Kids

The other night, I asked Brian what excites him the most about getting married. His response, "We can have kids." It made me smile. He will be an amazing father one day.

Being a great sport with our niece, Ellerey

Brian and our little man, Kingston

Tis the Season

Time is FLYING by. Our wedding is only 214 days away! I know some of you think that is plenty of time, and while we still have a few months to get everything in order, I have put myself on a strict schedule to ensure everything is done a couple of months before the wedding so the last few weeks are as calm as they can be! Brian and I made a few goals we want to accomplish by the end of January which are:

1. Create our wedding website

2. Book our honeymoon

3. Register

4. Send out Save the Dates

Things have been hectic (hence the reason I haven't had time to blog.) Thanksgiving was great! Brian and I woke up early and cooked all morning. We hosted 6 of the football players at our house for a holiday lunch. We made a traditional southern meal with ham, brisket, homemade mac n cheese, corn bread dressing, and sweet potato casserole. Afterwards, the boys headed to practice and I went to my parent's house to have dinner with family and friends. That night, it was back up to the U of U to see Bri at the team meal. I was so stuffed by the time I got there, all I could do was drink some tea!

Brian has been so busy with the end of football season and recruiting. He is currenlty on a plane to Los Angeles (go get 'em, Coach) and will be back on Friday to host official visits. We found out this past weekend that the Utes are headed to the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas! I am able to travel with the team to this game and I am so excited to go on a trip with Brian (even if it is a "work" trip.) We will leave the day after Christmas and we will beat Georgia Tech on December 31st!

I have been busy with work, wedding planning and preparing for the holidays. We managed to set up our Christmas decorations a week ago and even found some time to get some Christmas shopping done! I love this time of year, and I am really looking forward to 2012 and officially starting our family! I hope all of you have a very happy holiday and are able to spend time with everyone you love. Merry Christmas, y'all!

Celebrating after a win!

Brian in action!

Mmm, mmm good!

Food is a big part of my life. I love to entertain with food, I love to bake, I love to find new recipes, I love to pair food with wine, I just LOVE food. That being said, I am so excited to say that Brian and I have booked the caterer for our wedding! Mary Crafts and the team and Culinary Crafts will be cooking our feast and we have some fun surprises for our guests. I don't think anyone will leave hungry!

Check out Mary's website HERE and see her amazing work.

Now, we can move on to the REALLY important part... cake!

Bridal Gown Update

Quick wedding update: My mom, two of my sisters (we missed you, Kelly) and two of my good friends went with me this weekend so I could try on my fave wedding dresses one more time. After the final dress (or what I thought was the final dress) my sister, Kirsten, suggested we run by one more dress shop which happens to be where she bought her beautiful gown. Long story short, I ended up finding 2 dresses that I LOVE! They are very different from what I thought I originally wanted but I am so happy I tried them on. I hope to make a decision in the next couple of weeks and I can't wait to put it on next summer!

The Look

As I continue to prep for the big day, I am starting to envision my entire look for the ceremony and reception. Here are some makeup trends that I love...

Fresh face looks

A bit of DRAMA

5 years and counting...

Last week, Brian and I celebrated our 5th Anniversary! I am so blessed to have him in my life, as my best friend, and soon-to-be husband! Here are some things I adore about Brian:

1. He always makes me laugh. Even when I am cranky, he can get a smile out of me when no one else can.

2. He is so positive and optimistic. I have learned to be a better person because of him. 

3. No one works harder than he does and he never complains, ever. I admire his hard work and dedication. 

4. When I get worked up, he remains calm. His laid back personality keeps me balanced. 

5. He supports me in all of my decisions, no matter what. 

It's been a fun five years. Cheers to another 50! I love you, Babe!!!

2006 - The first picture we took together!

Celebrating Bri's 21st Birthday in Las Vegas

They caught us!

2009 - Kissing the Sugar Bowl Trophy for good luck. It worked!

NYC EA Sports Trip - Unveiling of NCAA 2009 Cover

Mexico, 2010

Dancing at my sister's wedding

Time Flies

The Utah football season started September 1st and ever since then, our lives have been absolutely nuts. Brian works long days, 7 days a week, and I manage to stay really busy with work and lash extensions. Every night, we are able to spend time together and catch up on everything.  Wedding plans are still moving along and I hope we are close to finalizing our ceremony plans.

Below are some pictures that sum up our lives these days. Although it's crazy, we have so much fun this time of year and we appreciate the quality time we share with each other. Go Utes!!!

With mom, Jenny & her fiance, Matt at the tailgate lot.

Jenny, Kelly, Ellerey and Easton on the field before the season opener.

One of my best friends and her new little one, Emjae.

Dad & RP throwin' up the U

At USC - Brian's good friend, Kenny, & his fam came from TX to support the UTES

Cheering on our Utes to the 54-10 win over BYU!

Celebrating with Bri after the Utah vs BYU game! We were SO excited!

Stuck on the Ceremony.

We are stuck. Where, oh where, should our wedding ceremony take place? Brian and I originally wanted to get married at the Cathedral of the Madeline downtown. We are both Catholic and so we thought this was going to be perfect. It is a beautiful church and close to our reception location. What is the problem you ask? You only have two time options for a Saturday wedding; 11:00 am and 1:30 pm. Being that we want a late afternoon ceremony so our guests can head to the cocktail hour, then straight to dinner, this won't work.

Maybe it is a fault of mine, but I look at my wedding from a guest's point of view and I want it to be as convenient as possible, hence the reason of keeping everything in a close proximity. I think we will look at some outdoor options, although if next July is anything like this past July, it will rain every day! If we find a place we love that is outdoors we will definitely need to have plan B set and ready. Hopefully we can find a place soon... this seems to be the only thing holding me up at this point. As soon as we get this settled, it's on to fun details!

Happy 30th, Kirky!

My sister, Kirsten (aka Kirky), turned 30 last weekend! A big shout out to my sis who has always been there for me and who will be standing by my side on the best day of my life. She has already been so helpful and my biggest supporter with the wedding planning. We celebrated on her actual birthday at a friend's wedding, but we have all year to celebrate the Dirty 30! Watch out, Kirky!

Kirst - thank you for who you are. I love you SO much! XOXO

Cutest curls around!

Sissys!

Celebrating Kirsten and Andy's marriage 9/4/10

All of the Chapman gals

The Checklist.

I have very quickly realized that planning a wedding is a HUGE job. After we got engaged, I registered on The Knot and started browsing the site for ideas, suggestions, etc. The site directed me to a checklist that had over 350 items on it. 350! (Insert gasp here.) I think event planning is one of my strengths but even with 10 months left to plan, there is no time to waste. My plan of action is to get the major things out of the way so I can focus on details the last 6 months before the big day. With Brian right in the thick of preparing for the football season (Go Utes!) we make decisions together as much as possible, even if it is at midnight! This is what we have accomplished so far:

Guest list. CHECK.

Wedding date. CHECK.

Reception venue. CHECK. 

Wedding colors. CHECK.

Photographer. CHECK. (Kirstin is awesome and I love her candid style - check out her website HERE)

I am currently negotiating with two caterers and trying to finalize pricing before we choose one. I am going wedding dress shopping for the first time in the next couple of weeks and I am scouring the valley for ceremony locations. Below are some photos I have pinned on my Pinterest Board that are close to what Bri and I are envisioning.

I am obsessed with all things monochromatic

Simple elegant invitations are so classic

All white bouquets

I plan on working on some of the 300 items I still have on my checklist this weekend. Wish me luck!

2011... It's been a very good year!

I have always been fascinated by blogging. It's unbelievable what you can do with technology these days and I often wonder how in the world people survived before cell phones, Facebook and the internet. Sure, I have dabbled in blogging before but it wasn't until recently that I decided I wanted to start a blog that would give me an opportunity to document everything going on in my life.

Let me start my first blog post by saying that 2011 has been a-maz-ing. 

In January, Brian and I moved into our brand new house that we started working on last April. It was a crazy experience but we are so fortunate to live in a beautiful house that we are both now making our home.

Just when I thought things couldn't get any better, they did. On June 27, 2011 my best friend in the whole wide world proposed to me in NYC. While I was getting ready in our hotel, Brian said he was going to the lobby and returned with a beautiful bouquet of red roses. I thought it was so sweet and thoughtful of him and went on to finish primping. We decided to walk down the street to the W Hotel for a bite to eat. When we were done, Brian said he had to use the restroom (for the second time) so I decided to wait for him in the foyer - a beautiful room enclosed by glass with water trickling down, a few vases full of flowers and dim lights which made for some pretty perfect ambiance. I was people watching (one of my fave pass times) out the window and thinking how fun it was to be in the Big Apple for the week when Bri walked out of the restaurant.

We were all alone and he headed straight towards me and said, "Baby, I have to tell you something." Then the conversation went a little like this:
Brian: "I love you so much."
Me: "I love you too babe."
Brian: "The last 5 years have been the best 5 years of my life and I have something for you."
Me: "Is it a treat?"
Now... I know what you are thinking. A treat? I figured we had just eaten and maybe he was surprising me with ice cream or a cupcake! (It's no secret that I have a MAJOR sweet tooth.)
Brian: "Yea, it's a treat."

At that moment, he pulled out the most beautiful ring I have ever seen from his suit coat pocket and I immediately BURST into tears, put my head in my hands and couldn't look up. Brian got on his knee and asked me to marry him. After I got ahold of myself and took my hands away from my face all I could say was, "Yes. Oh my God! Oh my God!"

I have been walking on cloud 9 ever since. I AM GETTING MARRIED! Wedding planning has started and at this point I am just taking it all in so I can enjoy the journey.

Bri Bri, you are my best friend and I cannot wait to spend the rest of my life with you. Family and friends, get ready to par-tay! 

Pics of the room where Bri proposed!

Celebrating our engagement the following day at the Yankees Game

And... I finally got a treat!