Happy Ending (in progress)

Its been just over four months since Jon and I got married. We've been doing fantastically.
We've been slowly making changes to our home and getting on with the business of putting two lives together. We have painted an accent wall, we bought shelves, we organized our study, and we're slowly making design decisions. There's no rush, right?

We've also enjoyed a few firsts as a married couple-- church, a garden at our place, a camping trip, the wedding reception of a couple of great friends, a couple of road trips, etc. We've both taken a part in the changing of my name, too. There have also been a few tough things we've already tackled, like deciding on health insurance, getting through a bad cold (mine), a cat bite (also mine), a week apart (when Jon went exploring caves in the Grand Canyon area), and losing a beloved pet (my hamster Pearl). And so far, I have nothing but good things to report. We really work well together. We love one another, we look out for one another, we take care of each other, and we are growing up as individuals and as a couple.

Things are going really well, and I expect them to continue to do just that.



On a completely unrelated note, I'm not sure what to do with this blog anymore. I have a personal blog that I started years ago, here. I don't think I have that many readers on this blog right now anyway, so maybe I'll ask the question both places: Which one do I sacrifice? This one clearly gives away my new status as being with someone. . . but my wordpress blog is one I've stuck it out with for years now. (I write about events in our lives there, but the blog address doesn't have anything to do with Jon/coupledom. I'd like to simplify and pare things down. So what do you think?

Other people's photographs

For the most part, the following are photos that other people took at my wedding. I had my Keystone Everflash instant camera as well as my Holga and my Diana camera out for our guests to utilize. We wanted people to be daring, to pick up these cameras and to take a few shots. I have yet to have my Holga and Diana film processed, but I look forward to everything that they captured. I think many of our Keystone photos found homes with our guests (which is great, only I want to see them, too!) but we managed to get a few for keeps. At the end of the reception I took a photo, and then got a few of some of the wedding guests with Jon and I taken by various people. I've included the best of the ones we have.


This first one is of Jon and I nearing the end of our reception. My sister took this photo of this tired but happy couple:

Next is a shot of my folks. They are blurry, but happy. I'm not sure who took this one.

I'm assuming Seth took this shot (and a few others) of Nicole and Pru:

Aren't they both cute?


Last is a shot that Jon took of our friend Chuck, who volunteered to play his bagpipe while people arrived and took their seats:

If you want to see more wedding photos, there will be more slowly collecting at my Flickr account. Check it out HERE. Also, if you are facebook friends with me, there are loads more photos there.

Also, If one of my readers happens to be a wedding guest with a instant photo, will you please scan it and share an electronic version with me? Please and thank you.

We did it!

August 9, 2010-- what a great day. Jon and I are finally married. Woot! I loved how just about everything ended up falling into place. It was the closest thing to a perfect day I've had so far.

As scared as I was of tripping while walking down the short aisle to where Jon was waiting for me, I didn't pass out. I can stand in front of a huge room of people to teach a lesson, I can crack jokes for a handful of friends at a time, but just walking past a bunch of my closest friends and family had me jittery. What gives? I may have been a little shaky from the nerves, but seeing Jon standing there with this grin on his face helped a good deal.

Jon looked so cute, I almost cried. There other moments throughout the evening where I nearly cried-- hugs and sweet words from friends, co-workers, an old boss, and family members old and new. There were so many wonderful friends and family that came out to support and celebrate. And there were more that were there in spirit. It was pretty amazing just seeing this huge mix of people from various phases of our lives all in one spot at one time to cheer us on.

Jon commented after we were driving off at how amazed he was over me holding it together as well as I did. He saw me tear up a few times, and a couple of tears did roll out, but Jon thought that once they started, I wouldn't be able to reign them in. Boy did I prove him wrong. He admitted that he experienced quite a few touching moments himself, which was totally cute to hear.

Enough with the super mushy stuff. Here are some photos of our lovely day--

Jon looking at our little home-made welcome board while Chuck played the bagpipes in the background.

My bishop married us. He did a great job.

The part of the ceremony where we take one another by the right hand.

The part where we exchange rings.

The part where we get to kiss as husband and wife.

A wedding gift from our friends Jan and Martha.

Our amazing wedding photographer only shoots film (one of the main reasons I picked him), so it will be a while yet before we get our professional shots back. But thanks to my sister and a couple of other people, I have these to share right now.

Decorations

I decided a while ago that I wanted our wedding to have a vintage DIY vibe to it, and Jon went along with it. We've been crafting away. And I do mean we. I have my friend Mariah involved helping cut out fabric flowers, and Jon and I have both been working on a couple of other projects together as well.

Here is little preview:

Falling into Place

So, after months of running around like a crazy person, I'm finally feeling really great about things.

Monday, my day went something like this--

1. Changed my address with the post office and mailed out some straggler invites.
2. Met with the peeps at Wadley Farms for a final walk-through of the site to figure out space management and lay-out. I'm feeling good about that.
3. Had my last cake consultation, and I was happy with it. I'm sure that Anne will do a great job with the cake that I designed. She has been wonderful to work with and talking to her, I think she really gets what I'm going after. Plus she gets bonus points for liking my sketches so much.
4. Called a bunch of other places and set appointments for other various wedding-related activities.
5. Talked with Jon's mom about a family wedding get-together.

Have I mentioned that I'm not one for throwing parties? Neither is Jon. So this is all new territory for me. But I'm proud that I've survived thus far. I'm hoping that for the next week and half I'll get to coast more than actively plan out stuff. Fingers crossed.

Also, dear family and friends: Come, have a great time, Jon and I love you.

Our invitations for the wedding.

View high resolution version at:

http://jonjasper.com/WeddingInvites/

Details

Wedding: August 9, 2010. That makes it 8/9/10. Pretty nifty, eh? Location: Lindon, UT at Wadley History Farm. And, if you're into colors, here's a great example of the color scheme we're going after (only maybe a little more muted on the sunspot and aloe).

Engaged!

Jon proposed to me on January 18, 2010. That was just one day short of our 1 year anniversary, but on the same holiday as our official first date. We've been on lots of amazing adventures in the year that we'd been dating up to that point, so I didn't think much of it when he decided to take me out to the Spiral Jetty. As is customary with us, we hiked around a bit and then took some photos here and there. I was getting really, really cold, so I didn't know why Jon was so bent on out-waiting this other couple at the center of the Spiral. "I get the general idea, Hon, but I'm not sure that we need to walk to the very center. My nose is running from the cold." I'm such the romantic. But Jon insisted we wait it out, so we did. Once the overly cuddly couple walked off, we started near the beginning of the spiral and walked along the rocks to the very middle. We'd barely gotten there and hugged for a second when Jon got down on one knee and with fingers fumbling from the cold, he pulled out a little burgundy ring box. There was some shock on my part, but I quickly pulled myself together and said yes. And there you have it. And we're now finally to the part where there is a light at the end of the tunnel. We get married in just a handful of weeks instead of months-- 8-9-10 :)

Frostbitten Lovebirds

More details will be forthcoming.