Thank you!!

This post is really hard to write... and probably my last one! It is hard for me to sum up our wedding day. It was the most perfect, magical, wonderful day in my life. I loved every single minute of the entire weekend. I wouldn't change a single thing about it.

Thank you to everyone who helped make the day perfect. I don't even know where to begin with the thank-you's.

I've learned over the course of planning this wedding that I have the most amazing family and friends in the world. Seriously. THE BEST. THANK YOU a million times over!!!

Tim and I are now husband and wife and I couldn't be happier!! Here are some pics of the day - I don't have the professional photos yet - I'm waiting on pins and needles for those to arrive.

Love to everyone - again - THE BEST family and friends in the world. Thank you!!

Ahh home...

I'm in the FINAL stretch! This will probably be my last update until after the wedding! I've been at my parents' house the last two days working away on all the final details. It has been nice to spend time with my family (including my brother, who turned 26 yesterday and shows up every morning for breakfast!).

I'm heading up to Lincoln after I finish typing this...Amy will be in town today and the rest of the wedding party will arrive for the rehearsal tomorrow! I'm excited for the rehearsal dinner as well - Tim's mom has went all out for it!

Well, I guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be and I'm so looking forward to Saturday. It is *supposed* to be sunny and 78 degrees!! Just pray that it stays that way!

I will see you on Saturday!

Here are some photos from my lovely work shower that I posted about the other day. It was so wonderful! You can see from the photos that it was just beautiful!

The week is HERE!

Oh my goodness. It is the week of my wedding!! I can't believe this week is finally here.

I think I've been fairly calm today actually. Jodi and I went to the spa this morning and relaxed (Spa Tuscano is sooo fabulous!).

Friday was a big day - I had a beautiful shower at work thanks to two of the best co-workers (and friends) on the planet! I'll upload pictures soon. My parents also came down and picked up my dress (eek!!).

I've been obsessively checking weather.com every day since Friday. As of right now it is supposed to be 81 and sunny on Saturday - keep your fingers crossed! :)

One more day of work and then I'm heading off to Nebraska to start the wedding countdown/prep.

I feel so filled with joy and blessed right now. I'm ready for the day to get here!

Couples' shower and a beautiful flower girl...

First photo is a sneak peek at our beautiful flower girl! She was so excited about her dress that "touched the floor." My aunt Denise sewed the dress and did a fantastic job - it is perfect!

Also thought I would share some photos from our couples' shower last weekend! The last two photos are Tim and I both fast asleep - while our best friends were up talking on our porch (in our defense it was about 1:00 AM!) We had so much fun! Less than two weeks now...my list has actually grown over the past few days because I keep thinking of things to do! Never ending I tell you. This will be my last week of work as a single gal - I just can't believe it!!

Thank you UPS man!

Sorry for my lack of updates lately...been very busy working away on wedding things but with little to update on.

We had a FABULOUS couples' shower on Saturday, hosted by Tim's Aunt Patty. Many of our best friends from KC came and it was a blast. I'll try to post pictures as soon as I get them...need to start taking photos at these events myself! :)

In other news, the UPS man has been busy delivering boxes to our house every day with wedding presents! Now, if you know me well, you know I LOVE opening things (just ask my parents about the year I ruined Christmas by opening everyone's presents before anyone else woke up). So, I have been enjoying opening our gifts and am so thankful for all of the generous gifts!

I'm almost a Mrs.!

Holy cow, it is August! The days are really starting to tick by now. I've been working on small details for the wedding, but the majority of items are done!

We have our couple's shower this weekend. I'm really looking forward to it, I just hope that our friends aren't sick of celebrating our love (over and over and over again!). We seriously have the BEST friends and family in the world!

Last night Tim and I were paying bills and I realized that when we pay bills again we will be paying them as a married couple! So strange!

Whoa.

So, I've been trying to be an organized bride and have been thinking about all of the places where I will need to change my name. I've put in my requests at work and I got this to review today:

I have to admit, I am really sad about losing my last name. I'm excited to be marrying Tim and I want us to share the same last name, but I love Schlake and I love being the only one out there (seriously, google me, there really is only one). I googled "Rebecca Criswell" and guess what, there are many of them. :(

This is really happening. My name is about to change!!

The final countdown!

Wow, time has flown. I am now into the "final countdown" for this wedding. Next week is August and August is the month we are getting married!

I've got my list narrowed down to only about 30 items...amazing. People have been RSVPing (although I had a minor meltdown today thinking not enough people are sending them in...but I'm working through that!).

I also sent a detailed (some might say slightly neurotic, I say organized) email to everyone involved in the wedding. This helped me relax...getting everything in writing was somewhat calming for me.

Here is a snapshot of the first page of the letter (yes, it was four pages long...):

Thank you ladies!!

Wow, I gotta say, last night was one of the most fun nights of my life! Jodi just completely outdid herself and threw the most fab bachelorette party EVER! We started out by going to Polished and getting our nails done, then a scavenger hunt at P&L, then to Harrah's for presents and fun until late into the evening (well, technically morning I guess).

I feel so lucky to have such wonderful ladies in my life. It was just amazing and wonderful and I really don't have words to describe just how great it was!!

Crazy weekend ahead...

Sorry it has been forever since my last post. I've been busy working away on wedding stuff. I'm pleased to announce that my list is now down to one page! Only small details to take care of at this point.

Also, the RSVPs have been rolling in! I've been calling home to my parents every single day to find out who they are from. It has been so much fun and I guess people are really coming to our wedding! :)

Tomorrow is my bachelorette party and Jodi has just went all out. It is going to be such a great evening. I can't wait to see everyone and have a great time.

I'll post some pictures on Sunday...well...some of the pictures anyway. :)

Could a girl get any luckier!?

Yesterday was my 2nd bridal shower and it was FABULOUS! Tim's mother's good friend Jane hosted the shower and just went all out. I felt so blessed to be there and to have so many of Dianne's friends sharing in our joy. It was truly a special and beautiful day!

These pics are of me and Jodi before opening gifts, the lovely table setting (with our colors!), and the hostess and I, Jane. Incredible!

Next weekend is my bachelorette party...could be a pretty crazy weekend! :)

You want what?!

Last week my friend told me that Tim and I didn't have enough variety on our registry list. Now, let me say, first of all, it is a little weird for me to register for stuff. It kind of feels like we are demanding these items to me. But, I've been told that everyone will want us to be registered, so we obliged. Tim and I went to Target and had a great time with the scanner and then I registered for some more things at B, B, and Beyond, and Williams Sonoma.

Anyhoo...I went out to our registry tonight and started adding some new items...for variety. And well, I went a little crazy.

I won't go into the details, but before I stopped myself and decided to blog about it, I actually had the thought: "We forgot to register for a tea set - oh my god - how could we have overlooked that!?"

Seriously. I think I'm pretty much done looking and/or adding to that list or we are going to end up with a lot of strange items that we just don't need (or even really want)!



















When was the last time I had a tea party? Why would we ever need this? For some reason tonight I thought we did. :)

We're in print!

Well...things are starting to get really official now! The invites are on their way to the guests and our engagement picture appeared in the Lincoln and Beatrice papers! Here is a link to the Lincoln paper announcement: http://www.journalstar.com/celebrate/index.php?fid=AN4a4c399d13cd4

Tonight I think I'm going to try and not do anything wedding related. Perhaps relax and enjoy a movie! :)

Eat your heart out Bakerella.

Yesterday I posted about a "special" wedding project that Jodi, Abby, and I worked on. I won't tell you exactly how these will be used in the wedding, but will give you a peek at what we created. We had so much fun making these and Abby was a WONDERFUL helper in the kitchen. I wish I had photos of her entire outfit...a flower print dress, high heels, and an apron. We thought she looked like a mini June Cleaver. :)

Coming soon to a mailbox near you...

Invites are in the mail!! Jodi and I went to the post office this morning and sent all of them! We spent the rest of the day working on a special wedding project. I'll post pictures of that adventure tomorrow (and they are ADORABLE!). Isn't Jodi's camera awesome? I love the pic of putting the invite in the mailbox!