Wedding Goodness: An Update

Russell and I will finally be getting our Save-the-Dates this week and they will be mailed out in a week or so! We also took our engagement photos this weekend with Sun Swept Studio and I just can't wait to see the photos. Our photographer, Ann, showed us a couple of pictures on her camera and they look amazing--not that me and Russell looked amazing, the lighting and composition looked amazing, haha. Overall, wedding planning is going very smoothly and I hope that I did not just jinx it.

My family has been totally more open about talking about the wedding. I think my whole extended family finally know about the engagement which means Mom can now relax. Besides making the lists and excel sheets at the beginning of the engagement, the planning is going by peacefully. Russell's family is so helpful and supportive. I am so glad we decided to do the wedding in Oroville.

It's so funny because people always ask me how my wedding planning is going. I always answer with a simple, "good." This results in them prodding me more which has led me to realize that the answer "good" never really suffices. I have my maids-of-honor and bridesmaids texting me once in a while asking me how things are going. Or friends will ask if the planning has been stressful. I never have the right response because I don't know what people expect me to respond with. I tell them that the planning is going "good" and I really mean it. This engagement season is joyous and wonderful. God has been so good and all our expenses seem to be met. We are just so blessed and I am continuously amazed by the wonderful people around me.

My constant prayer is to remember that the wedding is just a day of celebration. I want to focus on having a good, godly marriage and not get lost in the hustle and bustle of wedding planning. I find myself collecting my mom and dad's words of wisdom on married-life and parenthood. My church has also been doing a "Relationships" series that goes over different roles in marriage which has been helpful. Everything has been good because I have not been burdened by stressful wedding planning but have had more time to focus on teachings of the Word and wisdom from trusted elder spiritual couples.

Lately, it seems like I have been doing more marriage-planning rather than wedding-planning. But that is all fine with me :)

Road Trip

When I quit my job at the law firm, I decided I needed to do something spontaneous while I had the free time to do it. I texted my friend Stephanie asking her if she was available for some spontaneity. She was.

We ended up taking a quick and fun road trip to Laughlin (NV), Oatman (AZ), and the Mojave Desert (CA).

Below the break are some pictures from our trip:

Exit Strategy

Monday was my last day at the law firm. I was planning on giving a two-week notice but it turned into a one-week notice then it turned into basically a two-minute notice. Neither of my supervisors were at work so I ended up having to email and message them my resignation anyways. It was all very anti-climatic.

I went into work knowing I would have to say goodbye to three of the funniest coworkers I've had in a long time. I hate goodbyes and am awkward going about with them. When I came in, I ended up randomly saying "I'm quitting!" to each of my coworkers at separate conversations. There would be a pause, then a "Wait, what?" And then I would have to say it again and then the sadness would start.

For the almost five months I've worked there, we were prohibited from using the elevator because of a) the electricity it costs and b) it wasn't up to code and the owner was scared that if we were to get injured while using the elevator that we would sue him. When I arrived at work, I was about to use the elevator because I figured it was my last day and I should break a couple of rules. The moment I pressed the button, the law firm owner zoomed into the parking garage in his Viper and I freaked out and ran up the stairs. Hopefully he didn't see me.

When I got into the office and realized neither of my bosses were there, I said goodbye to the girls. They walked me to the lobby and said I should go ahead and take the elevator down to the parking garage. It would be the last huffah we had as coworkers. I gave them hugs and hoped that we would keep in touch. While the elevator doors closed and I continued to wave bye to the three of them, I realized it was the perfect exit and the proper goodbye.

Now, I'm on to a new chapter in life. It's hard for me to make friends and even harder to find a group of people I can laugh comfortably with. These girls provided the right humor for tough days at works and we all had the best teamwork when it came to finding shortcuts and/or planning potluck days to help build team morale. Great people are hard to say goodbye to.

Joe is Back!

This past weekend was full of many joyous activities. I already wrote about Brett turning 5 years old (he's a whole hand now!) but there were a few other events that were just as awesome. Last Friday, Russell and I were able to meet with his brother, Joe, after he got back from eight months in Afghanistan.

Russell was able to take a half day at work and spend the rest of the day with Joe. After I got off of work, I met up with them and it was great to see Joe after months of only hearing stories about him from Russ. Russell and Joe had spent their afternoon eating lots of Korean bbq, getting boba, and playing hockey on the Playstation. When Curtis got off work, we picked him up and even got a tour of his office building. His office looks so much fun--toys and designs everywhere.

For dinner, we decided to go to Guppies (I guess Joe really missed Asian food...). It was pleasant and interesting watching the three Henry brothers tell stories to each other and joke around. I always hear crazy and funny stories of when they were kids from Russ but I rarely get to see the three of them together and goofy. And goofy is the word. They are totally goofy.

The Henry brothers.

5 Years Old

The month of October is a crazy month for me. All my weekends are packed, my weekdays are hectic, and there's just so much planning to get done. I even had to bust out my planner to keep track of dates/appointments/activities (and I haven't really used my planner since I've graduated from college in May). 

This past weekend consisted of many activities; one of which was my godson turning 5!!

Brett being silly.

I can't believe this kid is 5 already. I remember holding him during his baby dedication and he kept crying because he didn't like me. Little did I know that a whole bunch of candy and toys can easily bribe him (Just kidding! Er, not really).

Jessica, Russell, and I met up with Brett, Krista (his mom), and a few other people at Downtown Disney for his birthday. We had lunch at Rainforest Cafe. Funny story: every time the life-sized gorilla became animated, Brett would flinch and freeze but be oddly fascinated by it. I wish Brett could stay little and gullible forever because it's just the cutest thing.

Happy 5th birthday to Brett!!

Brett making a silly face.

First Visit to the ER

On Monday nights, Russell plays hockey. This season, he opted to be the goalie since he claims that it's a fun position. Well, this previous Monday wasn't such a fun night.

This happened:

Russell who is all smiles in the emergency room.

Ok ok, it's not as dramatic as I make it seem. And thankfully there were no broken bones--just a dislocated shoulder. However, it was not fun being in the bleachers and seeing Russell on the ground and him not getting up. And it also wasn't fun seeing him walk out of the rink, holding his arm and grimacing. Because of all the goalie gear he had on, we couldn't get to his shoulder and do anything about the dislocation. We knew that the best bet was to go to the hospital. (Okay, I tried calling my brother Kenzo because I wanted him to pop the shoulder back in for free but he later told me that that was something he wouldn't want to try, even as a nurse just in case something went wrong.)

I couldn't find Russell's keys so my parents ended up picking us up and driving us to the emergency room. There was no wait so Russ was able to get checked up by a doctor fairly quickly. His brother, Curtis, called and came to the emergency room after the game (he plays on the same hockey team as Russell). When he got there, he asked me something along the lines of "Did you ever think you'd be in the emergency room waiting for your fiancé?"And it's kind of a funny story and kind of not because Russell is the kind of person who is very prone to injury. He's hurt his shoulder before playing hockey, he's broken his colar bone playing hockey, and he's had several concussions. As Curtis described it, "Russell is a rubber ball. He bounces back from injuries." You would think that a trip to the emergency room for only a dislocated shoulder wouldn't shock me so much but it was still enough to worry me. 

Anyways, when one of the nurses called me in to see Russell, one of the first thing Russell asks me is "How soon can I start playing hockey again?" It also didn't help that the two nurses there were hockey fans and kept talking to Russell about hockey.

Here's a picture of a hockey game of when Russell didn't get injured:

Russell (in black) as goalie.

Russell is full of surprises...just some of them not as fun as others.