the 12 days of marriage

I don't know if any of you have been on the wedding website lately to see the wedding countdown... well if you have then you know that I will legally, officially, ETERNALLY be Mrs. Brian Todd Williams in less than two weeks. 11 days to be exact. My time as an engaged individual will come to an end and I will sooner than later wear two rings, talk about scrapbooks and coupons, and work in the primary. I will be the real deal... a married lady.

Can I just tell you something? Can I be really honest with you?? Even though I have been an awful blogger will you still listen? Like...really listen to me? Okay, thanks.

So this is what I am going to tell you: Being engaged has been a difficult time for the ol' agf/atw (that's me!) I won't go into all of the gritty details that have made this a wild time but I will say that difficulties associated with being engaged caught me off guard. For such a long time I felt discouraged by the way I reacted. I felt the same sense of discouragement I felt in high school after loosing a tennis match, or how I felt freshman year of college when I would always fail my physical science tests. I just want you, my very few readers to know that I am not discouraged anymore about our engagement, I feel really happy and exceptionally thankful for what Brian and I have experienced during this time.

While I was engaged I was able to learn so much about making choices. I learned that life is full of choices, all day long. We make so many everyday! And when we think we have to be a certain way... well usually that isn't true. We usually have a choice.

I learned a lot about love. I learned a lot about loving others, and even more about loving myself. I was reminded how many people I have who love me who have been around for years, just loving me all along. I learned these people really do hurt when I hurt and they are happy when I am happy. I also learned a lot about people who have recently entered my life who although they do not know everything about me, they want to love me just the same. Oh, I learned more about God's love, and that always feels good.

I learned a lot about Brian while we were engaged. He is really good at so many things. I learned that he is okay that I cry a lot (for example, I am in history class crying right now as I write this.. he is okay with that). I learned that he likes the generic brand of Lucky Charms just like I do. I learned that he will always listen to me. I learned that he knows how to pray, I learned that he prays for me. I learned that we will be happy no matter what happens during our life because we love one another, and we chose to be together because we will be happier and better together than apart from one another.

For all of you who helped me learn so much over these past 3 months I am writing you this really sentimental thank you note over my blogspot. So here you go, thanks. Thank you for helping me learn and being so patient with me. I love you.
I have to go wipe my nose now.

this is me posting twice in one day!

With all of the spare time I know have on my hands after finding these dresses I am able to now do things like: slalom ski, eat fruit by the foot, and create a wedding website. I would be touched if you will go and check it out!
www.brianandandrea.weddingwindow.com

your mom looks like she is going to a spanish funeral

After countless hours of searching for bridesmaid dresses they have been found. Last week in the Fashion Valley BCBG I was blessed with a 70% off rack that offered me 5 of the 7 bridesmaid dresses I had been praying for, agonizing over, and envisioning for 23 years! It is a misconception that ALL of the skinny sales attendants in designer stores are not helpful. Although the majority are, we found ourselves a girl committed to the cause of mustering up two more of these dresses. She was obviously aware of what it takes to dress a bridesmaid modestly, on a budget, and in style. Her dedication allowed the other 2 dresses to be ordered and they are on their way.

What does this mean? This means that I will have to go against all I set out to do: putting bridesmaids in black dresses. I had sworn against it! I wanted color! But as the shopping process continued I came to see how much of me is represented in this black, silky number.

For years now whenever shopping I will come to the counter with 3-5 pieces that all look similarly. Alison will look at them and then back to me and say something along the lines of, "We aren't going to be attending any Spanish funerals any time in the near future. Go and put those back. " Apparently my attraction to dark, shiny, and lacy pieces was preparing me for that fateful day in the BCBG. In times like these we have to stick to what we know. And I know Spanish funeral frocks.

With this obstacle tackled I feel more prepared to take on marriage, obtain multiple college degrees, employ all Latins in the U.S., and whatever else I desire. I feel that I must thank patient bridesmaids who searched and agonized with me.  I must also thank Espana for their lisp, Euro style, and for hosting me for four months. So thank you Pilar (my Spanish host mom), Franco (our favorite fascist), Julio Iglesias (Enrique's Dad who lives in Southern Spain!), Profe Otterstrom (no explanations needed), and all of you attractive Spanish women over 40 who look so good even when in mourning for being my inspiration. 

to blog or not to blog

Here I am. Blogging! Can you believe it?? For so many months I have shied away from commenting, blog hopping, or even blog stalking! And here I am... posting on my very own blog. It is just me,  a humble sister who one year ago was still wearing pantyhose and worrying about my pioneer garb. But I have decided to follow the family legacy and be here with YOU!

I'm sure many of you are familiar with one or more of the Faulkner's blog spots. We daily enjoy sheblogsheblogs and as a result of this masterpiece we spend the majority of our days either 1. Singing Ricky Martin or 2. Giggling about something that was mentioned in Ali's entry. But may I say that Alison learned from her mama! 

Three years ago in our family Christmas card Marilyn sent out her URL for her blog, she was WAY ahead of the trend. I believe that she paved the way for women over 40 to feel comfortable blogging, she has liberated thousands of housewives. Way to go Mom!

Let us not forget The Daily Kirk which has been a part of many peoples lives for years now. There has been fan mail from a variety of readers including  Toca Rivera (please tell me you recognize him as the bongo drummer for Jason Mraz...) who has even  been known to tune into the TDK.  With this said you can imagine why  it is so intimidating and even overwhelming to be debuting in this blogging world that is so foreign to me. But I will do my best not to let down Nauvoo, my family name, and  especially you.