to tell us we have to function that early is just asking for a breakdown. I survived, but hate having to do it.

Now that school is out of the way, all there is to do is focus on the wedding! There are 5 1/2 weeks to go. We have finished most of the invitations so they can be mailed. People should be receiving their invitations by the end of the week or early next week. Addressing all the envelopes is the part that takes forever and is the least fun (well at least in my opinion). There are so many minor and major details that are left to take care of. I did get to see my dress and it is GORGEOUS!!!! I am taking it to be altered tomorrow and then my entire wedding attire will be set. No its just a matter of getting all the boys figured out for what their tux's will look like. They should be pretty easy so that will be nice. We are still looking for a DJ, which I am waiting for call backs, and we also need a cake. We have an idea what we want but we just have to find somewhere convenient and cheap to get it done. 

Everything for our honeymoon is pretty much set. All we have to do is pick which shore excursions we want to do at each stop of the cruise. We will be leaving from Gavalston Texas and heading to Montego Bay Jamaica first. I have always wanted to go to Jamaica and I think I am most excited for this stop. We will only be there for one day so I don't think that is long enough to get a good feel for what is there. It just gives me the excuse to have to come back so I can see the rest of it. haha :) Next we are headed to the Cayman Islands. I am not sure what we will end of doing here, but is just sounds absolutely amazing! Our third and final stop is in Cozumel Mexico. At first I was a little concerned that we wouldn't be able to stop here because of the swine flu break out, but everything seems to be settling down and we should be just fine. We will just have to see what happens in Mexico. Once we get back from our cruise we will be back in Mesa for a couple of days before we head back up to Flagstaff to our new apartment!

The new apartment we will be renting is in a perfect location. It is across the street from the music building. It is perfect for our first home. :) We will be moving in all of our stuff in 3 weeks so it is all set up for us when we get back to Flagstaff in July. I am so excited I can't wait! Everything is falling into place and before we know, we will be married and on our own. Its really exciting but so scary at the same time. I know that God has a plan for us and everything will work its way out. 

I can hear Wedding Bells..... 38 days left!

Nearing the End of the Semester

The spring 2009 semester is almost over! Only 2 weeks left until school is no longer a huge worry for a while. The end of the semester is always so hard because you are just so burnt out. Every professor thinks that their class is the most important and prevails above all. I hate that. It's not fair to us at all. Instead of making things easier for us they only make it more stressful. All you can really do is just keep your head up and push through it. 

The only thing that has really kept me in tune with the end of this semester is what I am looking forward to...MY WEDDING!! It is so soon now and things are falling into place for that. My wedding dress is here and I will finally get to see it this weekend! I can't wait. :) Our invitations are ready to be addresses which will be a task in itself, haha, but I am so ready to just be able to focus all my time in the final preparations for that. Its only 57 more days so it should be a great journey until then!

My 21st Birthday

Yesterday March 26th was my 21st birthday! I had a blast a had a few drinks. It felt nice. my friends and family are amazing and i was so glad that I could celebrate with them. I had one drink right after midnight and it was really good! :) Even though it was my birthday I still went to all my classes and then work before I could really relax and enjoy my day. Work was entertaining because my coworkers thought I was crazy for being there and tried to get me to go home. I stayed but they took one of the blueberry coffee cakes and made a candle and sang me happy birthday at the end of the shift. It was creative I must say. 

Once I got off work I came over to Greg's house where he threw me a small party. I had my closest friends over to celebrate and they enjoyed trying to encourage me to drink drink drink. haha. We had cake and just hung out and talked for a while. Nothing special but a great time to just hang out. I hadn't seen a lot of them since before spring break. I am a little tired today but feel that my alcohol intake has not inhibited me for today. I never really want to get to that point when I drink. I always want it to be a causal affair. Tonight Greg is taking me out to dinner and we are going to the Olive Garden here in Flagstaff. I might try some of their house wine or have a drink but it won't be anymore than that. 

Now that I am 21 it feels like I am a real adult. I feel more responsible now and that I am not a little kid. Its a weird feeling but so cool at the same time. 

First Day of March

Awww March 1st! Today I made Chicken and Dumplings from scratch for our couples dinner and then to top off the night I made Chocolate covered Strawberries for dessert. Everything was delicious. :) It is a great way to start off the new month. Also, an exciting thing about March is that I turn 21 at the end of the month! I am not much of a drinker, but I do like the occasional sweet/fruity drink. I think the most exciting thing is that if I wanted to I could order a drink while out at a restaurant. Not that I am going to its just the fact that I can is what's exciting to me. 

Things for the wedding are going well. It is getting closer and closer and I can't wait til' the day is here! There is only 3 1/2 months left! :) Our next biggest task is picking out our invitations. We have registered for our wedding so that is done. You can check out the wedding website to find out where we are registered at if you are interested. Other than that nothing else is really going on that is super exciting. There are 2 more weeks and then spring break. It will be a really rough couple of weeks but it just means that I will truly get to enjoy my break. The thursday before spring break I am 3 exams in that day. All of them in a row. I am going to die that day, but I will be so happy when it is going to be over.