my journey from the aisle

Two before and after projects!

2010-11-03T17:20:00.000-07:00

These projects were both some time ago but I thought it would be fun to post them. I LOVE having projects. It gives me something to look forward to. I love the before and after of it. I have another project that I'm about to start. It's a bench...I'll post pictures when it is done. But for now, here are the two projects that I have pictures from!

This piece was given to us by a friend. I decided to use it for our kitchen, but our whole kitchen is Martha Stewart Tiffany Blue so I went with that color theme. Here's the before:

Here's the after! I love it! I just painted it and then sanded the edges a little to give it a little shabby chic look.

This second piece was more random. I got a school e-mail from a random person trying to sell a bunch of furniture. I didn't see a picture, but just saw that one of the items listed was a vanity and I thought it would be a fun project. So I went and picked it up. I obviously hate how it looked to start out, but I love how it turned out. Here's the hideous piece to start with.

So I painted it black, bought a new knob, and ordered some stripped fabric to cover the seat. I sit at it everyday to do my makeup. I love it!

I'll post before and after pictures of the bench once I finish it!

The sweetest farm wedding

2010-10-11T14:16:00.000-07:00

...First, I know I've been gone from blogging for so long, but there's no better way to come back than with a post about a wedding! So...I present to you the Trentham wedding!

My sweetest friend, Chaili Christine, got married 16 days ago to one of the greatest guys on the planet. Chaili was my college roommate for two years! She was my first friend I really had when I moved from Arizona to California. And to this day, she is one of my closest friends in the whole world. I had the honor of being a bridesmaid in the wedding and I would say it was one of the most beautiful weddings I have ever been to. The ceremony and reception took place on her grandparents farm. It was a beautiful Southern California day and the ceremony took place under a huge Oak Tree. It was idyllic! I apologize for so many pictures but there are so many great ones from the day! Enjoy!

The cute couple at the rehearsal!

Roommates, friends, and now...both married ladies!

There were signs like this one all along the windy road leading to the farm! So cute!

The beautiful bride on her wedding day!

Those eyes!

Her cute red shoes!

Reading a letter from her (almost) husband!
He wrote her 25 letters from the 25 days leading up to the wedding. :)
I love this darling girl so much!

The first look!

So happy!

A perfect day!

During the ceremony!

Right before the kiss...I love this picture!

Couldn't be more proud of her, or more thankful for her!

The Lynch girls! Love my mom and sister so much!

Everyone got an herb with that had their name and table number on it. Such a creative idea.

My husband and I with our herbs! :)

My Darcy Kleven...so thankful she was there!

Fresh Kettle Corn...so delicious!

I just love how fun this looks. It was an amazing reception!

Lynch girls with the bride...Chaili is part of the family!First dance as husband and wife!

Keeping Chaili company while her husband was off talking to people!

Chadwick sang to his bride...so sweet! And such a beautiful night...love the lights!

As you can tell from the pictures, it was a unique and beautiful wedding. It was totally reflective of Chadwick and Chaili. They were both so happy and calm. It was such a joy to be a part of the day. I love the Trentham's so so much!

I'm graduated!

2010-06-30T10:11:00.000-07:00

I did it...I finally graduated from college--With a Bachelors of Science in Dental Hygiene. There aren't many people I know who wanted to be done with school as badly as I did. I added a year and a half to my college career by switching to Dental Hygiene after 3 years of trying to pick a major. The extra time was hard and overwhelming, but I couldn't be any happier that I did it.
I don't think anyone on this planet loves DENTAL HYGIENE as much as I do. It's the perfect career choice and fit for me. I love everything about it--even the dirty mouths. I'll be honest...I don't love the smell, but I love cleaning!Here are some pictures from all the graduation celebrations. I'm from Arizona, but now live in California, so it only makes sense that I would have parties in both places, right? ;) I'm so lucky two have to great homes!

My Arizona party:

Here are some toothbrush cookies we made:And the party favors!

Prizes for dental hygiene trivia!

A little display of all my dental hygiene paraphernalia! Teeth, teeth, and more teeth!

We hired a Taco Man...UNBELIEVABLE! He brings all the plates, silverware, napkins, and tons of food, salsas, guacamole, toppings (all homemade). Tons of leftovers for days!

My parents and me!

My whole family!
This is the start of my graduation weekend out in California. This was my pinning ceremony.
Here's Danny's family and me!
My parents and me!This was the next morning; we had a baccalaureate service!
My family, cute husband, and me after the service.
And finally....MY GRADUATION DAY!With my family!
With Danny's family!It was windy, but I got my diploma!!!
My cute little Mayla Belle is already ready to graduate!
California graduation party!
More party favors of course!Tooth and toothbrush cookies!So, there are all my graduation celebrations! Now...who needs their teeth cleaned?

Pictures

2010-05-09T19:58:00.000-07:00

I know! I know! It's been way too long since I've posted. I'm 3 weeks away from graduation and things with school have been keeping me busy.

Speaking of graduation, I thought I'd share my graduation pictures with you. More to show off my photographer than to post pictures of myself! I won a photo session maybe 7 or 8 months back and never could decide what I wanted to use the session for. Until graduation got closer and I realized I'd be needing to send out my announcements soon. So I decided to use the session for just that. And I had such a good time. Melissa V ossler made the session so much fun.

Click here to see her post about it on her blog.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Happy 101 Award

2010-03-19T18:27:00.000-07:00

I got such a sweet award from Star, at Star's Pink World. Thank you STAR!!! I've been so busy, and still am, but wanted to respond to this award!
I take my Dental Hygiene Written National Board Exam on March 26th, so I've been busy studying and preparing for this huge test! All thoughts and prayers for the test day would be sooo appreciated. Thank you!

So, here are the rules to the Happy 101 Award:1.)When you have received this award you must thank the person that awarded you this in the new post.
2.) Name the 10 things that make you happy3.) Pass this award onto 10 other bloggers and inform the winners

10 Things that make me so very happy:
1. My Jesus2. My husband

3. My family

4. Weddings5. The beach6. Babies7. Starbucks
8. Laughing9. Special Moments- surprises, traditions, a treat, a good talk with a friend, Christmas, a fun meal, time with my favorite people...10. Chocolate

I could think of a million things I love, but these were the first 10 I thought of!

The 10 people I want to give this award to:
1. Nicole-Lynn at Seaside Smitten
2. Room 22
3. Mrs. Southern Bride
4. A Nerd and a Free Spirit
5. Courtney at With Gratitude
6. Lindsey, at learning to be a wife
7. Aly at It Ain't Always Pretty But It's Real
8. Thoughts of the All Consumed Bride
9. Kim at My Life in Green and Pink
10. Brittany Ann at Living in the Moment

Bragging on my friends!

2010-01-25T18:23:00.000-08:00

My dear friend Paige (who was also a bridesmaid in my wedding), got engaged on July 29th. I never posted about the proposal and now I'm wanting to share their stunning engagement pictures.

So I'll start from the beginning. Paige and I have been best friends practically since the first second we met. We started out in Azusa Pacific University's nursing program together, and we became inseparable. We had all our classes together, wrote notes back in forth during our classes instead of paying attention, we ate every meal together, met before our first class together, saw each other between every class, and lived together for one year. So naturally, I got to be a big part of the beginning phases of her relationship with Robby. Robby was devoted to Paige the moment he set eyes on her. Paige was hesitant. She's not known to be all in. She takes time before she really opens her heart. She protects herself. Robby was relentless. He didn't take no for an answer. He practically bought out all the flower shops in the area. It was nearly every day that Paige had flowers on her car from him. He brought her (and still brings her) shaved ice every time they see each other. This is her favorite--just the ice, no flavoring. Robby was patient. And he was honorable in his pursuit of her. He was not willing to let her go. Paige had fallen for Robby long before she let her mouth admit it. And as soon as her mouth admitted it, she shouted it from the rooftops. Anyone who sees Paige and Robby together can instantly see how in love they are. They make each other laugh. They are affectionate. They enjoy the same fun things in life. Robby let me be a part of the proposal and it couldn't have gone better.

Just look at the pictures. It was idyllic. Robby proposed at a Temecula winery where they later decided to get married. The proposal couldn't have gone better--Crystals hanging from a rose arbor; candles; rose pedals; champagne...it was stunning! Paige was shocked! Robby was charming! And check out that ROCK Robby picked out for Paige. Adorable, right? Such a sweet story! Now...get ready for their engagement pictures. They used the same photographer and friend of mine, Kelsie Pinkerton, of Pinkertonphotography. She did an amazing job capturing Paige and Robby's playful affection. Watch this slideshow of some of their engagement pictures. And then go follow Paige and Robby's blog so you can join their love story!

Here's one of my favorite pictures to inspire you!

Click below for the slideshow:
Paige and Robby's engagement slideshow

Enjoy! Thanks for letting me brag on these sweet friends of mine. I know you've fallen in love with their sweet story now, too!

My first married Christmas!

2010-01-12T17:11:00.000-08:00

In the beginning of December, we celebrated the start of the holidays with my family at Disneyland. It was a blast. Disneyland in December is one of the most magical things I've ever experienced. They truly KNOW how to make it perfect. And after the fireworks in the evening, it snows on Main Street while playing beautiful Christmas music. This was our second annual Disneyland Christmas trip with my family. It was such a great way to start the holidays!

On the same weekend, we got the privilege of going to a nice brunch with Danny's family. An all-you-can-eat-buffet and with a gospel choir! It was a great time!
Danny and I got to go pick out our very first Christmas tree. The flash on my camera had just stopped working, but I still had to get a picture. This was after we picked it out and they bagged it up for us. Here it is all decorated! I chose to do an all white Christmas tree because it is our first married Christmas (actually our first Christmas day that we have ever gotten to even see each other!) So I wanted this to be like our wedding tree!

Some of my favorite ornaments:Here we are in front of our tree!More pictures of the house decorated:
My husband and I, in Arizona spending time with my family!We went out to one of our favorite Arizona malls with my parents!

5th Annual Christmas Tea with the girls in our family:At my parent's house:Me with my husband on Christmas Day. I love that sweet guy that I get to call my husband!
After Christmas, we took a trip up to Northern California to visit Danny's grandparents and other family members. It was such a relaxing and fun trip! It felt like a mini-honeymoon. I loved getting to spend all day, every day, with Danny---just exploring, taking pictures, taking walks and spending time together. Here are some of our pictures from the trip. Here we are with Danny's grandparents:
The tractor Danny used to play on as a little kid!
Our first married holiday season could NOT have been better. I truly was a blessing to get to spend it together with both of our families.

You're not going to believe this!

2009-12-12T20:19:00.000-08:00

Without me knowing, my mom and sister made me this advent calendar! They used the colors from our wedding--including fabric and ribbon from the wedding. If there are any two people who know and understand how much I love Christmas, and how much I want my first married Christmas to be so special and sweet...it is my mom and sister. This advent calendar is just one of the millions ways they've made these first few months of marriage special for me.
It's all hand-made! Isn't it the greatest present ever?
There are 25 pockets--one for each of the 25 days of December. In each pocket, there is a verse, telling the story of Jesus' birth. And, by no surprise, the verses are backed on paper from the wedding!
Along with the verses, there is a little gift in each pocket. So every morning, Danny and I read the verse and open the gift that coordinates with each day of December! It's the sweetest way for us to be able to spend our mornings! And every day, I feel so loved by my mom and sister, who put so much thought and detail into this unique and perfect gift for us. Now you have to see all the pockets close up. The first one is Danny and me on our wedding day in the gazebo. The second one is an adorable candycane heart.
The third pocket says "Reids est. 2009" and each letter is cut out of a different fabric. The fourth pocket has cute button snowmen! The fifth pocket has a Christmas Starbucks cup. I'm such a huge Starbucks fan! Pocket six has my favorite Christmas word--JOY! The 7th pocket has a wreath on it--does anyone recognize the wreath from Starbucks? Day 8 has a cute angel on the pocket! Aren't these all so cute? Skipping around a little, the next row down as 11, 12, and 13-- a Christmas tree, sparkly snowflake, and a big bow with wedding ribbon! Pocket 9 has cute little mittens on it. And the 10th pocket has a sweet heart.

Pocket 14 is one of my favorites-we had a candy bar at our wedding, so these are the little jars with candy in them. And then a cute shepherd on pocket 15. The 19th pocket has a tiny little gnome on it. And pocket 20 is a sand dollar which was another theme from our wedding.
Pocket 16 is heart with a fabric bow--made with stuff from the wedding. I love pocket 17--it's a snowy cabin scene with a sparkly Christmas tree.
The 21st pocket has cute pjs. I love that one. And pocket 22 has another perfect heart with ribbon.
Pocket 23 is a little beach scene--the surfboard looks identical to Dannys. 24 has the cutest hanging ornaments, so unique. And pocket 25, of course, has little baby Jesus!
Now is that just the cutest thing you've ever seen, or what?!?! There will be many more Christmas updates, but I just couldn't wait to share this!

Danny and I picked out and decorated our first Christmas tree together. We put up our Christmas lights outside, and decorated the inside of the house...so many more updates coming soon!

34 days until Christmas!

2009-11-21T10:24:00.000-08:00

There have been so many posts about the holidays. And it made me excited--I wanted to blog about the holidays too. Christmas is, hands-down, my favorite time of the year! It feels so magical and special EVERY YEAR.

My family has made it so special over the years---
--As kids we all slept in front of the tree the first night we got it and on Christmas Eve! My sister and I still do that! :)
--Putting up the tree was always one of my favorite things. We would go pick out the tree together as a family and then bring it back to the house, turn on Christmas music, and open all our boxes of ornaments and decorate our tree. And then we would turn off all the lights except for the lights on the tree, and we would just sit on the couch and stare at it.--The girls in our family always have a baking day! I love baking day--it makes the house smell good, and then there are fun treats out for anyone who comes over.--On Christmas Eve, we always get a new pair of fun Christmas pajamas. I know I'll keep this tradition with my kids because I have loved it so much.--We have special Christmas blankets that we sleep with during the month of December, and we take them with us when we go looking at lights!--We love going shopping because everywhere is decorated so beautifully for Christmas!--The girls in our family get all dressed up one day before Christmas and go have a fancy afternoon tea. This will be our 5th annual this year. The group keeps getting bigger as the boys in our family get married. This year we have one new member, my cousin's new wife, Andrea. I posted about their wedding here.
This year I started making some fun Christmas words for decoration. I bought a ton of fun Christmas paper and then just thought of all the Christmas-y words that I could. Here are some pictures. Today my church back home had a craft fair and my mom took the word banners to sell them at the craft fair. Everyone was loving them--so fun! I made some holiday spending money. They're fun to hang on a tree, or use to wrap a present, or hang on the wall! I made one for our house, too. I'm taking custom orders so let me know if you want one! ;)It's our first married Christmas and I know it's going to be so special. We get to buy our first Christmas tree, hang our first set of Christmas lights, and over-decorate our house!!! I can't wait. We get to start once we get home from Thanksgiving.

Tell me your favorite family traditions, and recipes, and memories. I love to hear the different ways everyone celebrates!

Michael & Andrea

2009-11-06T11:16:00.000-08:00

I promised to post about my cousin's wedding and now I'm finally getting around to it. It was a beautiful wedding, at a southern California vineyard, Wilson Creek! There's something about family weddings that just feel extra special. I felt so happy for Michael and Andrea! Here are some of my favorite pictures.CoraKingston Photography

Me, Mayla, Kristen, My mom, My sister, My sister
My mom & dad. My dad did the ceremony!

These lined the aisle! :) They were beautiful. CoraKingston Photography!
Michael waiting for his bride!
The ceremony!
Beautiful Andrea!

After the ceremony! CoraKingston Photography!
My handsome husband and me before the reception!
Two of my favorite girls--Tara and Erica! This was toward the end of the reception!

It was a wonderful wedding. I love getting to be a part of such an important day. I am looking forward to our next one!

Morgan Elizabeth King

2009-10-24T14:52:00.000-07:00

I wanted to ask all of you to keep my best childhood friend in your prayers. My friend, Morgan, got hit by a motorcycle while crossing the street last weekend. It was Sunday night, after my cousin's wedding (I'll put pictures up from that soon). She and a few friends were walking to get food in Downtown Temecula, CA. When they went to cross the street, no one saw the motorcycle coming, and it hit Morgan.

Here's an article about the accident: http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/temecula/article_d6b4e984-6bbe-51ad-a954-4a7007799f61.html

She was in ICU up until yesterday. She just got moved to PCU-Progressive Care Unit. She is a little bit more stable at this point, but still in very serious condition. She sustained serious injuries including compound fracture of the tibula and fibula, Grade 4 Liver Laceration, 3 breaks in her pelvis, contusion and hematoma L5 Spine and a great deal of internal bleeding. :(

Here's another website if you care to keep up with the updates on her condition: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/morganking

Thanks for taking the time to read this. And please keep her and her family in your prayers!

Wedding Video

2009-10-11T20:34:00.000-07:00

Our videographer, Davis Paul, just finished putting together a wonderful video from our wedding day. He just put some of his favorite shots and clips into a short 3:45 minute video. I absolutely love how it turned out. Now all of you who weren't there can get a little glimpse of our wonderful day. Can you tell how happy I am? Eventually I will have all the footage from the day, but here's a little teaser for now.

Amy & Danny Reid from Davis Paul on Vimeo.

2009-09-30T19:03:00.000-07:00

Nicole at East Coast Wedding presented me with the Kreativ Blogger Award!

Yahoo! Thank you for giving me this award! :)

Rules: Post 7 facts about myself and then award 7 other bloggers with the "Kreativ Blogger" award!

So here are some facts about me:

1. There are 4 tastes I really don't like: mushrooms, unions, tomatoes, and mustard!

2. I LOVE Black & White!

3. Being a wife is #1 on my list of things I love doing most!

4. My middle name is Kristen!

5. I can't wait to be a mom!

6. I loved every day of planning my wedding. There wasn't anything I didn't love planning.

7. Christmas is my absolute favorite time of year!

Totally random facts, and not the 7 MOST important things about me, but I just tried to use the first things I thought of!

And here are the 7 blogs that I am awarding:

1. Seaside Smitten

2. I carry your heart with me...i carry it in my heart

3. The Lucky Layman's

4. Sweet Simplicity

5. Finding Home

6. P.S I love this

7. Adventures in the Life of Mr. & Mrs. A

Our MAUI honeymoon!

2009-09-29T16:46:00.000-07:00

I was just looking at some other blogs, and realized how much I enjoy reading about and seeing pictures from honeymoons, and it inspired me to post about my honeymoon. Danny and I got to spend a week in Maui for our honeymoon! Get ready for a lot of pictures!

But first, I just have to say what a complete blast it was for us. Danny and I had NEVER been on a vacation together, just the two of us. I loved being at the airport with him, waiting to board our flight. I loved the LONG flight, sitting next to my new husband. I loved that we had to figure out our rental car. I loved that this vacation was just for the two of us. We had the time of our lives. It was so relaxing and special. As a wedding gift, I bought Danny a new wallet and filled it with cash. We had been saving money for a little over a year (not knowing what we were saving for). I cashed all of this money and was so excited for Danny to see how much we had. I wrote him a note in the wallet saying that it was our money for the honeymoon. It was fun to have this wallet of cash that allowed us to act like we were rich for a week. So now here are some of my favorite pictures. There are TONS more, but these are the highlights!

Our ADORABLE Mindy Weiss luggage tags!

We had a layover in Honolulu so we ate dinner in the airport!
This was our first morning in Maui. There's a wonderful Gazebo restaurant right on the water. We at here 3 or 4 times throughout the trip. DELICIOUS!
Our first day at the beach!
Walking around in beautiful Maui!
Downtown Lahaina and the pretty flowers!
This was an amazing monumental park!
Waking up early in the morning to go check the waves with Danny! It was perfect weather every hour of the day and night!
On of our favorite beaches!
Exploring!
Lunch on a water-front restaurant!
Driving to our magic show! We would highly recommend this to anyone going to Maui!
Before the magic show-we got a honeymooners drink!
During the magic show-we got to be a part of the show!
One of the highlights of the trip for me--SHAVED ICE (especially Local Boys shaved ice)!
Getting ready for Lahaina again!
Hard Rock Cafe!
Lahaina!
Local Boys!
This was our favorite spot, discovered late in the week. Our room where we were staying is right behind us in this picture, but one floor up. The water is right in front of us. We decided to pull these chairs over onto the grass so we could look out at the water. We could have gone on the sand, but we just liked having our own little area!
Enjoying our area!
Jumping!
Resting!
Dinner out at one of the nicest restaurants EVER!
Driving there!
Another day at our special spot!
Relaxing!
And this is us on our way to the airport to go home. We were sad to leave Maui, but excited to go back to our new home, open all our gifts, and be husband and wife!
It was a perfect honeymoon. We both hope to go back. We had such a wonderful time and enjoyed our first days as Mr. and Mrs. Reid more than I thought was possible! After 3 months of being married, it is so much fun to look back over all of these pictures and remember all the things we did and what a special time we had!

Loving being a wife!

2009-09-27T14:39:00.000-07:00

Danny and I have been married 3 months today! Sometimes it feels like it has flown by and sometimes it feels like we've always been married. Being a wife, and being married is even more wonderful than I had thought or hoped. I still look at pictures from our wedding day and just can't believe what a perfect and sweet day it was for us. I can't believe I AM MARRIED. It still hits me sometimes--I always dreamed of being married! I wondered what it would be like, who my husband would be, what my house would look like, how I would learn how to be a wife...And now this is my life. And I am learning and growing and loving and experiencing, and IT IS THE BEST! I love everything about being a wife- cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, making fun desserts, decorating our house, dreaming together with my husband, going through everything together, grocery shopping, showing up to everything together, making decisions together, eating meals with each other, praying together, and just loving and appreciating the health in our lives. It is such a blessing that I get to be married to my sweet Daniel Tyler Reid!

Well.....A few posts ago, I talked about the weddings we had coming up. Last night was our first one. Our friends Kevin and Brittany got married! Danny was in the wedding. It was our first wedding since we have been married--what a cool feeling. Geez I love having a husband. My brother Caleb, and my sister-in-law, Kali stayed with us this weekend to go to the wedding. It was a perfect, fun, relaxing, wedding-filled weekend. Here are some pictures from the wedding:Kali & I on our way to the wedding!

Caleb & Kali after the ceremony!Danny & I after the ceremony!
The wonderful Mr. & Mrs. Lindsey!
The girls!
The wedding party!
Caleb, Kali, Brittany, Kevin, Danny & me at the reception!

Keep checking back...we have a wedding in two weekends. I'll post pictures from that one soon after!

I'm so excited about this post- AND GIVEAWAY

2009-09-21T11:17:00.000-07:00

This is just so exciting for me! I have been waiting to get a chance to share this with all my blogger friends. You all have celebrated with me in my engagement and wedding and all the fun details of my life since I entered this wonderful world of blogging. And now I get you to celebrate in THIS with me- MY DAD WROTE A BOOK! It is finally available for purchase. It should be in the bookstores within the next few days, but is available on Amazon currently. Wahhhoooo! Hope you enjoy it!
“What if there was a place so safe that the very worst of me could be known and I would discover that I would not be loved less but more in the telling of it?”

That’s the promise and hope of our new fiction novel, “Bo’s Cafe”.

Amy called me the other day and said, “Dad, you should write a guest blog on my site about your new book.” I said, “Really? That would be so cool. I’d be honored.”
So, I’m the dad who married this really wonderful girl to Danny Reid. And I’m one of the authors of a new fiction book “Bo’s Café”. It’s in most bookstores after September 25th. I’m like a little kid waiting for it to show up on a table at Walmart or Barnes and Noble! I think I’ll pick it up and yell, to no one in particular, “Hey, this is my book. Right here on this table, I’m telling you!”
It’s a novel about grace; about how we can learn to allow others to love and protect us as we stumble. It’s a book about regaining trust after its been shattered. It’s a story of a strained marriage, and a 34 year-old angry and resentful husband, Steven. He has everything going for him, but some days can’t make it home without sitting for hours in the parking lot of a Southern California neighborhood restaurant from his youth. He can’t face his own daily life and can’t figure out why. One day he runs into an eccentric, scruffy and mysterious older man, Andy, at that restaurant. Andy proudly drives a 1970 Buick Electra convertible and offers to drive Steven around to help sort out his unraveling life.
After an ugly argument, Lindsey demands her husband to move out. So Steven starts an extended stay at a Marriott in El Segundo and finally calls Andy to take him up on the offer of rides in the Electra. Soon Steven is introduced to the “deck crowd” at Bo’s Café, a Cajun restaurant on the beach between Marina Del Rey and Venice. He meets a world of authenticity and grace-filled vulnerability he’s never before experienced. God is working in Steven. But change won’t happen overnight. It all gets uglier before it gets better. Steven will have to learn to trust some others with him-something he’s never done before. But eventually, grace wins. And Steven and Lindsey discover a redemption, restoration and forgiveness in their relationship they never thought possible.
This is a book that models and reveals how trusted grace and love can irrevocably change the course of an entire community. It is full of humor and fun amidst the pain and hurt. I can’t wait for you to read it. I think you’ll love it and enter into its hope for your life and those you love.

Thanks Amy for letting me speak to your dear friends on here. I’m so proud of you. I can’t believe I get to be your dad.

John Lynch

Alright, here's the deal---I'm so excited for everyone to read this book. If anyone buys this or orders it, come back and tell me. In a few weeks, I'll be doing a drawing with all the names of people who purchased it. I will hold the drawing on October 12th, so get back to me by then. The giveaway is a surprise but GET EXCITED! :)

I did a project!

2009-09-11T19:15:00.001-07:00

Danny and I took our first trip to my home (Arizona) this past weekend. While we were home, we were offered this hutch/hamper/shelve thingy! I loved it and we brought it home with us. My plan was to paint it and put it in our kitchen. I am so happy with how it turned out so I am sharing it with all of my bloggy friends!

Here it is, how we got it!
First I sanded everything, then I took the door and knobs off, and then I painted! Here it is being painted!
All finished!After I painted, I sanded some areas because I was going for the shabby chic look! I love how it turned out! Once the paint dried, I filled it with fun baking things!
The inside!
Inside!
Look how well it matches the colors in the rest of our kitchen! Didn't it turn out great?!?!?

Upcoming weddings!!!

2009-08-13T18:16:00.000-07:00

Weddings! Weddings! Weddings!

Danny and I have a few fun weddings coming up in the next several months. I am very excited about all of them, because, well...I LOVE WEDDINGS. And I love the people getting married. I love that I now get to go to weddings with my HUSBAND.

I'll give a little preview of the four upcoming weddings, and then stay tuned for when the wedding rolls around and I'll post pictures and give updates!

September 26th- The first one is a wedding of our great friends Kevin & Brittany. Kevin was in our wedding and Danny is going to be in their wedding. Here is a picture of us with the two of them at our wedding! They are getting married at their local church- Baseline Community Church in Claremont, California.
October 3rd- In the beginning of October, one of my friends of almost 10 years is getting married to a friend that I have also grown up with and gone to school with. They are getting married at The Wright House in Phoenix, Arizona. It is going to be a beautiful wedding!
October 18th- My wonderful cousin, Michael, is getting married to a sweet girl he met while in college in California. Andrea is a sweet, sensitive, fun, practical girl...perfect for my cousin! Michael is 6 months older than me and we have always been best friends growing up. I can't wait to be there on the day he gets married. They are getting married at Wilson Creek Winery in Temecula, California.March 7th- My wonderful friend Tara, is marrying a sweet friend of mine, Travis. I've grown up with Travis and his family has been a huge part of my life. Tara walked into all of our lives a couple years back, and none of us realized the way she would rock our world. She is one of the most stunning, playful, compassionate, adorable, faithful girls that I know. I posted about the day she asked me to be in her wedding. I was shocked and honored beyond belief. I couldn't be more excited to be a part of Travis and Tara's wedding! They are getting married at Ahwatukee Foothills Golf Club in Phoenix, Arizona!

These are just the weddings that we actually have Save The Dates or invitations for! We have many friends engaged to be married SOON! So these posts will keep coming! :) But definitely stay tuned for these 4 very fun and very different weddings!

RECEPTION

2009-08-02T16:08:00.000-07:00

Pictures from our reception!

This was right after the ceremony! We signed our license really quickly while enjoying champagne and appetizers.

And then we were announced to the reception. Our whole bridal party and parents were announced too. Super fun!

My sister's toast! She's the most mature, well-spoken, thoughtful 16 year old on the face of the planet! Her words were beautiful! :) It melted my heart! Thanks sweetest sister!

Kyle, Danny's best friend and best man, gave his speech after. It was so thoughtful and affirming to our relationship. It really touched both Danny and me!

Here we are listening to our toasts!

Our sweetheart table!

The mashed potatoes served in martini glasses!!!! DELICIOUS!

My sweetest, most adorable cousin, Mayla Belle!

All the tables!

Our first dance!

I love how he's looking at me!

My dance with my daddo! Such a special moment!

My bridesmaid's dance!

My husband showing off his moves. He had the audience going! One of the best memories from the reception!

There he goes again!

Everyone out on the dance floor!

Cutting the cake!

Eating the cake!

Toasting

Throwing the bouquet!

Watching our slideshow!

Leaving the reception!

Bathroom break!

Driving away!

IT WAS SUCH A FUN RECEPTION. So many great memories and moments! It was a perfect night with the perfect people. Danny and I felt so loved!

CEREMONY

2009-07-25T18:02:00.000-07:00

Our ceremony was so precious. The pictures definitely don't do it justice. I wish everyone could have been there. Maybe once we get some video footage I'll be able to post it on here. But anyway...here are some photos I loved from the ceremony!

DETAILS!

2009-07-22T16:17:00.001-07:00

My favorite part...all the details. The year of planning consisted of all these little things...picking colors, sewing the programs, choosing candy, making labels, making table numbers, ordering sand dollars, writing all the guests names... I loved all of it. Every second of planning was just a dream!

Here are the programs!

The fabric that lined the aisle!

The table numbers!

The seating arrangements!

The guest book!

My veil!My bouquet!Our rings and the marriage license!
Danny's boutonniere!
The wedding party table!
The menu! YUM!!!

The reception!

One of the pretty tables!
Flowers!

The candy station!

The individual jars!
Our sweetheart table!

The cake!

Our special champagne glasses!

More wedding day!

2009-07-22T07:12:00.000-07:00

Now onto family and bridal party pictures!

Wedding Day!

2009-07-21T21:33:00.000-07:00

There are so many pictures I love from the wedding so this first post is just going to be pictures from getting ready and when Danny and I see each other. I'll put other pictures up in separate posts!

Our rings!

My shoes!

Getting ready!

Darcy doing my makeup!

All of us wearing our shirts!

The shirts!

Getting all ready to go see Danny!

All ready!!!
My dad taking me to see Danny!

There he is...I finally get to see him!!!

YEA!!!

I love him! I love him! I love him!

Our shoes!

Rehearsal & Dinner

2009-07-21T20:54:00.001-07:00

We had a rehearsal at the hotel at 4:30 and then dinner at Danny and my favorite restaurant in Newport Beach. It's called Newport Landing. The day was so perfect and fun! :) Here are a TON of pictures from all of it!

Getting ready!At the rehearsal Dad and me!My shoesMom, Dad and me!
My family!
My brother and me!
Darcy and me!!!

All the girls!

The boys!

My new family!

After the rehearsal!
On our way to dinner!
At Newport Landing!
The Menu for dinner!
These adorable cards were at all the tables and everyone filled them out for Danny and me!
Paige & Robby!

Saying our thank-you's!

Dinner!

Watching the slideshow!
The slideshow!

Lynch's and Reid's together! Love it!

Lynch family!

All the couples!

The girls!
Some of our favorite people!

Bridal Brunch

2009-07-21T20:13:00.001-07:00

Friday morning all of the girls woke up and got ready for our brunch. My mom and aunt met us at Sherman Gardens in Corona Del Mar. It was a beautiful little garden perfect for a little brunch. Here are some of my favorite pictures!Here we are all showing up to the brunch!My mom, sister and me!Here's the table! I'd written each of my girls a letter, made them a shirt, and gave them earrings and a little frame. So this is how the places were set! A close-up!
The shirts--only Carly's said "Maid of Honor". The rest said "Bridesmaid" and mine said "Mrs. Reid!" All of us at the table!YUM!
YUM!
YUM!This was after we practiced our dance!After we ate, everyone hid and I had to go around and find them. Once I found them, I got to take a picture with them. I'm just putting up two of the pictures but I found everyone!My mom, my aunt, and me!All my bridesmaids and me! Aren't they all so pretty?The Lynch girls!This was after the brunch, back at the hotel, getting ready to hang out by the pool!And here we are by the pool!

Get ready for some pictures!

2009-07-21T18:51:00.001-07:00

I'm going to attempt to recap the days leading up to our wedding day. We'll start with Thursday! Thursday was the Bachelorette party. My 9 bridesmaids and I had a huge sleepover at Danny's house (now my house). It was a blast! Here are some of the best pictures from the night!Danny came home with flowers for me the morning of the party! What a sweetheart! Here is our itinerary for the weekend, made by my Maid of Honor and sister!!!
Here are the first bridesmaids to arrive! Notice all the champagne glasses! I thought they looked so cute!
The table set up out back for all of us girls to eat dinner. Have you ever seen a cuter bachelorette party? Me neither!
Close ups of the table!My champagne glass!
My seat!
Here we are all eating dinner and talking about what part of the wedding we're most excited for!
The cupcakes deserve a few pictures because they just turned out so cute!

Made by my mom and me!So cute, right?

It was a perfect night. We listened to music, ate good food, laughed a lot, told stories, talked about weddings, practiced our wedding party dance, did nails, and just had fun being girls! And then the 10 of us slept in a 900 square foot house! It was a blast!!!

I'm married!

2009-07-09T06:49:00.000-07:00

I've been away from the blogging world for so long, and now I have about 3 minutes to post before I need to run out the door and get to school. I have so much to say about the wedding and the week leading up to it and the week and a half following it, but for now, I'm going to leave you with my slideshow because that's all I have time for. My goal is to catch up on all my blogging this weekend.

Sorry to make this so short!

Here's the link:
www.pinkertonphotography.com/slideshows/reid

MY WEDDING IS THIS WEEKEND!

2009-06-25T10:26:00.000-07:00

Today I'm having all my bridesmaids spend the night with me at my new house!

Then on Friday we are all going to a sweet brunch in a garden, hanging out by the pool, and then going to the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner!

Then on Saturday we get married! I'm so excited.

Here are some pictures from the last month, just because I love pictures!

This was from a wedding a few weeks ago!
This was on our way to my favorite dinner restaurant with my sister and her boyfriend, Austin! Out to Cheesecake Factory with my family and the Kleven's!When Robby and Paige came to visit!LOVE!At my Luau shower thrown by my sister-in-law and bridesmaids! Totally cute cupcakes!

I'll be back when I'm married!!!!!!!

One month!

2009-05-27T19:27:00.001-07:00

It's only ONE month until my wedding!

What would be your advice to someone getting married in a month?

45 DAYS!

2009-05-13T18:58:00.000-07:00

I'm getting married in 45 days!!!

That's next month!!!!

Here are some fun pictures from the last few months. Nothing wedding related. Just fun pictures!
Laguna with my mom and sister!

My two sisters!

Mayla Belle & me on Easter!

Angel's game with my favorite boy!

Newport Beach with two great girls!

My CALIFORNIA shower

2009-04-29T21:00:00.000-07:00

This past weekend my friend and bridesmaid, Paige threw me a bridal shower out here in California! It was a really fun time! Paige works at The Cheesecake Factory so she got a big table for the patio and that's where we had it. She had everyone wear white so that I could wear my wedding color. Such a cute idea! I'm so thankful for all the great friends and family that I have. Here are a BUNCH of pictures from the fun day. Less than 2 months until the wedding!

Here are a few pictures of the flowers! Aren't they fun? More flower pictures down below!

My sister, me, my mom, and Kayla before leaving for the shower!
My mom, sister, and me! I was so happy that they were able to be at my shower! They wouldn't miss a thing! It means so much. Thanks Mom and Carly for making the trip out here for my shower! My aunt Cindy came from Phoenix too! :) I have a SWEET family! Thanks Cindy!
The long table! It looked so nice. We got lots of compliments and a couple of people taking pictures of it! Good job Paige!
Closer up!
The cute ribbon around all of the napkins!
My mom and my future mother-in-law! Love those white ladies! :)
Me with my future mother-in-law! I love this picture of us!
More of the table and flowers and napkins! So cute!
The hostess Paige and me!
The gifts! EVERYONE was sooo generous! I really honors me that people would come to a shower of mine, bring gifts, and celebrate me! It's so sweet to have people excited with me!
The delicious dessert- Lemonchello cream tart!!!The whole group! (Except Chaili was in the bathroom. She makes it into the last picture here!)

Another one of the group!

My sister, Carly; my dental hygiene friend, Kayla; ME; the hostess/bridesmaid/friend, Paige; Paige's sister and my bridesmaids' hair lady, Claire; my college roommate (for 2 years) and good friend, Chaili! Thank you EVERYONE! It was such a fun day. I felt so honored and loved!

GUESS WHAT? GUESS WHAT? GUESS WHAT?

2009-04-19T09:05:00.001-07:00

I GOT ASKED TO BE A BRIDESMAID!!!!!!!

I'm so so excited!

Over Easter weekend, Tara gave me the most special present. I saw her on Friday night and she gave me an adorable Easter egg---

---Isn't the egg so cute? The card had my initials on it! I had NO clue what was inside. I thought it was sweet of her to give me an Easter present. Something I wouldn't even have thought of! She had me open it in front of her, and of course, I just burst into tears when I read the first line. Everything was so cute and I was just so surprised. I was not expecting it AT ALL. We plan our weddings together ALL the time. We have such similar taste and we both just LOVE weddings. I had no idea she would ask me to be in hers. What a happy HAPPY Easter!

It's only the 2nd time I've been asked to be a bridesmaid and I'm sooo honored. I think it's such a privileged to be in a wedding! And Tara is one of my favorite people in the whole world. We have so much fun together, we understand each other, and absolutely LOVE being together. And now I get to share in this special day of hers. I couldn't be more excited. Thanks for making my life better, Tara! I'm so excited for your wedding and to be a bridesmaid standing next to you on this important day. I love you!

My Phoenix shower!

2009-03-29T21:28:00.000-07:00

My Phoenix shower was one of the most special days of my life. I felt so loved and so excited to be at my bridal shower. It was so perfect for me. I had three amazing hostesses who went above and beyond to make this day special for me. Here are a BUNCH of pictures from the day!

My three hostesses- Linda, Cindy, and Darcy:
The cutest cakes ever! We ate the big cake at the shower and the little one I got to take home! :) Darcy, Carly, me, Hannah, Linda, mom, Cindy:
The cutest girl at the shower, Mayla Bell---I bought that dress for her and she matched the shower perfectly!
Adorable strawberries! :) Yum!!!
This was all set up right when you walked in the door. Envelopes for everyone to write their addresses on. A recipe book with recipes from everyone (everyone was sent a recipe card in the mail with the invitation), and a cute book of wedding advice full with advice from all my guests. I loved advice!
Mom & me!My engaged friend, Tara and me!
Holding the cutest girl, Mayla Belle!
The delicious food!My chair:My table:All my gifts. My goodness...there are so many!Look how cute this one is wrapped. It's from my mom and sister!There's my sister and maid of honor. She wrote down all my gifts, made the paper look cute, and looked like a model herself!
And look at my great gift from her. Look at that adorable black and white apron with a big bow.
The cutest girl at the shower:It was such a fun, fun, fun day. I just got back to California today and brought all my gifts with me. I showed Danny EVERY single thing, explained who it was from, why I loved it so much, and then we organized all of the gifts into our hall closet. He loved EVERYTHING. He said he wished he could have a shower. And his rule is this: anyone who gave us a gift at the shower cannot bring a gift to the wedding. :) He kept saying, "It melts my heart that everyone would get us these gifts!" We are both so appreciative. What a fun time in our lives.

100 days!

2009-03-19T22:51:00.000-07:00

I am finally to the 100 DAY MARK! :) In a few hours I will be in double-digits. It's going by so quickly and it's all been so much fun. I have some updates. Mostly wedding related, but one non-wedding related.

We'll start with the non-wedding related: Danny was my first adult patient at Loma Linda. I got to clean his teeth! :) It was so much fun to have him at my school, meeting my friends, sitting in my chair. It was just a blast. Here are a few pictures of my cute fiance getting his teeth cleaned! :)

Okay, onto the fun wedding updates!

First of all, WE GOT OUR FIRST WEDDING GIFT IN THE MAIL. Danny called me on Tuesday to tell me that a gift had come. I wouldn't be able to go to the house until Wednesday but just couldn't wait to get there. We debated whether to open it or wait until after the wedding. Silly...we had to open it! :)

There it is:
I was really so excited to have a GIFT! As the wedding gets closer, it starts feeling more real. And of course, it keeps getting more fun!
You can see Danny's excitement! ;) My grandma bought us ALL of our silverware sets and our 4 piece-serving set! :) What a sweet and thoughtful gift. Just a little over 3 months until I get to actually unwrap it and use it! I can't wait to sit down for our first meal with that silverware!

Next, (and something I am soo sooo excited about) I have my bridal shower on Sunday. I'm home in Phoenix for my Spring Break and during my first weekend home, I get to celebrate with my closest friends and family. I really cannot wait. I've been looking forward to this for soooo long. I will post pictures soon hopefully! Yippe! 3 days away! :) Here's the invitation to my shower that is just so cute. It's hanging up on my board that's on my engagement desk:
Isn't it cute? I have three wonderful hostesses and I cannot wait to be at my own shower! :)

My sweet flowergirl, Remington has her dress and it's just too adorable. I'm giving a sneak peak just because I can't resist and this picture is too sweet! Isn't she too much? I'm so lucky to have such a precious flowergirl! I love her so much!The last big thing that I have coming up (that I can think of) is our meeting with our coordinator at the resort. In a few weeks, my mom and I are meeting with her to go over all of the wedding day details. I'm actually excited for that. I know it's just details but as you know, I love all the details. And I love that it's getting close enough that we need to sit down and talk about the final touches. Yipee! :) I'll keep you updated on how that goes!

I'm loving this fun time so much. I'm excited for the wedding to be here but also just enjoying these last few months of celebrating and planning.

slideshow & questionnaire!

2009-02-20T15:58:00.001-08:00

My mom told me that I should post my engagement slideshow again now that I have so many new followers! :) And I'd LOVE to see other engagement pictures of anyone else, so everyone start updating your blogs with engagement pictures. ;) Here's my slideshow link for those who haven't seen it :
http://pinkertonphoto.com/slideshows/amyl/

I borrowed this little questionnaire from Caitlin at Think Happy Thoughts because I loved reading hers and thought it would be fun to fill out about Danny and me.

♥ What are your middle names? Kristen AND Tyler
♥ How long have you been together? It was 3 years when Danny proposed. It'll be 4 years at the wedding!
♥ How long did you know each other before you started dating? Hmm...it was 4 months of us talking and hanging out before we officially started dating.
♥ Who asked who out? He asked me!
♥ Whose siblings do you see the most? Probably mine!
♥ Do you have any children? Nope, but we're really excited for that someday!
♥ What about pets? Nope! We don't plan on having pets unless our kids BEG us!
♥ Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple? Introvert vs. extrovert (simply put)
♥ Did you go to the same school? Danny was a Senior at APU when I was a Freshman. That was our one year of school together.
♥ Are you from the same home town? Nope. He's from Upland, California; I'm from Phoenix, Arizona. Although, my dad and Danny both grew up in Upland!
♥ Who is the smartest? Danny was born with more intelligence than me, but I probably apply myself more and work harder at school and learning.
♥ Who is the most sensitive? I'd call it a tie!
♥ Where do you eat out most as a couple? I think our favorite place is Tokyo Kitchen, but we LOVE Z-pizza and we've been loving making dinner and eating at the house. Oh, and we have a Chinese food place really close to our house that we've fallen in love with--GREAT Mu Shu Chicken!
♥ Who has the craziest ex? I'd call it a tie again!
♥ Who has the worst temper? Me!
♥ Who does the cooking? Me! I love cooking! And Danny loves when I cook!
♥ Who is more social? Me!!!!
♥ Who is the neat-freak? We both are very neat, and organized! But we both don't mind having dishes in our sink for a little while. We eventually get around to them. We're pretty much on the same page with cleanliness which is great!
♥ Who is the more stubborn? Me!!!
♥ Who hogs the bed? I'll let you know in 4 months. We've never shared a bed before! ;) I imagine it will be him. When I share a bed with Carly, I'm normally the one who gets kicked or who is squished on the very edge of the bed.
♥ Who wakes up earlier? I'm a morning person more than he is, but he has to get up earlier for work than I do for school. If neither of us had anything, it would always be me getting up first. It's a Lynch thing!
♥ Where was your first date? Islands
♥ Who has the bigger family? It's a close call--I think he does but only because his grandparents are living and mine aren't. Otherwise, I think we have equally small families.
♥ Do you get flowers often? Nope!
♥ How do you spend the holidays? For the most part, we have spent them away from each other. He's come home with me for a few Easters but otherwise we are with our own families. It'll be very different to figure out holidays once we are married. We are living in California where his family is, so we will probably spend most holidays with my family in Arizona.
♥ Who is more jealous? Probably me, but neither of us give the other much reason to be jealous!
♥ How long did it take to get serious? One text message!
♥ Who eats more? Danny! He eats more often, but in the same meal, we eat the same!
♥ Who does/did the laundry? We don't do laundry together but when we do, it'll be me. He does his own laundry right now, but I'll want to do it for us when we're married!
♥ Who’s better with the computer? I'd say me. He'd say himself!
♥ Who drives when you are together? It's probably equal. I always drive when we're in my car. And it's split when we drive in his car. So I guess I probably drive more!

I wonder how Danny would fill out this questionnaire. I wonder if our answers would be similar!
Now it's your turn! Fill out the survey! :)

Save The Dates

2009-02-19T08:00:00.000-08:00

We decided not to do Save The Dates but I thought I could at least share some of our save the date pictures on here so that I can at least use them for something! :) Here are a few:

Updates!

2009-02-18T10:30:00.000-08:00

I don't have anything big to post about but I haven't written in a while and Jeannette Schneider told me on Sunday that I must post more often. Here ya go Jeannette! I'm just going to give the updates that I can think of. I'm stealing Miranda's idea (which she stole from Amy) to just use bullet points!

* Only 128 days until the wedding!
* I made it through my two weeks of midterms
* I finished making all of the invitations for the wedding, but need to re-glue some of them!
* My dad gave me beautiful roses for Valentine's Day- on the same dresser that he put a dozen red roses on for my mom 25 years ago when they were engaged!
* I got my cute invitation to my OWN bridal shower in the mail last week. It made me sooo excited!
* I miss Phoenix! I was home for the weekend and I didn't want to leave. I'll be back home from March 21st-29th for my Spring Break.
* I made my very own bleaching trays--from start to finish.
* I'm excited that Travis & Tara are engaged!
* Danny and I got our first wedding gift off our registry--The funny thing is that I bought it for us! I was afraid that the color I wanted would be discontinued so I went and bought it. I wrapped it up so that I don't get to open it until we open all our gifts. :)
* I'm looking for Tiffany Blue heels but they are impossible to find (at least the kind I'm looking for)! Help anyone?!?!?
* I'm still loving school so much! I love this time of my life. Danny and I found a new church that we love! :)

That's all for now!

FUN HOUSE STUFF

2009-01-29T19:29:00.000-08:00

I haven't blogged about the house in a while. Or maybe I have, but I have updates. Of course, the infamous engagement desk has progressed and some pictures needed to be posted. I just changed out all of the frames and put engagement pictures in them. I've added a lot of new things to the desk since the last post. It's just so fun. But starting to get a little crammed. I don't mind! I have less than 5 months left to enjoy all this cute clutter! Here are a few pictures:

I think I've posted pictures of the guest bathroom before, but we finally got a mirror. The way I was standing, I couldn't get a good angle of the mirror, but you get the idea...pretty basic-IKEA! I also framed an engagement picture in the bathroom. I love pictures!
I was in a crafty mood last weekend and made this "R" for decoration. I bought a white wooden "R" from Michael's for .99 cents. I covered it with little pieces of wrapping paper. Yes, I used wrapping paper. I just loved this wrapping paper and had left overs. And then I just painted the edges black which you can barely tell in this picture. I like how it turned out.
Then, in the main bedroom, as a request from Danny, I framed some of the surfboard engagement pictures. Those were his favorite ones! I like this frame! :)
Our main bathroom also hasn't had a mirror since we got the house, so I finally got one for this bathroom too. This one is A LOT cuter. I really love it. IKEA as well!
Here's another framed picture on top of a little black dresser in the bedroom!
Some wall-art that I made during my crafty mood last weekend! I love how it looks in the room. I can't wait to get a black bed frame! Then the room will feel complete! :)
And most importantly, our new and wonderful couches! Danny and I had been looking for a black leather sectional, and here we have it! We've only had it for a few days and we just love it. It makes the room feel home-y and warm. There is a pull-out bed that comes out of the section that is under the window, and then this end seat is a recliner. So wonderful and perfect!

And best of all...we got it for FREE!!! Yep, a family was giving the sectional away for free because they got new living room furniture. They bought it for $2000! Yipee! :) Thank you God for providing for us!That's all for now. Just a fun house post. It really feels like things are coming together. It's just so fun. By the time I'm living there in about 5 months, it'll feel so much like a home! :) I can't wait! We are registering this weekend-on Saturday. Wish us luck.

2009-01-26T13:27:00.000-08:00

Caitlin at Think Happy Thoughts gave me the letter S for the letter game - so now I have to name 10 things I love that begin with the letter S. So...here it goes!

1. SUMMER- It's my favorite time of the year. I love being by the pool, the beach, drinking cold drinks-Jamba Juice, iced chai, iced tea, frozen anything! I love wearing swim suits and fun sun dresses! Summer also means vacation and normally no school (except for this summer). Summer is when I met Danny, when I got engaged to Danny, and when I'm marrying Danny! I LOVE SUMMER!

2. STARBUCKS- I can't help it. Starbucks has to be one of my answers. I really do LOVE Starbucks! I joke with Danny that before we get married, I'm going to take $500 out of my savings and load it onto a Starbucks card. That way when he says we can't get Starbucks, I can say, "Oh, but I still have some money leftover on my card!" Hehe! He doesn't always see the point in spending money on something like coffee. Although he surprised me with Starbucks yesterday. Funny that a grande chai from Danny can make me feel so loved!
3. SHARING my heart with people I love- One of my favorite things in life is deep and meaningful conversations. I love feeling safe enough with someone to share the deepest parts of my heat!

4. SWEETS- I really LOVE sweets! Chocolate is my favorite but I love it all. :) I feel like everyone needs a little bit of sweets everyday.

5. SISTER Carly- Haha! I REALLY love my sister. :) I hate being away from her. When we are together, we laugh so much and sing so loud and talk about everything and make jokes. We understand each other and look out for each other. She's my maid of honor and my life-long friend. I can't imagine not having her in my life.

6. My SPARKLY engagement ring! It's one of my favorite gifts I've ever gotten. :) I look at it several times a minute. I clean it multiple times a week. I take pictures of it whenever it's looking extra shiny! :) I just really love it. It's one of the best parts about being engaged. Everytime I look at my hand, it reminds me that I'm getting married soon.

7. SAMTSIRHC- I had to spell CHRISTMAS backwards so that it would start with S. :) I really LOVE Christmas. Summer is my favorite season, but Christmas time (the month of December) is my favorite 25 days of the year. I love everything about Christmas except for the day after. I love the lights, the smells, the baking, the traditions, and decorations, the songs, EVERYTHING. I can't wait until next Christmas. And I'll actually be married and enjoying it with my husband. Yipee!

8. SCHOOL- I don't always love school, but right now, I feel so blessed to be where I am. I don't feel like I should have gotten into this dental hygiene program, but God made it happen and here I am, loving it so much! I get so excited to be a dental hygienist. This program is such a good fit for me and makes me so excited to finally have found what I really want to be doing. I'm in such a fun and great place and I love it!
9. SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW, SOMETHING BORROWED, SOMETHING BLUE- I didn't know how to make "weddings" start with S. I could have spelled it backwards but I already used that cheat. Besides people, weddings are the thing I love the most at this time in my life. I really enjoy everything about weddings- going to them, planning them, watching movies with them, looking at websites about them, looking at pictures from them...I think it's such a happy day and I love witnessing it/being a part of it. I cannot wait for my wedding!

10. SOMEONE NAMED DANNY-I had no clue, 4 years ago, that I would ever be blessed with someone as wonderful as Danny. I was feeling hurt and lonely and scared. Right when I needed him most, God brough Danny into my life. We have grown closer and fallen more and more in love since we met almost 4 years ago. I can't wait to marry him and spend the rest of my life getting to know him better.Okay, I know I had to stretch to make some of these work, but there ya go!
If you want to participate in the letter game, just let me know and I'll give you your letter! :)

When I got engaged...

2009-01-13T12:25:00.000-08:00

I just realized that I never made a post about the weekend I got engaged! Danny and I have been engaged for a little over 6 months. We have a long engagement, but as soon as it became January 1st, the wedding all of a sudden seemed so much closer. I think because we are in the year 2009, which is the year of our wedding! :) Maybe! I'm really glad it's feeling closer.

Anyway, I was remembering my perfect weekend in June when I flew out to spend time with Danny. I was looking back at pictures from when he proposed. It was such a happy day. I wanted to share the pictures on here.

This was the first picture we took after he proposed. Someone was walking by and offered to take a picture for us. I'll always love this picture!
My ring! I love that the sand is the background!
After he proposed, we just sat down on the sand for about a half hour and just talked about everything--where he got the ring, who knew he was going to propose, how did it go asking my dad, did he take anyone with him to the jewelry store...(All the things us girls need to know!) After that, we took a ferry to Balboa Island and had dinner at one of our favorite Italian food restaurants, Ciao. Yum!
By the time we were driving back from Newport Beach, I think it was close to 10pm. We went over to Danny's parents house to celebrate!
The most important detail of the night: The pocket where the ring was hidden. Danny is just too clever. Boys, he's a pro!
The next day we went back to the beach and then had dinner at Cheesecake Factory so that I could see Paige!
Our weekend was such a blast. Darcy had given Danny a gift to give to me so I got to open fun engagement presents when I got back to Danny's parents house. Paige had flowers sent to the Reid's house. I got to see the inside of my house for the very first time (Danny wanted me to be his fiance the first time he took me there). We ate at Cheesecake Factory and Paige's parents paid for our dinner. Paige had a huge basket of fun engagement gifts for me. On Sunday we drove half way up to Santa Barbara and met up with Kyle and Devany! I had to fly back that night. But look who surprised me at the airport with some L O V E frames that I had wanted :
It was one of the best weekends of my life. There is no feeling like being proposed to! The excitement hasn't died down! I love LOVE L-O-V-E planning our wedding and writing in wedding journals and making decisions and filling out my wedding planner and decorating my engagement desk and meeting with vendors and decorating the house and counting down the days! I will always remember this time in my life. 164 days to go!

Wedding updates!

2009-01-06T16:17:00.000-08:00

I am so very excited because we ordered and picked up our invitations. I spent a lot of time assembling them over Christmas break. I had so much fun! :) We designed and ordered them from a cute place called Papercrazy.I'm so glad to have them!
Also....we ordered a cute white pail for our cute flowergirl! AND...we were able to have a sweet visit from my flowergirl and her family while we were in the airport leaving Tahoe! They live in Reno and were able to stop by and have lunch with us. It was such a treat. Here's a picture with little miss Remington! And now...a little sneak peak. Here is a picture with me and a few of my bridesmaids in their bridesmaids dresses. I cropped the picture so you can't see the whole dress. Hehe! :)
Those are my updates for now. I had a great GREAT Christmas and time home. And we are now past the 6 month countdown for the wedding. 171 days to go!

The last few weeks

2008-12-03T11:27:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted for awhile so now I'm putting up some of my favorite pictures from the last few weeks!
These first two pictures are from my first trip back to Phoenix to meet Mayla. I love holding her and being with her so much. And I think the picture of she and Carly is just so precious. Our whole family just loves her to pieces!
A couple of weekends ago, my family came out to California for my dad to speak at APU's chapel! It was really neat to listen to my dad speak to a college campus. His message was received so well! Friday after chapel, we went to California Adventure and Disneyland. Definitely my best trip to Disneyland ever!

This was my favorite picture from the trip:
Danny and I had never been to Disneyland together so it was so much fun to have him there!
The next day we met up with the Reid's for dinner at Victoria Gardens. It snowed on us twice during dinner! Here are our two families:

And then I went home again for Thanksgiving break. I just love being home. There's nothing like it. I got to spend time with Mayla again. We had a little photo shoot with her on Thanksgiving.
On Black Friday my mom, sister, and I went shopping! We also went to pick up my WEDDING DRESS! So we called it Black and White Friday! We dressed in black and white, had some black and white mochas! AND NOW I HAVE MY WEDDING DRESS! Yipee! The day after I got back from break, I did my first full cleaning. Here is my patient, Allina, right before I cleaned her teeth. SO MUCH FUN!

Monday after the cleaning, I went over to Danny's and decorated his house with Christmas decorations. Here's the little window by the kitchen:
I put up some lights on the rail, some lights in the window, and if you click on the picture, you can see the star lights hanging in the background behind Danny! There are my updates! I'm still LOVING school! I'm having so much fun planning my wedding all the time. The holiday season has been a blast so far! I'm looking forward to being home for a few weeks! I love Mayla and miss her whenever I'm away. It has been so much fun having visits from my family and being able to go home! :) Life is good. I am blessed!

Cake & Slideshow

2008-11-08T07:42:00.000-08:00

Two updates!!!! My mom and sister are out in California with me right now. So yesterday all the Lynch girls (including Kali, but not including Bali), went to the bakery to taste and pick out the wedding cake. Here are some pictures from our tasting!!!

Here's Rockwell's Creative Cakes in Orange, CA! Here we are tasting the 6 different cakes and 7 different fillings. Yum!
And I've been talking about how Danny and I took our engagement pictures! Kelsie sent me the link this week! We had so much fun taking them and Kelsie did such a great job. Here's the link to the slideshow! Enjoy!

http://pinkertonphoto.com/slideshows/amyl/

9722 Balaton Street

2008-11-03T13:15:00.000-08:00

My house! I call it my house even though I don't get to live in it for about 8 more months. I just love being in it, and cleaning it, and decorating, and watering the flowers, and having people over...It's soooo much fun! I haven't posted pictures in a while so here they are! We've done a lot but I cannot wait to register and start getting stuff we really need. :)

Most importantly--the progression of the ENGAGEMENT DESK: THE BLUE ROOM- formerly referred to as the guest room. Danny changed the name (I'm thinking maybe so that he could keep his blue bike in the room, hmmm. Either way, I love the blue room)!The window looks out to the back patio! You can even see our neighbor's house through the window in this picture. The surf museum in the blue room. It should be a closet but before we get too much stuff, we just get to decorate it with cute surf stuff! Notice the blue paper lantern. That's from the Thompson's! It goes PERFECT in the blue room. FLOWERS- our backyard and front flowers are getting so tall. Danny has done all of the gardening. He loves it! It's fun to drive up to the house and see how many more roses are on the rose bushes from last time I was at the house! Our LAUNDRY ROOM!I love this picture! Our cute little house with my cute little car in the driveway. Both of our cars fit in the garage though, which is pretty cool!
Our new TV. This area of our living room is our next project. I'll post pictures when it's done! And my favorite part of the house---THE KITCHEN. We got this table a few weeks ago and just put up the light this weekend.

DJ

2008-11-01T16:02:00.000-07:00

This picture was right before we left -->

Danny and I met with a DJ a couple of weeks ago! We had so much fun. It made us both a lot more excited about the wedding. It was fun just dreaming about the wedding together---the DJ asked a lot of questions and talked about the different options for the reception. We laughed a lot!!! Danny and I left the meeting, went to TGIF (with a giftcard from Shannon & Molly McBride!) and then went back to the house and turned on music and practiced some dance moves. :) Start throwing out some song requests and practicing YOUR dance moves!

Loma Linda University!

2008-10-28T16:10:00.000-07:00

I haven't really given much of a Loma Linda update since I've been at school...so here it is! It's going really wonderful. I'm loving LOVING it! It's very time-consuming but I really love what I'm learning! We've done impressions; plaque scores; used our instruments; learned the teeth names; numbers, uses, and how to identify them; we've polished our partners' teeth, taken full mouth xrays (including bitewings)...and so much more! I just started 4 weeks ago and we've already done so much. It's a dream career for me. I love picking at things, cleaning things, using my hands...this job will be all of that, with such wonderful hours and wonderful pay! I'm so happy! This picture is of Prince Hall- this is where you'll find me any day of the week! Here are some other pictures:

My dorm- Kate Lindsay Hall:
My closet and bed:

1st picture- My instruments (I have 5 cassettes of instruments!!!); 2nd picture- My typodant, tooth atlas flip-chart, and my eye-wear!

Here's my station where I work in lab. This is where I learn how to use my instruments!

All of the free things I've gotten so far (notice the electric tooth brush- $170 at Target. Yep, I got it for free!) I'm seriously in heaven at Loma Linda.

This is my friend that I've made in the program! Her name is Kayla! When we met, we realized how many similarities we have. Even her husband (Adam) and Danny have many similarities. They figured out that they played basketball against each other when they were in elementary school! She and Adam let me hang out at their place. They feed me and take care of me. It's nice to have someone to go through the program with; makes it a lot less scary!

Here is the rest of the 2010 dental hygiene students. We had a baby shower for one of the girls in our class. She's in the middle. She had her baby yesterday!

I just wanted to let everyone know how I'm doing here at school. I'm very busy and that's hard for me because I just want to plan my wedding. But I'm so happy to be loving what I'm doing! What a wonderful feeling. I get to spend time with Danny on the weekends. I love being at the house and helping to decorate and set things up. I always look forward to the weekends! Danny and I have been doing a lot each weekend- going to the beach, having people over, going to Home Depot, taking engagement pictures ;), hanging out with Caleb & Kali, and turning our house into a home! I'll put up a post about the house soon!

Blogging Bride!

2008-10-21T17:34:00.000-07:00

http://masterpieceweddings.blogspot.com/

Hey, check out this website! I am the featured blogging bride on Masterpiece Wedding's Blog! This is a wedding blog that I frequent often and I got connected with the Blogging Bride series that they are doing! So fun!

Mayla Belle!

2008-10-14T18:43:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted anything for a couple of weeks! Wedding planning progress has slowed down a little bit with school starting so I haven't had as much wedding stuff to blog about. However, my cousin Kristen and her husband, Jon, had their precious little daughter Mayla Belle! I have a previous post with Kristen pregnant in her cute nursery! And now their little girl is here. She's absolutely beautiful! I couldn't keep my hands off of her! I love Mayla so much. Here are a few pictures. I took a ton of pictures on Dennis' camera. If I get a hold of those, I'll post some more! The last picture is the baby, the mom, the grandma, the great aunt, and the cousins- most of the girl relatives! Kali couldn't make it home, so try to imagine her in the picture!

Unfortunately while I was home, I left the cord that plugs my camera into my computer. I was planning on doing some blogging while I was in Phoenix, but I had a little newborn taking up all my time! Anyway, I won't have my cord for a couple more weeks but I'll try to keep updating. I don't want to lose my readers!

As far as wedding plans go, Danny and I are taking engagement pictures in two weekends! We are hoping to start registering in the next couple of weeks (we're really excited about that!) I am setting up appointments with some of our vendors, and we are really enjoying being engaged and setting up our cute house!

My house!

2008-09-23T21:21:00.000-07:00

When I moved back out here to California, half of my stuff went to my house (well, my future house), and half went to my dorm room! Here's some pictures at the house with some of the stuff I set up. It's feeling more and more like a home. I love it! There's almost nothing I love more than being there and decorating! 277 days until I'll be living there!

I set up my engagement desk in the living room!
Danny and me by the desk!
Eating dinner for the first time together in the house!
The little black dresser that I painted and put in the bedroom! Our big Tiffany's box from the Turville's is on display. Although the box is beautiful, what is inside is even more beautiful! The Turville's got us Crystal Champagne Flutes! My most favorite "L O V E" frames that I finally got to hang up. Danny and I had such a fun time measuring and hanging these up!
My coffee/tea station is coming together in the kitchen!
I LOVE my house!

The Engagement Party

2008-09-23T20:56:00.000-07:00

The weekend before I left for Loma Linda, Danny flew into Phoenix to help drive me out to school. But while he was in Phoenix, we were able to have a fun engagement party at my house and then we announced our engagement at church on Sunday. This was the first time Danny had been to Phoenix since we got engaged. Here are some pictures from the engagement party!

Tammie Coe and Stacey & Co. cookies!

Stacey & Co. cookies!Picture compliments of Katie H.
Compliments of Katie H. Compliments of Katie H.

The mom's with cookies matching their shirts! The tradition of the window hearts! Caleb & Kali had 1 heart, Danny & I had 2, Carly and future husband will have 3.

2008-09-23T20:48:00.000-07:00

My cousin Kristen is due to have Mayla Belle this Friday the 26th of September! She's so adorable! Here's some cute pictures of her and Mayla's nursery!

Mayla's crib and big-girl bed!
Mayla's dresser!Cute Kristen in Mayla's room!2 weeks from her due-date with the cute Mayla Belle letters that I made (and that Cindy got framed!)

The best birthday ever!

2008-09-23T19:49:00.000-07:00

My last week or so has been really crazy and I haven't been on the computer much! There's a lot I want to post, and this may be one of my very last weeks of freedom for the next several months. I think I am going to post 4 separate things. But the first is from about a month ago--my 21st birthday party!

My family went out to Carlsbad for Labor Day Weekend and my birthday! The Martin's came too, and the Kleven's were out in Anaheim for Adam's hockey! Caleb & Kali were able to come from Azusa; Chad & Michael & Erica came from Biola; the Reid's came from Upland; and Paige came from Yorba Linda! I have such great friends and family. It was such a neat weekend with all of these special people. We celebrated my 21st birthday at Bistro West, a very wonderful restaurant right by the hotel where we were staying. This was one of my favorite dinners of my life, and my very best birthday in 21 years. After dinner, we went back to the hotel, and I got affirmed by many of the people that mean the most to me. What a special way to spend my birthday! I couldn't be more blessed.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from dinner:

The best birthday ever!

The girls!

2008-09-13T11:51:00.000-07:00

I stole Danny's idea (with his permission) and used a sand dollar to ask all of my bridesmaids, the same way Danny asked me to marry him! Yep, I have 9 bridesmaids...well, 1 maid of honor and 8 bridesmaids!

Here are some of the pictures before I gave them to the girls:

These aren't the best pictures but I made everyone take a picture with me after I asked them. Thankfully, they all said yes! I love these girls!

Our flowergirl!

2008-09-12T10:59:00.000-07:00

While I was at APU for school, I put my name on the "babysitting contact list." I ended up getting three calls from different families, and the third family I met with CHANGED MY LIFE. I became the Turville's babysitter during my sophomore year and honestly could not get enough time with them. Matt & Holly had one daughter-Remington Kate Turville- and I just fell in love with her! The Turville's ended up moving from their house in Pasadena to a beautiful home in Reno, Nevada! I miss them so much! But...it was an easy decision for Danny and me when it came to picking our flowergirl. I can't imagine not having sweet Remi in my wedding.
Here she is:
A couple of weeks ago, I sent this in the mail to the Turville's, asking Remi to be our flowergirl!

While I was out in California for my birthday, I got a message from Remi saying "Babysitter Amy, I would love to be your flowergirl. Congratulations Babysitter, Amy." It melted my heart!

And then just yesterday, Holly sent me the link to her website with these pictures:Here's the note that was with the pictures: "Babysitter, Amy- I would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to be your flower girl on your special day!!! I have a little present for you and Danny that just arrived here at our house. My mommy wants to put a few more little goodies together before sending it your way- but look for it soon! I am so honored, thrilled, excited and proud to be your girl! ~~~ I love you like crazy!!!! xoxoxoxo Love, Remi Kate Turville ~~~"

I want to remember to treat my babysitters the way that the Turville's have treated me. I love this family and I am so honored to have them as a part of my wedding! Isn't my flowergirl ADORABLE?

The update

2008-09-10T21:29:00.001-07:00

I can't post too much because I need some things to be a surprise but we have been getting a lot of things done and I'll post as much as I can tell! We have booked the restaurant for the rehearsal dinner--it's at a restaurant called Newport Landing, by the Balboa Fun Zone in Newport Beach. It is Danny and my favorite restaurant to go to. Here's a picture of the restaurant. It's right on the bay.
We have also booked our wedding and reception location at the Marriott Newport Beach. We have had the most wonderful experiences visiting and getting to know the venue! Danny & I went with my parents to the Marriott's Wine down Wednesday. This is put on by the Marriott during the summer. It's a blast.
Then Danny and I took his family back to Wine down Wednesday because we loved it so much!
Here's a view of the "Rose Garden" where we'll be getting married. I took that picture this summer, but in the next few months, the area is going under a major renovation so it may not look much like this by the time of the wedding. It's a beautiful area!

So those are some of the big details. Our colors are white, tan, and a Tiffany's blue color! Here's a picture of my inspiration shelf. I've added black to the shelf because it's a theme color for my life but it's not a wedding color! The inspiration shelf keeps growing...I'll post more pictures as it continues to evolve!

My engagement desk

2008-09-06T08:05:00.000-07:00

When I got engaged, I had this great idea in my head. Danny had bought a house and I'd be going to school 30 minutes away in Loma Linda. I envisioned myself going to Danny's house after class some days and having a desk--my "engagement desk" with my wedding planner, wedding magazines, contact phone numbers, pens and paper to take notes and write down ideas, etc. It would be kind of an escape from school work and I could just have fun sitting down at this desk and planning my wedding. Black and white are the theme colors for my life right now (although they aren't colors for my wedding), so I knew I wanted either a black or white desk! The problem is, when you tell my mom the visions you have, it is not often that she doesn't bring them to life. It was probably 2 months ago when I told her that I wanted to get a desk but I had forgotten about it because I was just going to wait until I moved back out to California. Well, for my birthday, my family got me my engagement desk! It's just in my Phoenix house right now but I've already been using it so much! I love it so much! The chair is in the mail, on its way!

Here it is with all my presents on it!

And here it is with all of the presents unwrapped!

2008-09-05T21:09:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I'm starting a blog so that I can document this exciting time of my life. I'm engaged and absolutely love the process of planning a wedding! I know I'm going crazy...this is the 3rd wedding website that I've created but it's just too much fun for me. I know I'll keep using this after the wedding, but for now I'll mostly use it to share about all of the fun stuff leading up to the special day on June 27th, 2009! I hope you enjoy the journey to the aisle with Danny and me!