Say cheese!

Josh and I have picked our wedding photographer....I AM SO EXITED!!!  Her name is Casey Milnar, and she goes to church at "our" church -New Covenant. I've been looking at her blog, and I really like her work.  So I'm super excited.  If you would like to check out some of her stuff - her blog is

BLISSFUL PHOTOGRAPHY

Something Old.......

Several people have asked about the color scheme for the wedding.  The answer is that it was inspired by a piece of vintage jewelry that belonged to my grandmother, Esther Larson Nix.  The beads are called Aurora Borealis.  They are Olive/Sage glass beads, with the Aurora Borealis coating on them.  The light reflects the most beautiful shades of blue and purple.  

Last year for Christmas, Mom had the necklace divided up into more modern pieces for herself, me, Shannon Smith (my sister), Krystina McMillen (my sister-in-law) and Crystal MacQuarrie (David's girlfriend/my future sister-in-law....I hope!!) -- who are also my bridesmaids.  So these are the necklaces that inspired my wedding colors.  They are so beautiful.  I will be wearing Mom's necklace, since mine is a longer, brown necklace that doesn't go with a wedding dress..  I have also found matching beads that I will use to make necklaces for Stephanie McClimon, my adopted sister/bridesmaid, Mom (we will trade back after the wedding - I want one anyways), my mother-in-law, Yvonne Dorn, sister-in-law, Sara Dorn, and our nieces - Cynthia, Abigail, Molly, Sophie, Emma, and Cynthia Anne....our flower girls.

Mom's Necklace

Krystina's Necklace

Crystal's Necklace

Shannon's Necklace

Shannon's Necklace

Melinda's Necklace

Special thanks to Beka Hader, Krystina's sister, who created this lovely jewelry for us.  You can view all of her creations on Facebook - just search Sunset Jewelery.

Announcing......

Engagement: The Photo Story

So Josh got to my house Friday night (9.9.11) and broght these cupcakes with him.  And I said "Josh....why do you have cupcakes?" (we were getting ready to go out for dinner.....) and he said.  "Baby....because my sugar is low"  So I was just like ok, whatever.  And I went into the bathroom to get ready.  The next thing I know, he's like "Baby, come look at this cupcake.  There is something wrong with it.  And I'm thinking to myself "this is so silly....what could be wrong with the cupcake?" but I said "What's wrong with your cupcake"  And he said "I don't know....It just has something on it".  So I go into the kitchen, and there he is.   See the cupcake?

 And the next thing I know, he got down on one knee....and said "Melinda, will you marry me?"  OF COURSE I said yes....and started giggling right away.  Honestly....I probably won't stop for a while.  I knew he had the ring.  But I didn't know it was coming so soon!!

 I think my face must have looked something like this........

 ....and of course I love my ring!!!  It's a dark blue sapphire with diamond accents, set in 10K white gold.  GORGEOUS!!!

 Josh's sugar really was low, so he ate the cupcake.  Yum!!  I didn't even realize, because I was too busy texting and calling my family.  And of course, we changed our Facebook statuses right away, just to make it "official".  LOL

After the cake, we went out to dinner at Handi downtown, then to get coffee at Spill the Beans.  We had a good time walking around and spending time with each other as engaged couple.  We are so happy!!

Here are some shots of my gorgeous ring......