Siraya and Alex~Always and Forever!

Ok, I know having this site so far along the day is kind of sad, but since Alex and I have been dating for so long, I just couldnt help myself dreaming of this day.  I have been "planning" for a while and I am so happy to actually get into all the planning I have been looking forward to.  I am so happy that I get to do it with all my friends that also got engaged recently.  This next year is going to be the best one yet, and the ones to follow can only be better. 

We are currently working on the date of the wedding.  We had one picked out (June 26, 2010), but after talking to our families we are not sure it would all come together financially and with us getting jobs (I graduate in May 2010).  We are still deciding if we really can do that day or we should push it back a year and get married on June 25, 2011.  We will keep you posted as soon as we make the decision. 

We have officially set a date.  We decided on June 25, 2011.  We had our hearts set on the summer of 2010, but after considering and talking to many people who are important to us, we decided this was the best option.  We are estatic to have the official day to start planning as well as comforted that we may be able to do more of the stuff we want because we have that extra year to plan.  We are so excited to plan our amazing future together!

We are working on contacting the church about specifics.  We are getting really excited to start making plans.  We have the church booked, but the specifics make everything really real.  We are also really excited about our Hall search.  We are narrowing it down and then going to look at them when Alex comes the weekend of the 24-26.  Yay!

Today was another big day! I called Monsignor Jim Vanden Hogen and he said he will marry Siraya and I.  I also called St John's parish and put Siraya's name in to be confirmed.  We are working on getting a guest list together to make sure we have enough to reserve the main halls at reception halls, and we will visit High Cliff on Saturday to see if thats where we want our reception.  That is where Siraya's parents had their reception and Siraya likes the idea of being able to go outside if its nice, so it would be neat to have it there.  Siraya and I are both very excited!

Today was another fun day.  We went and made our first Wedding purchases.  We only bought the garter, guestbook pen, and a wedding planning book--but purchases towards the wedding none the less!  It is finally starting to really sink in...WE ARE GETTING MARRIED!  We are so happy!

Today we went and looked at High Cliff to help us make our decision between High Cliff and the Darboy Club.  The decision really didn't get any easier.  We think we are going to look at them both again when Alex comes home in May.  We hope we are more decisive and able to get our hall secured in May.

Also, a little fun fact: today is 26 months until the wedding. YAY!!

I am looking at getting everyone together to go look at dresses, but finding a time is harder than one would think.  I am almost done with school for the semester so that should open up some doors.  Hopefully all those who leave for summer can make it back or get off work for us all to get together!

Today was an amazing day!!  Not really wedding related, BUT amazing none the less!  Today, Siraya got her student teaching placements for the fall.  She will be teaching in Green Bay Area School District at Jackson elementary (Kindergarten) and then at Red Smith Elementary (4th Grade).  With in minutes of finding this out, Alex called Siraya to say HE GOT INTO MIDWESTERN PHARMACY SCHOOL!   He will be moving to Illinois this summer and going to school there.  We will be moving there together then after Siraya graduates next summer.  Alex is going to be a doctor in four years.  All of this is very exciting and we are so amazingly happy right now!

Well not much has really happened in the wedding planning department.  We are currently in the process of finishing up the semester--Alex finishing up his very last final ever at UW Madison tomorrow and Siraya finishing up her very last student teaching prerequisite.  It has been a very big week with that. 

Also, Siraya was really sick the past two weeks.  What started as a horrible cold turned into an ear infection and ruptured ear drum--only to be topped off with a bad reaction to the medication.  She is feeling much better, but she is now playing the catch up game as she has to make up everything she has missed in the past two weeks.  Alex is, unfortunately, just starting to get sick and we are hoping he does not have what Siraya did.

As for wedding planning, it is again, going to need to be put off for a short while.  On Saturday/Sunday Siraya is moving out of her current apartment and into temporary housing wehre she will stay for only 2 weeks. 

In the mean time, WE ARE GOING TO SOUTH CAROLINA!  We are visiting Siraya's dad, brother.  We are excited to spend time in Siraya's first home and have time to relax there and on the beach. 

When we get back, Siraya has to move yet again (bet you are so jealous of all this moving--espeically if you know how much stuff she has!!)

Finally when all that is taken care of, Siraya would really like to go look at dresses.  She has picked one she really likes out from a website, but wants to try it on and other ones to make sure that is the one.  She is really excited for that part!!

We promise to keep you updated! 

Lots of love <3, Siraya And Alex

We are back from the most amazing 2 1/2 weeks of vacation.  We had time with our families, went on a road trip together (and didnt kill each other!) spent time with that part of Siraya's family, came back to spend time with our finally went up north and finally spent time with Alex's extended family.  It has been amazing.

Alex left for Madison today.  He is working and taking a summer class down there.  Siraya leaves for St. Norbert tomorrow and she will be working 3 jobs.  We will be very busy and we are not sure when we wil have time to plan the wedding, but we are both still very excited. 

We hope to come home at some point yet this summer to book the hall (which we decided was High Cliff) to make sure we have our first choice hall for our special day.  Siraya hopes to get out dress shopping but it will be interesting trying to coordinate everyone she would like there as she tries on dresses to be in the same place at the same time!

While we spent hours in the car (15 hours both way to South Carolina and 1 hour both ways to Legend Lake) Siraya did a lot of little stuff with wedding planning.  She looked at bridal magazines to start to get some ideas and then did her best to finish the guest list.  After thinking of all those in Alex's large family and all of Siraya's "adopted" family we are inviting--brace yourselves--400 people.  We are very excited to share this day with so many people and it is comforting to know we have 400 people who mean enough to us to be a part of our special day.  Wish us luck on the planning for everyone though!

AHHHHH!!  WE ARE GETTING MARRIED 2 YEARS FROM TODAY!!  I didnt think I was going to be this excited for the "-2 year anniversary" of our wedding but I am!  We are both so excited!!

We officially booked the Hall today!  We are written down for that day and then we are going in a few weeks (when Alex can make it to the area) to make the payment to completely "lock" our date.  When Siraya called to book today, they didnt even have a 2011 book yet so they wrote us down (and decided they should go out and get a 2011 reservation book).  We are not worried about taking a few weeks to "lock" it because we feel that 2 years is plenty of time, but we still wanted that out of the way this summer.

After the hall down payment is made, we decided we are going to make a down payment on a photographer that Siraya has researched and fallen in love with his work.  After that payment is made, things will slow down when it comes tothe big wedding stuff for this summer and the year.  We feel the rest of the stuff can wait until next summer, but making sure these things were locked was really important to us. 

I have been working on our wedding binder for quite some time.  I have been collecting tons of pictures of things that that fit our theme and that we like and putting them together in binder.  We have really started to get an idea of what things are going to look like!

Sadly, Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson passed away today....we got a fun idea that at the wedding we could do a Charlies Angels picture and a picture of everyone doing "Thriller"---so practice your moves people!  This would be in their memory of course and to have a little fun.  Anyway, the thought of it game us a laugh (and Megan who came up with it with Siraya).

So far we have offically booked the church (St. John Church in Little Chute), our officiant (Monsignor Jim), and our reception hall (High Cliff Supper Club).  On Sunday, we make the first payment to officially secure the photographer (Adam Shea).  All this is very exciting!

Siraya continually works on getting ideas from magazines and websites.  After the down payment is made on the photographer, we are going to take the wedding planning down a notch.  We have plenty of time and we also have other very exciting things that demand our attention in the very near future.

This past weekend we vistited Alex's new school, Midwestern University - It was such a nice campus.  As summer is almost at it's half way point, we have realized how quickly time is going and how soon we will be immersed in one of the most challenging years of our lives up until this point.  We are both nervous for what is up ahead, but we are also very confident that the distance and challenges up ahead will only make us stronger as a couple.

We are currently in the middle of an emotional roller coaster.  This past weekend, Siraya had the chance to go to try on wedding dresses for the first time.  Alex was almost as excited as Siraya was.  It is such a monumental part of the wedding and it is amazing we are at this point.  Siraya found some definite ideas of what she is looking for in a dress.  She is more excited than ever.

We also made the last installment on our down payment of the photographer.  That is a big portion of the total cost and towards our budget.  It is a great feeling knowing that is taken care of already.

Siraya also started her student teaching placement and her first official day of school is tomorrow.  She will be teaching kindergarten in an amazing classroom with an amazing teacher.  She is so excited she will be able to work with kids every day and get school credit for it!  She also just got a job at The Little Gym in Green Bay.  She gets to teach gymnastics and play with kids on their birthday parties. 

Alex officially moves to Illinois tomorrow.  He and Siraya just said their goodbyes tonight.  Alex will not be home again until Siraya's birthday (5 weeks from now).  It is so exciting for him to go to school and pursue his Pharmacy degree, but at the same time it is so hard to be apart for that long. 

We are excited for all the wonderful things in our life and for the wedding stuff to be fitting so nicely and making things so exciting, but at the same time we are missing each other like crazy and waiting until we see each other again.  The good thing is, at the end of this roller coaster ride is our version of happily ever after.

Not much has changed in the wedding department.  Siraya has been trying on dresses, but has no idea what she wants yet.  She will just keep trying them on until hopefully she finds "the one."

It has been a little rough being apart for the past month.  Siraya just got back from her first visit to the big city (don't ask her how the drive there went...she may break into tears again), but other than that the weekend was nice to catch up on the past month and spend some quality time together.  We are hoping that we never have to go a whole 4 weeks with out seeing each other again as that really put a strain on our relationship, but at the same time, we know if we have to we will overcome it just like we did this time. 

We will keep you posted if anything new happens.  Thanks for following!

So Siraya (I) has (have) a really really really REALLY bad case of wedding brain.  All I can think about is planning the wedding.  All I keep doing is looking at dresses and decorations online, and reading wedding blogs.  i have so much to do for student teaching since I was sick last week and my teacher already called in sick for tomorrow (and it is conferences week!), but I CANT STOP THINKING WEDDING!  I am so excited to marry the love of my life and I can hardly wait to have that magical day with him. 

But on that note I REALLY HAVE TO GET BACK TO LESSON PLANNING!

I found my dress!  It is absolutely amazing and I cannot wait to walk aisle in it!  It is everything I was looking for!  I had a blast picking it out with Ashley, Ellie, Sarah, Megan, and my mom.  We tried on 7-8 in one day at Bridal Event and we couldnt stop comparing it to others.  We went to another store and I couldnt even make myself look at others because none could be THE ONE at Bridal Event.  We went out to lunch together and realized how much we missed going in "the van" and hanging out together.  It was like being 15 again!

It turns out what was making me so anxious and having such a strong wedding brain was the desire to find THE DRESS and the worry it wasnt out there.  Now that we have the bare essentials (the church, the officiant, the reception hall, the food, the photographer and the dress) we are really getting married.  I feel much more at ease and feel I can take a lot more time to enjoy the engagement and go back and look at the amazingness of our relationship.

Today we also reached the 20 month mark to the wedding! Alex and I are so excited!  There is TONS  going on in the next few months and pretty soon it will be May and everything will move in fast forward from there.  We cannot wait for our magical day!!

So Alex gets points for purchases made with his credit card.  Over break he decided to look at the little online store they have to see how many points he had and if there was anything that he could get on there.  He typed wedding into the search box and a lot of wonderful stuff came up.  We ended up finding the cake knife and serving set that we love.  We ordered them and they came in today. They are gorgeous-LOVE THEM!  

Wonder what we will see next....it is so exciting to not only get something gorgeous for the wedding, but for it to be free it makes things so exciting! 

Well there has been quite a few "big deals" happening lately.

Siraya has officially completed her student teaching placement and only has one semester left of her undergradutae career.  Classes are tough and very different from the education classes she is used to but she is going to keep trucking through it all!

We have been talking about a lot of wedding planning, but have not really done anything.  We have tons of ideas, it is only going to take some time and money.

Yesterday, we celebrated our 7 YEAR ANNIVERSARY!  It is hard to believe that 7 years ago we were going around our respective high schools telling our friends we had a new boyfriend/girlfriend.  So much has happened in the past 7 years--we have grown up so much.  It is amazing looking back at pictures and memories from years ago.  We have so many amazing memories and so many more to come!

Today, Siraya applied for her very first REAL TEACHING JOB!  The application is out and the rest is now in the hand of the school district, but if she gets it, it will be an amazing position.  It is her dream grade (kindergarten), only 15 mintues from Alex's school, and 10 minutes from the cheapest apartment we have looked at!  We could still be a one car family, have a job she actually enjoys, and there would be an income.  Keep your fingers crossed and keep her in your prayers as we wait to hear.

Since we got engaged so far prior to our wedding date and we were so super excited about it that we went ahead and booked a lot of the stuff that was very important to us, we have recently gone through and double checked that things were booked.

When we orginally booked the reception hall, High Cliff, they didnt even have the 2011 book yet and they had noted our day 2010 book and taken our deposit.  Since the holidays are a time in which many couples get engaged, we wanted to make sure our date was moved to the 2011 book before a whole bunch of holiday engagements came in and ther was a chance of double booking.  Same thing with the church.  We are good to go in both areas.

We found out about some more fees we did not know about prior, but are able to make them and make sure everything is good to go!  It is a great feeling.

Also, SIRAYA'S WEDDING DRESS CAME IN!  It came in a month earlier than expected, which is surprising because usually gowns are known to be late rather than early.  Also, it had to be custom made.  Her height is, well, short.  To do alterations it would take away some of the beading and it would cost a lot.  By getting it custom made it comes with all the right beading and was actually cheaper than hemming it.  She is super excited to try it on in her size!

We recently went to Kevin and Stephanie's wedding.  It was a gorgeous wedding!! It was in the same church as ours.  It was so nice to get some ideas.  Steph is more than willing to share ideas and it is nice to know we have another person to talk to and ask questions. 

Siraya Continues to apply for teaching jobs and work to finish her senior year of college. The homework this semester is more difficult and in larger amounts than she ever anticipated. Alex has been studying his butt off for the tons of tests he has this quarter.  This quarter has definately been a challenge and a bigger pain than he ever anticipated.  This does not leave much time for them to talk but they are holding in strong and looking at it like another neccissary bump in the road before the joy of their lives together starts.  

We are super excited to spend the weekend together and celebrate Valentines day together as Siraya is going to be traveling to Chicago with Mark and Katy to spend 3 amazing days together. 

We are looking forward to the wonderful, bumpy road ahead until we get to the start of our *new* lives together as Husband and Wife!