Married Life

So I'm married... It's great. We were married on October 15th in the San Antonio temple. It was amazing! We were married by President Woods, the temple president, and had tons of family and friends there with us. Our sealing was supposed to start at 5, but for some reason it started a little later I think. Because it was earlier we spent I think more time than usual in the Celestial Room together just the two of us (well and the temple worker, but she was so quiet we didn't even notice her!). We spent most of it just talking about out future and how crazy it was that it was finally here! We loved it. I will cherish that time with him forever. When we were sealed it was nice seeing everyone there to support us.

In lieu of telling you every little detail I'll post some pictures and explain what they are along the way... :)


Here's a picture of the two of us outside the temple... kissing. Typical huh?



This is my bouquet. I found this idea on a website that sent me a daily idea email. Some of these brooches came from ebay or other stores around town, but others were from my mom, grandma, great-grandma, and great aunt. The one right up front that is in a diamond shape is my mom's favorite. I loved having this and bringing in things from family members. Thanks to my Jonathan, Jeanette, Tami, and Karris for helping put together and finish his. It was fun, but by the end of it, I was tired of making it, and was glad for the help.

 

Walking out of the temple for the first time! 

Here is everyone who was at the temple with us. Isn't it fun???

Rusty and I with my sisters. We couldn't get a serious picture of all of us. 

Dad, Mom, Me, and Rusty

Rusty and I with his parents.

Uncle Lee, Aunt Tami, Me, Rusty, Aunt Teresa, and Uncle Alan. They came all the way from Arizona to share our day with us! We were SOOOO excited to have them there!

Sisters! Tami and Mom. I love this picture!

Karren Guymon, Mom, Me and Rusty. My middle name Karen is from this wonderful woman!

All my siblings and Rusty and I. It was great having everyone there! 

The bouquet again... I really love it...

Us... :)

I didn't think about a boutonniere for Rusty until about 2 weeks before and again on the same website found the idea to have him wear a brooch. So I found this on ebay and he was a sport and wore it! It's very nice though! 

Our rings. I don't have a band since the ring has designs and diamonds on all sides, and he picked his out. It is a really pretty/handsome ring. I love how they look together!

Rusty and I with my brothers. Aren't they all handsome men???

So we broke the wedding up into 2 days. We were married on Friday and had the reception on Saturday. Can I just tell you that I would suggest this to ANYONE who is getting married. It was nice to have time to breath before the reception. It felt like everyone was more relaxed and got to spend more time with each other.  So here are some pictures from the reception on Saturday.

So I had to make this one bigger so you could see it all. This is EVERYONE! Mom and Dad, ALL the Nicholas kids with their spouses and children. There are 41 in here with Judith's fiance and his daughter. Isn't this fun?? As you can imagine, when we all get together it is a ton of fun! 

I'll have to upload more later since Blogspot is uploading my other pictures funny. I promise to get more of the reception on here soon once I figure out what is going on. (Lori, I PROMISE!) 

It's Getting Closer...

Just thought I'd tell you that it's getting closer everyday! I have 3 weeks from yesterday. It is crazy! I can't believe how fast the time has gone by. It seems like it was just May and Rusty had just proposed and we were wondering if October would EVER get here. So here we are. 3 weeks away. I'm so excited to be married to Rusty. He is my best friend. We have so much fun when we are together even if we are just sitting and talking. He makes me laugh and smile all the time. I'm not saying everything has been perfect because it hasn't, but I have never doubted that I am supposed to marry him.

I'm moving into our apartment this weekend, and we probably picked the worst weekend to move into somewhere. It's conference weekend and so there is less time for us to move stuff. LUCKILY, I'm able to move and set everything up all day everyday since I'm not working right now. How lucky am I?

So, it's getting closer and I still have A LOT to do, but Jonathan and I get a little bit done everyday.

Just when you think it's all going great...

the Lord decides to throw you a curve ball.

Rusty and I are having our first REALLY big challenge as a soon to be married couple. Everything with us is great it's just that my work decided to lay me off last week. I haven't told a lot of people, and maybe it's because I'm prideful about the whole situation, but it's pretty tough to hear that your job doesn't think they need you anymore.

So, gratefully Russ was listening and thought maybe we should look at other apartments that were cheaper and closer to certain areas, and we found one we LOVE before we signed a lease at another one. So, we are able to save money on rent as well as he can take the train to work everyday. With him driving a pick-up this is a HUGE plus.

This week I've learned some things about me though.

1. I don't do well with nothing to do. I have a need to stay busy. It really sucks having nothing to do.

2. Maybe I should have waited to plan some stuff for my wedding. Seeing as I thought I would be working until the week of the wedding I got as much finished early as possible. Now, it's a little over a month away and I don't have much to do other than invites. (Which everyone should be getting next week!)

3. I know what I want to do FINALLY and have started the process to get back to school for it. It only took me 27 years to know what I truly wanted!

4. I have an AMAZING family! I already knew this, but these last 2 weeks have truly strengthened my love for them. They have been nothing but supportive of me.

5. I am marrying someone who I know will support me through everything. Again, I knew this, but it has been reconfirmed. He is truly amazing. He has had to see me at some of my lowest points, and still stayed around.

So, in the end, I will get school started in January and finish up wedding stuff until then, and get our home set up. I will also be spending a lot of time at my mom's classroom. I'll help out with whatever she needs. It keeps me busy right?

Love y'all!

Facts of Life

As I've grown up I've noticed a few things... For instance, in the church it's all about age... When do you turn 8 and get baptized? When are you 12 and able to go to Young Women's? I bet you can't wait until you are 14 and can go to dances. 16 yet?? You get the picture... So once I graduated high school it instantly became what are you going it do for a career? In all honesty I didn't know then and still kind of don't know now. I know I want to be in the health care field, but as for what I'm still not sure. I'm almost 27... After graduation it also became, when are you going to get married??? WHAT??? I seriously got so sick of hearing this question that I tried to avoid situations where I may be asked about it.
So, now that I'm getting married in 2 months (can you believe it???) it's slowly becoming another question... When are you and Rusty going to start having kids? How many?? Rusty and I are old by "Mormon Standard" to be getting married, but does that mean we can't enjoy a year or two like most married couples? We have had this conversation and have said we wouldn't be upset if we ended up getting pregnant in the first year, but it'd be nice right? Neither of us really has a set number of kids either. We just know we want some and however many the Lord will give us.
So, I guess what I'm saying is why all the questions? Why can't people just live their lives and do what they want without all the questions??? Does/did anyone else feel like this???

...

So, have I told you that I'm busy? Because if not, I guess I should... I'm kind of busy... Who would have thought that keeping a wedding simple would still be stressful?? I figured that if I kept it simple it wouldn't be as stressful, but it is... :( I'm working on this. Maybe it's just my personality. For a non-perfectionist (at least I don't think I am, others may say different) I sure have had some stress. I'm thinking that it's mostly work, ok it is all work, but working a more than full time job and planning a wedding isn't much fun. I'm not sure how people do it.

Ok enough with the ranting... On to other things! I haven't blogged in a bit so a quick update. On the Fourth Rusty's Aunt and Uncle had all his family over for a big BBQ and wedding shower. It was fun to relax and talk with his family. I had one of the biggest compliments given to me by his Uncle and I hope I can live up to his expectations! He told Rusty he wasn't sure how he did it, but I was a good one, and he should do what he can to keep me. (I've got them all tricked!! ;) just kidding) Rusty and his family all said that was a pretty big deal so I was pretty flattered by it. It was really fun talking to his Aunt and Grammie who I haven't been able to spend much time with. We received a lot of our kitchen stuff so we can cook, but would still be eating off paper plates and silverware... Less clean up I guess right? :)

Judith took our engagement pictures and did an AWESOME job... to see some of them you can check out my Facebook page or just check back... I'll get around to posting some soon!

Rusty had a few interviews this month with the Texas Department of Agriculture as well as the USDA. He was offered a job with TDA here in Austin, and is still waiting to hear one way or the other from USDA. He's hoping for an offer from USDA, but we are grateful for the job he would have at TDA if that is what we get. He's very excited about the upcoming opportunities, and the experiences he will gain from these careers.

Everything else is going well. We are figuring things out for the wedding one piece at a time, but I can say as stressful as it gets, I'm VERY grateful to have my mom and sisters and sisters-in-law to help me with it all. It's been fun at times, and stressful too, but I'm not gonna lie. I'll be VERY happy when it is all over, and I don't have to think about it anymore!

Love y'all!

PS... have I told you that I love this man???