New Beginnings....

New Beginnings.....The end of this past summer was an important turning point in both of our lives.....On August 30th, 2010 Justin officially started his third and FINAL year of his Doctorate of Physical Therapy Program!!  I can't even believe than he will no longer be a student in less than a year......throughout our entire relationship Justin has been a student and has been working towards this goal.  The third year of his program is an important one..because he's actually "on the field".  He takes on four different 8 week rotations and different facilities each concentrating on a different type of Physical Therapy.  For this first rotation he was at  Rich Physical Therapy. 

Then on September 4th, I started a new job at Regency Garden, a very successful and privately owned Wedding Venue in downtown historic Mesa.  While I still continue to work at Still Life Studios doing all the Marketing and Sales, I'm working at Regency Garden on Tuesdays (showing the facility and such) and coordinating on Saturdays.  Although it's been a little nutty balancing between both locations, it's been a lot of fun.  I was most interested in working at Regency because I was eager to learn the difference between a privately ran venue vs. a corporate ran venue (like Seville).  The owners of Regency have done an amazing job and Regency does well over 100 plus weddings a year.
 
While, I'm still in process of starting up my Event Coordination and Design Company~I know that my experience working with these TWO successful businesses will only guide me in the right direction.  I'm so lucky to know so many talented, passionate, and good hearted people in this industry:)

And with these New Beginnings...comes more work, more organizing, and more life balancing...but we've made through and still managed to have fun along the way!

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Addie's Birthday

  Another August birthday baby~Addie Jo also turned 29 this past August.  And we celebrated in "Addie Jo" fashion ~ethnic food, followed by dancing till all hours of the night... sadly, I didn't take any photos this night :(

But I was truly AMAZED at how much I LOVED Indian Food....so yummy, and such a fun experience!!  Thank you my dear friend for introducing me to "Star of India" and here's to another year of celebrating the fabulous person you are!!

P.S. If anyone wants to check out one of my new favorite resturants, let me know...I'll glady join you!

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# 28 Done!

  I can cross number 28 of my 101 in 1001 List:   Spend the entire day doing something nice for someone I love.

One hot summer day in August, I took the day off from work and helped my little brother move into his dorm room and spent the day decorating and adding the "Chase" the room.  We had a blast changing it from a dorm room into Chase's home away from home. Because Chase is a "Peer Programer" he received his own oversized private room! Justin gave Chase all of his old posters from his former bachelor pad...and I think secretly Justin was sad to give them up ;) After a long day of re-arranging furniture, organizing, and decorating we treated Chase to Sushi at RA on Mill Avenue ~ such a fun day!

Love you stinks, I'm very proud of you!

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Hello World, I'm 30....



Dear My Twenties,

I'm sad to see you go....but I'm thankful for all the lessons you taught me...about love, life, loss, and the importance of the individual reponsibilty I have for creating a happy, loving, and full life.  I'm excited to begin this new journey..... applying all the lessons I learned in my twenties....

Dear My Thirties,

We have to get busy right away....no more day dreaming...I have a clear and defined plan.  Let's do this! 

Starting today, with a little self indulgence....including a facial, lunch with Naseem, color and cut with my favorite hair stylist, manicure & pedicure with Addie ~maybe some shoe shopping....and a romantic dinner tonight at the Salt Cellar with my gorgeous husband.

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Happy Birthday Melissa!!

One of my dearest friends Melissa, turned 29 this past August................

and we had so much fun celebrating with her!

Melissa selected this really cute little random restuarant called: Handelbar J's, in Scottsdale...

complete with country line dancing.

I love you Melissa, thank you for being the wonderful loving person you are,

 I hope this year is full of fun for you!!!

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"The Real Thing"....

"You're the one I want and it's not just phase....

You're the one I trust, our love is the real thing"

Have you ever heard a song, and thought to yourself...umm wow I could have written that song, word for word?  Isn't it weird how you can hear a certain song and it takes you back to a certain time period and you can almost feel those same feelings you felt then?  Or a certain song can make you think of someone?

I heard "The Real Thing" by Gwen Stefani quite some time ago and I just love it....I think it just pin points my feelings about Justin.... and how our relationship seems to flow...just thought I'd share.

Happy Monday all!  Hope your favorite songs inspire your day!!

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Oh Baby!!!

 

I swear, my world is "babies" lately.  I remember a time a few years back where it seemed like "weddings" was a common theme...as I was in so many of them for my girlfriends.  Well, we have now officially entered "Babyville".  Where every time I seem to turn the corner...someone is having a baby!  Which makes my biological clock tick so loud, I wonder if people can hear??

Although we have yet to officially start "trying"....we are definitely getting closer to this point....I've realized it's almost to the point where I don't have any more control over this...I actually had to tell myself "that's inappropriate Jennifer, don't ask" when I saw this precious newborn the other day at a wedding that I just wanted to cuddle with.
Mmmm...such sweetness.

Speaking of sweetness, one of my dearest girlfriends...Tiffany just recently had little Ronin Patrick.  I'm so sad I haven't had the chance to meet this little guy yet, but I'll have my chance this Christmas....I can't wait.  I wonder if he'll be a wild as his momma? 

Congratulations Tiffany and Dan, I'm so happy for you three!!!!

See You Soon, xoxoxo!

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August was a great time.....

.....to catch up with friends! Yes, that's right.... I'm now in the process of trying to "catch up on blog again" hopefully I can be all caught up before the holidays:) And now with my new morning coffee & blog sessions....I just might be able to this. 

So, August is a "blah" month to me in general.  In Arizona, it's the time of the year when you're just so dang done with the heat of the summer~everyone is just kind of "zapped".  But, when you're working in the wedding industry, it's the perfect time to get caught on projects and people...and also a great time to work a few shorter days to spend time with friends and industry partners.

Apparently I just wasn't into taking very many photos in August (again, probably due to that "zapped" thing).  So the following events that happened in August, I have no photos from sadly...but I thought they were definitely"blog worthy".

Dinner w/Jeff and Darrah:  Blast from the past!  Recently I've re-connected with a few of my ole CGUHS buds from high school.  Darrah and Jeff, and what I can't believe is that they are still an "item"....engaged actually.  So one hot summer evening Justin and I had dinner with this twosome over at one of our favorite dinner hot spots, Valle Luna, followed by going to the movies.  We saw Inception.  It was so fun hanging out with Darrah and Jeff again ~we will have to do this again soon.  And major props to Justin as he was such a good sport listening to all our high school stories!
Lunch Melissa:  My predecessor at Seville!  Miss Melissa Sprinkle took over my position when I left Seville last December.  I was so happy when she took the position because I knew she would take great care of my brides.  I'm so glad we've managed to keep in touch, being a Catering Sales Director is not an easy job let me tell you...but she's done a great job.  We were able to enjoy a nice lunch together...at the beloved Olive Garden. 
Lunch with Becky:  I love my Beks!!  You've heard me talk about her on blog before, right?  We worked together at Seville a few years ago...and I just fell in love with her!  She'll make you laugh out loud and feel comforted all at the same time!  And if you're ever looking for a great massage, she's a fantastic massage therapist!  We were able to catch up at Pita Jungle (one of my FAVS)...and Becky was able to experience Mediterranean  food for the first time. 
WEN with Erin :   Due to both of our crazy schedules it's very rare that we get to sync up together...but when we do, hours and hours of  conversation  must take place!  I actually took over Erin's position  at Seville many years ago...and we've remained great friends ever since.  We hit up the monthly WEN Event (Wedding and Event Networking) at a new venue called Noahs.  Although we were more interested in catching up with each other, rather than networking with other wedding industry vendors....we had fun!
Dinner Jacquie and Tony:  Our favorite matchmakers and dearest friends!  One of my biggest highlights of the month was getting to spend time with these two.  We had the over for dinner one night to talk the "housing market & loans, as Jacquie is an expert in this area.  But more importantly we had them over to celebrate their recent big news of finding out they're pregnant with their third baby! 

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Baby "Sprinkle"

I'm throwing a "Sprinkle"!  What's a "Sprinkle" you ask?  I wondered the same thing, until my cousin Bri informed me a "Sprinkle" is a Baby Shower for your second child. Meaning that the parents already have many of the big items from their first baby, but still a few smaller items for their new baby....PLUS my thoughts are why not take a moment to stop and celebrate this precious time? 

So Bri had asked me to coordinate this for her (actually...I'm pretty sure I volunteered myself , big surprise I know....any excuse to throw a party :)

So anytime I coordinate a party I typically need my team of MVPs....so Justin took maternity photos of the Provost Family and created this adorable invitation.  And my mom is coming up today to spend the day with to put together all the decor...so we will be spending the day at Floral Supply Syndicate , Mayesh, and I'm sure a Target visit will be in order.  I'm excited, we have so much fun doing these types of things, and we have some interesting ideas in mind.... stay tuned. 

Planning events is such a joy of mine, but planning events for someone I love is even better!  

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I've finally realized something....

Yes, it's true......

I've finally realized something that my mom's been trying to tell me for years......

Twenty days shy of my 30th Birthday and I have realized that:  It takes much longer for a woman to start her day off properly than it does a man... therefore a successful woman must wake up and start her day much earlier than her man. 

I've been fighting this for years......wanting to stay in the nice warm bed until Justin has hit snooze for the very last possible time and then.....
all of a sudden it's as if he puts his magical wings on and flies around the house for ten minutes....getting dressed, eating a quick breakfast, and he finds me (still stumbling around the condo, looking for a warm blanket or robe to wrap around) to kiss me goodbye and he's OUT THE DOOR!!

Each morning I stand there in a daze....wondering how does he do it?  How is he possibly ready to go in ten minutes....and the only thing I've accomplished is getting out of bed, and did he even brush his teeth???  It shocks, amazes, and let's be honest COMPLETELY ANNOYS ME!!!

After he leaves I spend the next hour and half to two hours doing my rituals.....and I'm constantly left wondering.....why I can't seem to ever be out of the house before 9:30am?  I've been spoiled because with my work industry...I don't necessarily have to "be at work" at any certain time....unless I have early appointments.  But it doesn't change the amount of work I have to get done once I'm actually at work, so I'm always left staying at the office into the later hours of the night.

So, this morning......I GAVE IN.   I woke up early....took the pups out for their morning walk, fed them....and now I'm enjoying my cup of Maxell House International Hazelnut Cafe cup of coffee while thoroughly enjoying my blog session.   Yeah me, I'm a grown up?!?

At this rate I will still have time to pack lunches, get in a 30 to 45 minute morning workout, dress, shower, eat breakfast, pick up a little and be out the door by 8:15/8:30...we shall see how this goes :)

On a side note, I had the most fantastic refreshing weekend ever, the house is clean, laundry is done (and FOLDED & PUT AWAY), bills paid, dishes clean, and we even got in a sushi date night....life is good.....

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Still in Recovery....

 

Well October officially kicked our hineys! 

I realized this as I work up this morning to nearly every dish, glass, and utensil in our kitchen stacked up in the sink.....I realized this when I spent nearly an hour trying to choose a "creative" outfit to wear to work today that was "wedding appropriate", because my laundry pile is out of control..... I realized this when I noticed that we hadn't paid our bills in quite a few weeks and the stack of mail was overflowing, I realized this when I saw the stack of over due birthday cards, baby shower cards, and thank you cards in my purse that I've been carrying around all month..... I realized this when I was reaching the back of the cupboard this morning trying to come up with something to eat for breakfast.... I realized this because I have over twenty something past events I need to blog about.....

Ahhhhh.... October, I forget about you each year and then you jump up and hit me in the face!!! 

I'm now in official recovery... trying to get back into gear.  Although I have not one but TWO weddings tomorrow, I'm so thankful that I have Sunday off with my sweet husband.

P.S. and my foot still hurts from Halloween Party last Friday... what move was I doing.... that still causing me pain a week later???

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I miss her already.....

Aimee Sloan.....(sigh)

She's been my friend for many many years....... 

I think we've discussed nearly every topic in the universe.... 

And been through many firsts, many ups, and many downs...

We are probably the most opposite people in the world....but I love her dearly.  

Although she's been living out of state for the past two years, tonight I feel even more sad knowing that she's going to be in other countries for quite some time traveling the world.  But I know this is an adventure that she must take.... and I can't wait to hear her stories, told only in a way she could tell.

Go make some memories my dear friend...and enjoy the journey! 

P.S. Aimee will be blogging about her journey if you want to follow at: /http://traveling-twinkie.blogspot.com/

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Hello November!

  Wow, what a weekend...... we had an amazing 8th Annual Halloween Bash!!!  I can't believe another year has come and gone.  Thank you so much to everyone who attended, I hope you had a great time!  The only bummer thing about hosting a party is that you never really get the "talk" to anyone, because you're running around from person to person all night (or dancing around, in my case). 

So I'm a little sad because I don't feel like I spent any time with anyone, nor did I get to hear what my guests thought of the party..... but I guess that's the small price you pay to entertain. 

I can't believe how sore I STILL am, dancing and running around in four inch heels is quite a workout, my goodness. 

But now life is back to normal, Trevor and Isis have flown home (we sooo enjoyed having them here this weekend) and my sweet little pups are back at home and all cuddled up by my feet.  And I just realized I'm turning ummm.... thirty in 29 days!!!!  Oh wow.  

But seriously thank you again to everyone that joined our "Gang" on Friday night, it will certainly go down in history as one of my favorite parties!!!!


P.S. Photos coming soon, I promise ;)
P.P.S. Why is this song so awesome?  It makes me so happy!!!

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