Honeymoon? Check!

Exciting news!! We have officially booked our honeymoon :)

And we will be going to...

the RIVIERA MAYA, MEXICO!!!

We are going to be staying at the El Dorado Casitas Resort, which is on the coast between Cancun and Playa del Carmen. It is a AAA Four Diamond resort, and it is BEAUTIFUL! We have our own private infinity pool (in addition to the 13 other pools at the resort), a beach bed, a jacuzzi, a private sunset dinner on the beach, a spa package, and so much more. We also have the opportunity to do all sorts of activities: parasailing, snorkeling, kayaking, excursions, nightly parties, etc. We're so excited!!

Here are a couple pictures of where we will be staying:

The picture on the left is the inside of a casita suite, and the picture on the right shows the casitas on the 2nd level, which is where we will be!

Here is the link to the website, if you want to check it out some more:

http://www.karismahotels.com/node/19

Collin takes all the credit for this, since finding a honeymoon spot was his "job." :) I must say, I am very impressed!! Originally we were looking at Sandals resorts for the most part - which are still very, very nice - but we got such a great deal on this one that we just couldn't pass it up. Plus it's gorgeous!

Here is the link to the Sandals Royal Bahamian, which was our second choice:

http://www.sandals.com/main/bahamian/ba-home.cfm

So now we can mark honeymoon off the list! We are officially booked! Yay!!

Next up are engagement photos, save the dates, ring shopping, and marriage counseling... We take our engagement photos next Saturday! I'm so excited! But that means I have a lot to do before then... working out, getting my hair done, getting my nails done (maybe), etc. We are still working on invitations and save the dates, so no final decision has been made yet. Just start checking your mail before long and you'll see what we picked out :) We'll start shopping for wedding bands on Saturday as well, and we FINALLY chose a marriage counselor (counseling is required at my church), so we will meet with her on Sunday. Collin gets in next Thursday!! :)

In other news...

• I have a meeting with my Nashville seamstress on Thursday about my dress, which is awesome because I was starting to get nervous that I hadn't heard from her!
• My thesis is pretty much due next week.... Yikes! Please pray that I am able to get it done.
• I presented my thesis for the first time over the weekend in Little Rock, AR at a conference. It went ok... but I still have a ways to go. The conference was a lot of fun, though!
• I only have one class tomorrow before Easter Break! Yay! One of the perks of going to a Christian college :) The only drawback is that I have to work on Easter Sunday :( Not too happy about that.

I'll keep you posted about everything! Sorry my posts are fewer and farther in between... It's getting to the end of the school year, and life is crazy busy! Let's hope I graduate in a few weeks so I can be done!

C & A

The in-laws' visit! [warning: lots of photos!]

Collin and his family came into town this past weekend, and we got a lot accomplished! His parents and siblings stayed at my parents' house. Collin and I also slept over there Friday night, and it was a little packed... We had an amazing time, though. On Friday my parents and I showed the Gebhards the church, and we checked out two potential venues for the rehearsal dinner. The one Collin's mom decided to go with is a nearby neighborhood clubhouse. Here are some pictures of the exterior and interior:

We also went out to dinner Friday night at Carrabba's to celebrate Collin's and my engagement. :) We called ahead but still had to wait a long time for a table... So we did a little shopping at TJ Maxx to pass the time, haha. Here are some pics from dinner:

After dinner, I got to look through photo albums of Collin growing up. I must say, he was a really cute kid! I definitely would have had a crush on him when I was little, even if he was way older than me. ;)

Collin and I also opened our first wedding presents! His parents got us pots and pans, a tea cup and saucer they received as a wedding present, and my very first cookbook! :) They also gave us these beautiful embroidered pillowcases that say 'Mr' and 'Mrs' and were made by Collin's grandmother while she was alive. She made them for all the grandchildren as wedding presents, which is a lot of pillowcases! They are so special to me because Collin loved her so much. I wish I could have met her, but I feel very lucky to have something made by her. I'm marrying into an amazing family! Here are a couple pics of the presents:

Saturday was a very relaxing day. My parents and I showed the Gebhards Old Natchez (our reception site) as well as downtown Franklin. Then we all had some of my mom's homemade soup for dinner and played Wii and Rook for the rest of the night. It was my first time playing Rook, so I had to get a long tutorial, but I think it was the most fun we had all weekend. :) Here's some pics from Saturday (the boys were sleepy):

It was a wonderful visit, and an awesome end to an otherwise dull Spring Break. It was unusually hard to say good-bye to Collin this time, but the good news is we have already booked his flight for April! He will be here April 9-12, and we will be taking our engagement photos on the 10th! Yay! :) I already can't wait to see him again, and I'm definitely looking forward to my MN visit in June! I just have to graduate first... Yikes! Pray that I'll my finish my thesis on time!!

Love,

C & A

Our first anniversary! :)

Collin and I met one year ago today! March 9, 2009 :) I remember that whole day... Eating breakfast early at La Salsa Cantina because they had a $3 breakfast special, calling Prive to ensure our spot on the guest list and find out about attire (they gave us an endless list of what NOT to wear), shopping in the Miracle Mile and purchasing my "Michael Jackson" jacket that I wore later that night, and having fun getting ready and taking pictures in the room before heading downstairs. Once downstairs, my friends and I waited forever in line (apparently being on the "guest list" really means nothing in Vegas) until I finally bothered the bodyguards enough to let us in. Then we started dancing, the place started getting packed, and suddenly out of nowhere appeared this attractive, goofy, fun guy... He was the only one I danced with that night, and little did I know he would be the only one I would dance with for the rest of my life! It was straight out of a movie, and it was the most random/incredible/amazing night of my life. I never wanted the dream to end, and thankfully, it still hasn't :)

I am so blessed to have my Collin, and I look forward to many more years and anniversaries with him. Our 75th will be a real party, so get ready! ;)

I LOVE YOU COLLIN!!!!!

Forever yours,

Mrs. Gebhard-to-be

Homecoming, Thesis, and Invitations, oh my!

I forgot I never updated you on the turnout of Homecoming, so here it is: I didn't win. But it's totally fine; I never expected to, and I'm completely cool with it. It was definitely a memorable experience, and it was such an honor to be on Court in the first place! I wore a beautiful red dress (see right) from my "little sister"/bridesmaid Erin, and it was lovely but kind-of a struggle to go up and down bleachers in... Waiting to make my "entrance" was the most nerve-racking part, though. I was terrified of falling! Thankfully I didn't. Also, Eric (my escort) and I were the first pair to walk out, so were both worried we would walk too far or not far enough... etc. All silly stuff, but when it's time to walk out there, it doesn't seem quite so silly. I hope I'm not worried about stuff like that on the big day! I better not trip on my dress, either... Talk about making an entrance!

In other news, my thesis is still coming along slowly but surely. Organizing this beast seems to be the hardest part. Writing it isn't bad, but I've never done research on such a large scale before, so choosing what to include has never been such an issue. I want to include everything just to prove that I've done the research, but it doesn't quite work that way, especially if it's supposed to be more creative rather than analytical. It's definitely a learning experiment, and it's something I'm pretty sure I won't be able to understand or explain fully until it's finished. I had to speak about it the other day to a freshman honors class, and I hope I didn't scare them too much... I just wanted to be honest about the hard stuff so they wouldn't think of it as just a long paper. It's much more than that. It really is a beast at times, and it's pretty terrifying. It will be a great achievement once it's finally done, but until then every single sentence is a struggle, and finishing it honestly seems impossible most of the time. I pray daily for motivation and inspiration that rarely comes, and graduation starts to look like less of a guarantee after each day of little to no productivity. It's the largest burden I've ever carried, and I'm really glad I'm putting so much pressure on myself (otherwise I may never finish!), but when this thing is finally done, I honestly don't know what I will do... I will probably be too shocked to do anything for a while, except probably sleep... a lot. Haha.

So there's my thesis update... Now hopefully everyone can stop asking ;) I appreciate everyone's concern and support, but for whatever reason I hate talking about my thesis. I just want to write it and be done with it! I never thought that would be the case with anything I was working on, but I guess maybe it's the senioritis...

On a lighter note, I have a meeting tomorrow with Donette from Designs in Paper about save the dates and invitations. Yay! I'll finally get to see some real samples (besides the one I received in the mail - an invitation to my friend Kelly's wedding!). These are the next items on the checklist, and a decision needs to be made pretty soon about save the dates since I would like those to be out in less than a month. Ah! So wish me luck!! :)

Thanks for the continued support! I'll keep you posted!

Much love,

C & A

P.S. Collin will be here in TWO DAYS!!!!! I'm just a little excited... ;) And his family will be here in three! Yay!! Even thesis-writing is easier when I have something to look forward to :) I'm a blessed girl!

Photographer? CHECK!

Exciting news! We have booked a photographer :)

And it is... Matt Andrews!

Here is his website again: http://nashvilleweddingphotography.com.

I'm SO happy we went with Matt! We had some great options, but he was my favorite by far, and he ended up being Collin's favorite, too. I just felt comfortable with him from the start, and I absolutely loved his photos. I think he's got exactly what we're looking for and for such a great value. He met with my mom and me last Friday (at one of my favorite places - Sweet CeCe's!), and after he answered all her questions, we sealed the deal! :) Yay!!

Now our next step is to schedule engagement photos! Those will be sometime in April, amidst all the craziness of turning in/presenting my thesis and preparing for my FINAL final exams!

But first: Collin and his family will be here THIS WEEK! It's my Spring Break, which I will be spending writing my thesis and cleaning my apartment (no beach this year... boo), but thankfully it will end on a high note :) I am SO excited about his family getting to meet mine, and I definitely look forward to seeing them again. They are going to be staying at my parents' house, so it will be a full house with Sheerah and Skyler also coming along! Skyler is beside himself with excitement to meet Molly, and I think they will get along perfectly ;) Sheerah will be staying in my room, which is funny because my room hasn't been "fixed up" since we renovated it, what, ten years ago?? I was looking through it the other day and found my old headgear (embarrassingly enough) that I had apparently thrown across the room one night after getting frustrated (headgear hurts! But don't worry, I only wore it at night...) We will go out one night for an engagement dinner, then spend time searching out rehearsal dinner venues.

Also, I will be making a trip back to Minnesota in early June for Collin's brother's high school graduation (Grason, to clarify). I love Minnesota, so I can't wait to go back!! Plus I'm sure there will be some pre-wedding festivities :)

In other news, I'm currently getting in samples for save the dates and invitations. So far I've heard back from the following companies:

- Designs in Paper: http://www.designsinpaper.com

- Brocade Designs: http://www.brocadenashville.com

So here's to hoping I have a super-productive week and a blessed visit with the Gebhards. This semester is ALMOST OVER! Can't wait to graduate and get married!! :)

Love,

C & A