Say 'Yes' to the dress!!!

It's official, my wedding dress and reception dress were purchased on Friday!!!! A couple of months ago my Mom and I headed over to OKC to JJ Kelly to look at dresses. I found one I loved, but I could not commit because that would have been too easy. So I continued to shop around. I looked in KC, one place in NYC and around Tulsa. I found a couple I liked in Tulsa but not the way they were, so a lot of alterations would have to take place to make it the dress of my dreams. In my mind, I kept going back to this dress in OKC. So, last Friday my Mom, Heather and I drove to OKC to try it on one more time. Deana, my future MIL, met us there. I tried it on and needless to say...it is the one! Ironic enough, it is the very first dress I tried on! I love it and I can't wait to wear it for our wedding. Since we are getting married in the morning, I am planning on wearing a second dress for the reception and I found it that day too, so 2 more things to check off the list!
Since I am on the topic of wedding talk, an update on planning. Our save the dates have been delayed. We are hoping to get them out asap. We, as in not including Alan, met with the florist in Medford on Thanksgiving. He is more than willing to take a backseat when it comes to flowers, colors, really anything that involves details:) Her name is Margie and she will be making our bouquets. I can't wait to see what she puts together for us. Bridesmaids dresses have been picked and Heather got her dress on Friday. I think they are going to be great and easy to travel with. I love the color too. As much as I am a planner, we are kinda at a standstill until we have an idea how many guests will be attending so we can order everything. Less than 6 months away...crazy!!!!

Happy 7th Birthday Avery!

Yesterday was Avery's 7th birthday. Her Daddy bought her a couple of new toys and she was able to cheat on her diet. She went on a long walk and a car ride, so all in all a great day for her. Before Alan and I met, Bree told me she was moving in with him and he had a lab. I was kinda bummed because I told her I would never be able to hang out at his house since he had a dog. From the time I was 2 years old, I developed allergies to dogs, cats...you name it. I also develped asthma. Growing up, I was always the kid that had to leave slumber parties, friend's houses, etc if the owners had animals because my asthma would flare up, eyes would swell, and I would be on my breathing treatments in no time. I have always been hypersensitive to labs in particular. Although I am fortunate as things could always be or have been worse than that health problem, it was definitely not fun and there were many scary times. I have always said this health issue keeps me from having a zoo since I LOVE animals. So back to my point, since I have never been able to be in a home with animals, I prepared myself for short visits to hang out with Bree. I knew she wanted me to meet Alan, but in the back of my mind I was thinking it could never work because he had a dog and I can't be around an inside dog. I know that sounds weird but it is always something I had to consider. At the time, Alan was traveling a lot for work, so I would go over and hang out with Bree. I was noticing that my breathing was doing pretty well, crossing my fingers. So I started hanging out there more and more, (especially since Alan was starting to crush on me at this point:)) and my asthma was in control. I remember calling my Mom saying how crazy it was I could be around this dog. Low and behold, a year and a half later I have a four legged shadow that I can't imagine not having. I can't begin to explain how much I adore this dog...and I know it is mutual! Alan has moments of jealousy since she was his baby for years before I came in the picture;) She is my cuddle bunny, boo bear, baby girl, and the list goes on! Do I think it was fate? Absolutely! I am still allergic to animals and I can still only be in houses with animals for a short amount of time, so when we leave because I can't breathe, I'm not lying! I can't explain it but I'm thankful.

And the destination is....

Turks and Caicos!!!! We are so excited to finally have a destination picked and can't wait to start all of the planning. Alan and I had our engagement pics taken last Friday. One of our locations for pics was no place other than the Tulsa State Fair! Some might say our pick is a little WT, but I like to think of it as creative and really just downright awesome. What can I say...I LOVE the fair! I love everything about it. Alan was such a trooper walking around taking pics while people were staring. We paid $10 to park and $30 to get the three of us in the gate. That would be $40 and we didn't even get a corndog! If you do the fair right, you can drop some serious cash. We also went to Woodward Park for some pics. Heather met us there with Alan's Mom, Deana, and Hadlea. She took a few pics as well, so a big thank you to her. Later that evening, the five of us went to Hideaway to have dinner for Deana's bday. Happy bday Deana! Saturday, a couple of my girlfriends, Carrie and Morgan, went to Leon's to watch the KU game. Remember when I said we are somewhere in between being awful or really good? I was wrong, we are without a doubt awful!!! We looked like a bunch of a$$ clowns running around the field. Baylor scored so quickly on us back to back I had a hard time knowing if it was a replay or another TD. When does bball start?! Actually, I'm not a fair weather fan and I will continue to watch every week holding out hope that we might have a few more 'W's' left in us...particularly v. KSU, MU and OSU! I'm not asking for much:) Last weekend, I was in NYC for Bridget's bach. party. We had a BLAST! It took me a couple of days to get back to normal after that weekend. I'll leave it at that:) Last night, Alan and I went on a date to Ciao. Today, we slept in, went to the late service at church and then Hooters for lunch. Please don't judge, they make a killer grilled cheese. We have been doing chores and organizing most of the day. Alan informed me that if I'm ever pregnant and go through the "nesting" phase, he is moving out...can't say I would blame him. Now, my girl and I are cuddled up on the couch getting ready to go to bed. Gnite!

Bridget's Shower and Wedding Planning

Last Friday, I drove to KC for my friend Bridget's bridal shower. I was rushing to get there so I could see her for her final fitting of the dress, which I barely made in time...go figure. That evening we got ready and went to eat at Manny's, which is a Mexican restaurant in downtown KC. It has been around for 30 years, yet I lived in KC during chiropractic school and never had heard of it. Regardless, it was really good. We then went to the power and light district. One drink in and Bridget and I are ready to head back to the hotel. This is the same Bridget, where 2 years ago we met for a weekend of fun and couldn't remember our hotel room number:) Oh how I wish I would have gotten that on camera, trying our key in all the rooms we thought might be our's!:) We woke up Saturday and headed to her first bridal shower. It was a great time. She received a ton of great gifts. There was one that stood out the most, a KU apron! Lucky girl! It started at 10:30am. Well guess what started at 11?? You guessed it, the KU v. Georgia Tech game. So needless to say I had to check the score. I also kept Bridget and Mary Kate up to speed as we all graduated from KU. Keep in mind, I was not expecting much from my team that dropped the ball against North Dakota State the week before...yes, there is a North Dakota State and even crazier, they have a football team. How many points did we score on week one? 3. Three. Tres. And that is not touchdowns, that is total points. Final score: KU 3 NDSU 6. Since the game was not televised, the optimistic me was thinking, damn our defense must be unbelievable... and so was their's. Then I remembered, we haven't won a football game since last Oct. 9 2009! Well week 2 was a different story, we beat the #15 team in the country!!! I can't belive it either. I'm now thinking we had 2 fluke games in a row and we are somewhere in the middle of being terrible or really freaking good. If you know me, you know the attachment I have to KU. Some might call it an obsession. I truly feel a connection with the players and when they graduate, it takes me a little time to get acclimated with the new players. Last year, we lost one of my all time favs, Todd Reesing, or "my little sparky" as I like to call him. It's ok...Alan is totally accepting of this pet name:) Did I mention I LOVE football season? And don't get me started on basketball. Alan is a huge OSU fan, so he went to the game this past weekend. All will be good until KU and OSU meet up on November 20. OSU did win their game as well, but not without a little excitement. Last night we went to dinner and were talking sports. He is like, "yeah, all you KU fans are getting your hopes up because you had a big win." I then said, "well, yeah but OSU is the only school I know that lines up in the victory formation and fumbles:)" November 20, 2010, mark it down on the calendar! A true house divided!

Wedding planning is going. We are patiently waiting for confirmation that the site we have chosen will be reserved for us...fingers crossed. I will let you know as soon as we know. Then the real planning can start and we are super excited. Finding a resort has been a task. First, we used Destinationweddings.com. FLOP. (Alan's idea btw, hehe.) Now we are using Gina Ho, who was Alan's cousins, Justin and Shelly, recommendation. She has a lot of experience planning destination weddings. She actually told me that she has NEVER had this much trouble with finding a resort that is available on the day we want. I guess we picked a popular weekend. Either way, we are confindent it will all work out the way it should. My Mom keeps reminding me, "Things happen for a reason." That doesn't mean I can't throw a fit along the way though:)
Another task is the guest list. Here lies the problem, we know a lot of people and we have a lot of people that we are close to, but it is not feasible to invite everyone to a destination wedding. We are planning on having a reception when we return, but it is still difficult. Last Sunday, Alan and I were going over the invite list once again...and we came across my Aunt's name. I started crying then, as I am now as I type. He asked me if I wanted to take her name off the list. As crazy as it sounds, I told him no. It's so hard because I know that she and my cousin would have been the only 2 that would come to the wedding from my Mom's side. My Mom said she has her "moments" and I guess I do too. I know we probably all will for awhile. While I'm on the subject of her, I thought of something I left out in a previous post. Back in 2004, when we lost my 2 uncles and Grandpa, (Mom's side)I was able to write poems for the funerals. It's something my Dad and I do, write poems. I have also written for my Grandma (Dad's side) and Grandpa (Dad's side.) The words and thoughts came so easily. For some reason, I was unable to write after Aunt 'Net passed. I still don't know why. It was frustrating. I tried on a couple occasions the week of her funeral and I had "writer's block." I think I have used this blog as a way to "write" as a tribute to her and express my feelings. Several weeks before she passed, my Mom, Tara, Aunt and I were all sitting on my Aunt's bed and telling stories. We laughed so much, so much so that my aunt said to stop making her laugh because it would make her stomach hurt. Great memory:) Miss her dearly.

More Catching up

Something I didn't emphasize enough in that last post is how wonderful Alan was throughout all of this, especially when another crisis happened during the last month. I will explain in this post. I honestly don't know what I would have done without his support. He was there any time I needed him. He knew when to say the right things or when to just let silence take over. I am so thankful for him and the support he shows me day in and day out. I am one blessed girl to be marrying this man and also into this family. His Mom and Sister came to the funeral, which was so thoughtful and greatly appreciated, espcically after what all they were dealing with. We received cards from other family members, also greatly appreciated, so a sincer thank you to all of you.
A few weeks ago on a Monday, Alan had gone to Medford for the day and then drove to Wichita for his monthly work trip. I got a call from him that night saying Jake, his brother, was pitching in a softball game and took a line drive to the face. All we knew was he had a broken nose. We soon found out it was much more serious than a broken nose and we both were on our way to OKC to the OU Medical Trauma Center. Basically, the ambulance had taken him to the Edmond hospital. Due to the nature of his injuries, they were preparing to transport him to OU med, but in the process he began having a seizure and his breathing stopped. Needless to say, they had to intubate him. Once he was stabalized, he was transported. He was in the ICU for the next 4 days. This was a scary time for everyone as we did not know how severe the brain damage was since they had medically induced a coma. He did have a broken nose, actually more of a crushed nose, plus he also had fractured his skull in 2 places, a fractured orbital bone on the left and a subdural hematoma. He would require a major facial reconstructive surgery, which was performed 8 days after the injury. He was in surgery for 7 hours. He was in the hospital another week after the surgery. As of now, he is on the road to recovery but he is still having some vision problems. We hope it will correct itself, but only time will tell. He gets his nose tubes out next week. His family was amazing throughout this time as it was scary with a lot of unknowns. We were all worried about him but are so thankful that he has come as far as he has. Jake has been so strong throughout all of this. We look forward to the day he is healed and all of the prayers have been answered. We love you Jake!

Catching up

Well, Alan was right...I'm not the blogging type. But after a "rough" last couple of months, I am at it again. Where do I start?... June 21 was the day Alan and I were going to start the wedding planning as it was a month after the proposal. Our "Destination Weddings for Dummies" book was on its way and we were ready. I was at work on June 22 when I got a call from my Mom sounding frantic. She asked me if an ultrasound showed "spots" on the liver, does it always mean it is cancer? My Aunt Net was in the ER with severe pain and they found spots on her liver. For those who don't know, Janette, is my Mom's older sister. Well, later that day we received the news we were all dreading. It was cancer. From what they could tell it was definitely in her liver and had destroyed her 4th rib. I remember walking into her hospital room and as I was giving her a hug, all she could say was "bummer." Devastating news to say the least. She spent a few days in the hospital undergoing a series of tests to determine where it started. She was released with the diagnosis of Stage IV Adenocarcinoma with an unknown origin. For those that don't know, cancer is staged and there are only 4 stages, so we knew there was a huge battle ahead and we were ready to start the fight with her. On June 30, she started treatment at Cancer Treatment Centers of America. Since they did not know where the cancer started, they had to run their tests to see if they could figure out the origin. Fast forward a month and we still don't know, but regardless they are going to start radiation as a tumor had grown on her spine. She had 3 radiation treatments. I am leaving out a lot of details, but what was decided was she would take a natural approach to treatment from there on out, as it was not believed her body could withstand the conventional chemotherapy. While all of these tests were being run, she was declining and fast. August 24, 2010, my Aunt 'Net earned her angel wings. As I type this, a part of me is still in denial. Since her death, I have tried focusing on anything but as to not have to face the reality of it. There were so many nights that I cried myself to sleep with Alan holding me as my heart ached for what she was having to go through. I cried so much that it's like I became somewhat numb after she passed. The last 6 days of her life were very trying. I spent as much time with her as I could. We all did. Her daughter, Tara, did not leave her side. There were sleepless nights, but I learned that it was the mental exhaustion that was the hardest. Nothing compares to what she was going through. During these last 6 days, I talked to her a lot. She would ask if everything was going to be OK? I kept assuring her it was. One of those nights, I was sitting by her bedside holding her hand while my Mom was getting ready for bed and Tara and Darlene (her best friend) were outside. I was trying to ease her mind as nights were the hardest on her. I asked her if she could keep a secret and of course she said yes. I'm honestly not sure if she did or not as she almost ruined the surprise for my Mom's 60th bday:) I'm not going to reveal what I told her (yet) but I am glad she knew before she passed. My aunt was one of my first patients at my office. She helped grow my business more than she knows. I thanked her and I'm so glad I did. She asked for an adjustment 2 days before her passing. The cancer was in her bones, so I put my fingers on her neck when she was sitting up and held them there for a few seconds to give her one last adjustment. She said, "did you hear all those pops?:) I didn't but the "pops" always fascinated her:) There were many intimate moments that we all shared with her as her body was failing, some too personal to share. She suffered. A lot. And it breaks my heart she had to go through it. It also makes me mad. From the day of her diagnosis, I prayed for peace and comfort for her. My prayers were ultimately answered when God took her. As much as I wanted her to prove medicine wrong and beat the odds, I knew it was going to take a miracle from God to overcome this disease. There are a lot of things in life that are not fair, and cancer is way up on that list. If you have never seen a loved one go through a fight against cancer, I pray you never have to as you would not wish it upon your worst enemy. I am so proud of the fight she put up as she showed such strength and courage throughout the entire process. So to you Aunt Net, I miss you, more than words can say. I have so many memories that I will forever cherish. You taught Josh and I when we were kids how to say "butt" in Creek when you stayed with us while my parents were in Vegas...we thought it was so cool:) I will miss your deviled eggs. Your's were the best and you didn't disagree!:) Your gravy wasn't bad either! Christmas is going to be particularly hard. Thank you for loving Alan, or "Peyton Manning" as you liked to call him...he loved you too. I wish you could see us get married. Thank you for loving Baby Jay. As you know, she is not a fan of many people but she loved when you came over and she loved visiting you. I guess she liked your stomp dancing:) Thank you for being such a good sister to my Mom and Ralph. I know their hearts ache without the 3of you still here. I admire your love for our Indian heritage. You were such a beautiful person, inside and out. I would have done anything to have fixed you and taken away your pain. We all would have. You were nothing short of amazing as you fought this disease. At your burial, Pastor Jimmie said in the Creek language, there is not a word for goodbye, just a phrase for "until we meet again,"...so until we meet again Aunt Net. I love you.

My future SIL called me out on her blog so here is post #3!

So I innocently read Heather's (my future SIL) blog today, as I often do, and am pleasantly surprised to see she has announced my decision to blog to her blogging people!!:) I was also suprised to see I have 3 followers...now that pumps me up!:) Looks like I better get to typing!! So we have been engaged for 19 days (who's counting?) and I am really starting to have the wedding planning itch. We had decided before we got engaged that we would wait a month before we do any official planning. I am taking that as we are not going to write anything down for a month, but that does not mean I don't have the wheels turning upstairs. No date has been set, but we have thrown out a few dates. To clarify, we will not get married during football or basketball season, which for some teams can run into April (GO KU!) I have high hopes my Jayhawks will take it all every year...we will get into my KU obsession on a later post. We also are set on a destination wedding. My Dad has always hinted a destination would be his preference, but I have always countered and said he is not getting off the hook that easy:) When A and I started talking marriage, he made mention a destination would be his choice but if I wanted the BIG Tulsa wedding, he would support that. In my head, I thought I wanted a Tulsa wedding, reception at The Mayo, etc...especially since I "live" there. I mean, how convenient would that be? BUT, a few weeks ago we went to a wedding at the Mayo with about 350 people in attendance and my mind was quickly changed. Alan and my Dad +1. Just a side note, some close friends of mine got married last year and my parents and I went. It was a beautiful wedding/reception with the whole sha-bang. We are all sitting at the table eating, drinking and being merry, with the exception of my Dad. He looks like he is in deep thought and is really quiet. Finally someone asked him what was wrong and he said, "well I'm sitting here thinking that if you have this many people at a table and it costs this much per plate, just how damn expensive one of these things costs!" If you know my Dad, you can appreciate his concern:) So enough about wedding stuff for now. I'm sure there will be much more to come.
6 months ago today, Hadlea Easton Huskey was born! I can't believe it has already been 6 months! For those that don't know, Hadlea is Heather and Justin's baby girl, and our niece. I am already 'Aunt Amanda' and I LOVE it. Whenever I learn how to post pics, you can bet she will be featured. She is such a beautiful and sweet baby. I just love to hold her and hear her laugh. Alan and I adore her and can't wait to spoil her rotten! We already have a little frog pool waiting on her to break it in (hint hint). Tonight we are going over to their house to celebrate her 6 month bday and eat cake! Happy 6 month birthday sweet girl! We love you!

Engagement continued

Many times when I tell a story, I will say, "to make a long story short." Well the problem with that is it usually ends up being a long story every time, or so Alan says. I guess I'm a sucker for details. Regardless, anytime I hear someone say they got engaged, it's like human instinct, or at least for females, to ask "how did he propose?" (Guys could give a crap how he did it.) So, since this whole engagment, I have been asked a lot, which I wouldn't change for the world:), so I am going to give the details...and lots of them!:)

If you want the short version, he asked and I said yes and we are really happy. You are now free to stop reading the rest of this post...and maybe the next if I can't figure out how to work this site. Did I mention I SUCK at computers?! I can't wait for my future SIL, Heather, to help me, hint hint:) She is queen blogger!

Onto the long version...I am going to preface by saying that Alan and I often talk about business and he does such a great job with motivating, helping, etc. to grow my business. Last week in particular he and I discussed work related issues a lot, so when I told him I would most likely be late on Thursday the 20th, because I had a work dinner, and recommended he make plans without me, that included not planning on proposing on Thursday the 20th. Next time I will be more specific:)

So here I am at a dinner and when all was finished I was talked into going to have "A" beer before I went home. I called Alan and told him I would be home later because I was going to have "A" beer. He said that was fine but when I got home he wanted me to have a glass of wine with him. I was kinda like whatever, since that is not a regular occurence with us on school nights. Well my 1 beer ends up taking awhile to drink. Ring, ring...Alan is not a happy camper, which makes me not a happy camper with him. I might have told him to get off my ass. I can't remember. Either way, he is acting totally out of character, which really through me off, especially since we had talked so much "business" the day before and I was doing something business related. He mentioned he and Ave (The dog for those who don't know...she will get a post in the near future) had picked up a little something for me when they were running errands that night.

I eventually head home and he has now made some apologies. I head straight to the back...the hell with him:) (We are fighting people!!:)) He is on the couch. He comes back and apologizes again. Apology or not, I decide I am going to pout for a bit, so off to bed I go until I have a Hallmark card hit my head and hear him say in the pitch black, "Here is the card Ave and I got you tonight" and then he peaced out. I pull out the ol' handy light on the iphone and read it. It was so sweet, but very "futuristic" in terms and I'm thinking that it's really nice but we aren't engaged, but still didn't catch on because we have talked "future" for a long time. I thank him for it (sincerely) and I focus on going to sleep. Problem is Alan keeps asking "Are you mad at me?" every time I am dozing off!!! I'm thinking to myself, I wasn't until you just took another 30 min. away from my sleep that was already deprived:) Next morning, technically the same, I jokingly give him a hard time again and he walks me to my car. I normally get right in, but instead I decide to grab a water from the back garge, where I see and mock the proposal scene. Empty bottle of wine, 1 used, 1 unused wine glass under the newly built purgola. I'm such a B:) Still no clue. I go to work as normal, come home early, lay out, we hang out with a friend from oot for a bit before he leaves. We have 2 hours before we have to be at a party so I mention I am going to take a nap. Alan instead wants me to come sit with him outside. Ummm, why don't you take a nap with me??? Remember, I am sleep deprived. We go back and forth until I cave...poor guy:( I sit (still no clue) and he takes Ave in the garage and when they came out he told me to look at Ave's new collar. She comes trotting out and drops the box. I wish I could remember more details even though I know you are glad I don't at this point! He had a hello-kitty ring in the box and pulled the real one out of his pocket. The rest is kinda a blur and I started shaking, but it was PERFECT and I wouldn't change one thing!! Well, I take that back...I had not showered all day and was really gross from laying out, hence the pics. And that is the "proposal story!"

Engagement 5/21/10

Since this is my first blog post I need throw a couple of things out there first:

1. Why did I name it "Keeping up with the soon-to-be Kilians?" Because I can

2. Why am I blogging? I'm really not sure. Actually, since we got engaged I have gone through a range of emotions (all good:)) and I want to remember how exciting this time is for us. Recently (pre-engagement) I mentioned to Alan that I wanted to start a blog. He basically laughed at me and said that I am not the blogging type. It's like he knew that as a child I found purchasing the actual diary (with the keys of course) was a lot cooler than actually writing in the diary. To this day, you will find about 4 diaries in my nightstand at my parent's house all purchased with good intention until you open and see the content was lacking and rather it was more a phase that ended soon after it began. The entries basically went something like, "Today was a good day. My parents did not take a shower. (actual quote) I had asthma today." I tell this because I make no promises this is going to be something I "do" on a regular basis. Not that anyone really cares.