We were very busy....

We hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday! We were very blessed to be able to spend time with family and have safe travels to NY and PA for Christmas.

While we were in Erie, Brandon and I were very busy with wedding planning! On Friday, the girls started the morning with an appointment at David's Bridal where I showed them the dress that I like and Liz tried on many bridesmaids dresses. The appointment helped me to accomplish two very important decisions. I purchased my bridal dress and I decided on a bridesmaid dress and color. The bridesmaids will be wearing a plum colored dress. It was all very exciting.

After dress shopping, I met Brandon at the church where we had a lengthy meeting with the priest who will be performing the ceremony. He went over the layout of the mass along with the reading choices and guidelines for the church. He also asked some "get to know you" questions so that he can personalize the wedding ceremony. It was a very nice meeting.

When we returned to my Aunt's house, we looked through photographs of cakes. One of my Aunt's friends does wedding cakes and has agreed to do ours giving us a friends and family discount which we really appreciate. We also reserved the date with a florist who is also one of my Aunt's friends.

Brandon diligently tried calling photographers in the area. Brandon has asked to be in charge of this since this is what he does! We did not have any luck with meeting with a photographer as the ones we contacted are all booked on 8/1/09. So, it is back to the drawing board.

After that, Brandon also contacted possible places for the rehearsal dinner and we ended up going out and taking a look at some. Brandon's Mom will be planning the rehearsal dinner but needs to find a place to have it. We didn't have to much luck with that but we will keep looking.

Brandon and I were able to actually stay at the Sheraton Bayfront Hotel for the two nights that we were in Erie. We were very impressed with the hotel! On Saturday morning, we were able to meet the wedding planner that I have been in contact with through e-mail and phone. It was nice to finally meet her in person. She was able to answer questions that we had as well as show us the ball room that was set up for a wedding.

I am awaiting a contract from the Comfort Inn in Erie, PA for a block of rooms reservation. I was quoted a price of $116 per night through e-mail. With that block, we will then have rooms blocked at the Sheraton (where the reception is going to be) for $149 per night and the Comfort Inn on 12th St. (there are two Comfort Inns in Erie) for $116 per night. Once that is signed, I will let you all know.

All in all, it was a very busy trip but we were able to accomplish a lot! Brandon and I are now awaiting confirmation of the date for our engagement retreat through the church. It will either be in February or March. I will be planning another trip up to Erie once I don't have to worry about horrible snow storms so probably some time in April! It's amazing how everything seems to be coming together right now!

We want to wish everyone a very safe and happy New Year!

I found my dress!! and Hotel Info.

My mom, some of my friends, Debbie, Charlotte and Debbie, and I went dress shopping on Saturday at David's Bridal and I found MY DRESS!! I had picked out a few dresses from their website before going in and one of them, I had looked at over and over on the Internet. I absolutely loved the dress in the picture but you can never tell until you actually try it on. I loved it so much in the picture that I was hoping it would also look good on and it did. When we got there, I gave the style numbers of the dresses to the consultant and she pulled them for me to try on. I tried on the one that I loved first and none of the others compared. I put the first one on a second time and new it was the one! Yay, I said yes to the dress! I did not purchase it that day because I want to check some other places to see if I can get it cheaper but if not, I will buy it from David's Bridal. The consultant said I should place the order by January to give enough time for alterations which will be needed because I am right in between two sizes.

Since I had found my dress so quickly, we had about 45 minutes left of the hour and a half appointment time. I had two of my bridesmaids with me so we looked around for bridesmaids dresses during the remaining time. We found a dress with the same type of embroidery as mine just not as much so I had them try it on and I really liked it. The girls also said that they were comfortable in the dress as well. The only problem is that it is a but pricey. I do not want my girls to have to spend an arm and a leg on their dress so I am checking other websites and places to see if we can find it cheaper because it really does look good with my dress. The style number is F11165 if you want to check it out at davidsbridal.com in the wine color.

I am still working on getting a block of rooms at a hotel in Erie at a discounted rate. Erie is a popular place in the summer because of the lake and therefore hotel prices are very expensive. I have a block set aside at the Bayfront Sheraton already. The cost is $149 per night for Friday 7/31/09 and Saturday 8/1/09 (the undiscounted rate is $200+ per night). You are able to call and book there anytime now, just ask for the Baker/Landas Wedding. The number is (814) 454-2005. If you call and I have run out of rooms, just let me know and I can increase the blocked number with the wedding planner at the hotel. I do plan on working with another hotel in the area, to get another discounted room rate as I know the Sheraton is pricey. I have another hotel that has quoted me $129 per night which is still pricey but the cheapest in the area. There are hotels offering cheaper prices but they are quite a ways away from the reception site and church. I will keep you updated with the hotel info.

The Date is Set

We have finally been able to set the date! Brandon and I will be getting married on 8/1/09. It has been such a relief! Now the rest of the planning can begin. The ceremony will be at Blessed Sacrament Church in Erie with the reception at the Bayfront Sheraton.

I have already asked my girls to be my bridesmaids. My maid of honor will be Laura, best friend from college. My bridesmaids will be Debbie, first friend in VA, Charlotte, a great friend from work and Liz, my step sister. We have asked my brother Matt to do one of the readings and my brother Tim to be an usher (not a groomsman) who will help guests to their seats and escort my Mom down the aisle. Brandon isn't as eager to begin the planning process as me and hasn't asked his guys yet.

The next step, dress shopping! My Mom is coming down the weekend of 11/21 to go dress shopping. I am envisioning that to be quite an experience.

Decisions, decisions

I have been totally caught off guard by how complicated this wedding planning can be!! It just seems to be one delay after another!

Brandon and I have come to a decision about location. We have decided to have our wedding in Erie, PA. We also have very tentative plans for date, church and reception site. Possible date: August 1st, 2009. Since we won't be getting married in VA where it is uncomfortably hot in the summer, we have decided that a summer wedding will be ok in Erie. Possible church: Blessed Sacrament. Brandon and I attended Blessed Sacrament on Sunday evenings when Brandon lived in Erie and I attended Edinboro so it does bring us sentimental value. Here's the delay: that priest is on retreat this entire week. They do have 8/1 open but only the priest can reserve dates for a wedding so we have to wait until I speak with him early next week for confirmation of the date. Possible reception site: Bayfront Sheraton. This is a new hotel in Erie that has been built on the lake and is absolutely serene. They also as of now have 8/1 open but will not fully reserve the date until a contract is signed. We cannot sign a contract until we know the church approves the date. See the fun in this!

So, that's the scoop. Everything is very tentative. As soon as I hear from the priest next week, I will let everyone know. We hope all is well with everybody!

Looking at Possibilities

Brandon and I have begun to look at the possibility of getting married somewhere other than northern VA. This is still all up in the air as we are trying to take it all in and make the best decision for us. We have become frustrated with the amount of money that we will need to spend in order to get married in this area. It is quite outrageous!!

Another possibility that we are looking into is getting married in Erie, PA. Brandon and I met at Edinboro University just south of Erie and spent the beginning of our relationship in the Erie area. In looking at the difference in prices, we could save thousands of dollars by getting married and having our reception in Erie. Just a thought that we are considering right now. There is a new Sheraton Hotel that has been built along the Bayfront which looks out onto the water. This may be a possibility. We will keep you posted!

To follow up with our day in court, nothing happened. Brandon's old boss could not be found to serve the papers for the court date. Therefore, we dismissed the case without prejudice. Our lawyer refiled the case against the boss personally and against the company. Our next court date will be in November.

Also, not so good news about the Master's program for Brandon. We just found out that he has not worked for the county long enough to apply for the program. They told him that he could apply again next year if he wanted.

On a side note, I had a very touching moment at work today. I finally was able to make a connection with one of my little guys who is three-years-old with autism. For the first time ever, he spontaneously said my name while greeting me. This may not sound like that big of a deal but I almost cried because I have been working with him since July and he is just now increasing his social awareness and use of language with me. Even though it sounds small, it was a HUGE break through!

The Call

Yesterday we got the call that our compatibility test results are in! Of course, me being me, that makes me nervous! Unfortunately I was at work when they called so I have to call back to schedule our next meeting with the priest. We are able to choose with which of the three priests we would like to discuss our results, have our individual interviews and look at possible dates. The only draw back is the priest that Brandon and I really like, Father Art, is out of town for the next 2.5 weeks. We really should meet with the priest who will be performing the ceremony so if we want it to be Father Art, we will have to wait until he returns. Brandon and I are trying to make that decision now.

We also wanted to send out a big THANK YOU to our parents for helping us get all of our paperwork in order for the church. We will have all of the affidavits done and returned to us by the end of this week and we received both of our baptismal certificates from our childhood churches. We have not yet registered for the engagement retreat as we are trying to figure out which date will work best with Brandon's work schedule.

My new job is still going great! I definitely made the right decision. I did get to visit the school in which I worked. I headed down last Friday to say hello to everyone. I had a lot of students give me great big waves and hugs in the hallways. I do miss them but don't miss anything else about working as an SLP in the schools.

Brandon is applying for a Masters program. Please keep your fingers crossed for him. Brandon works for the Parks and Rec Department in Loudoun County. Loudoun County has opened up submission of applications to county employees who would like to pursue their Masters degree in Public Administration. It will be funded 75% by the county and classes will be at George Mason University. If Brandon is chosen by the county and accepted by GMU, he will be able to begin classes toward the Masters. He would also have to make a commitment to work for the county for a certain number of years post degree. I'm not sure how many but it is definitely worth it to receive a Masters and only having to pay for a quarter of it!! We are unsure of how many candidates will be applying so we are not sure how good his chances are so prayers would be great!! He will be turning in his paperwork on October 1st and then we wait.

Brandon and I will be in court next Wednesday as we are finally suing his old boss for some of the money that he owes Brandon. We finally found a lawyer who would take the case to court. He is very expensive but we hope to include his fees into the court case. On Wednesday, if the boss does not show up, we could get an automatic judgement. If he does show up and contests the case, the judge will set a date to actually hear the evidence. If he does show up and does not contest, we can receive a judgement and hopefully work out payment. Again, prayers for us would be greatly appreciated!

OK, after that novel, I will end! That's the update for now. Brandon and I may actually have a date set in the next couple of weeks! Woo hoo!!!!!!

Hanna

For those of you who are wondering, tropical storm Hanna did make it's way through our area this past weekend. I'm not sure when it started but it was raining when I woke up Saturday morning and continued to rain throughout the day. We did have some strong winds accompany the rain but we did not experience any damage. We did stay inside for most of the day. Brandon ended up painting the ceiling of the stairwell which he had wanted to do for a while and I got caught up on some laundry and house cleaning. Finally around 6:00, the rain stopped! This was perfect timing because we were celebrating my friend, Jamie's birthday on Saturday night with dinner at 7:00. I was really dreading heading out in the rain but was pleasantly surprised that it had stopped.

Come to found out, we did have power outages, some wind damage and flooded roads in the area. The rain totaled 5 inches according to Dulles Airport reports. Our neighborhood and surrounding vicinity were not impacted. For us, all Hanna ended up being was a very rainy, windy day spent inside! Thank goodness.

Church Class

Well, Brandon and I survived our first church class! I had no idea that so much has to go in to getting married in the catholic church! I new that we had to do the pre-cana classes but I did not know about all the paperwork we have to complete.

Here's the process:
1. We completed our compatibility questionnaire last night which will be sent off for scoring today. It takes about two weeks to get the results back.
2. We need to get current copies of our baptismal certificates from the church in which we were baptized.
3. Each of us have to have 2 different people who have known us for quite some time complete an affidavit that we are free to marry complete with notarization.
4. We have to register for and attend an engagement retreat. We had the option between 2 different retreats. Brandon and I decided that we would attend the Conference for the Engaged. Here's the link if you want to check it out: http://www.arlingtondiocese.org/familylife/marriage_engaged.php
5. We have to meet with the priest 4 more times prior to the wedding. During our next meeting, we will go over the results of the questionnaire as well as have individual interviews with the priest. We also received a book containing reading selections, music selections, etc. for the actual ceremony from which we can choose what we want.

Whew!!! Once we have our baptismal certificates, affidavits, conference registration, questionnaire results and individual interviews, then we will be told whether or not we are approved for marriage. Only then can we look at possible wedding dates if we are approved. We are hoping that we can have all of this done within the next 3 weeks or so with a decision.

It will be a lot of work but well worth it in the end! Brandon and I are a bit overwhelmed right now but continue to remember the ultimate outcome which keeps us sane and on task! We are both very excited about progressing forward and being able to make some concrete decisions. Keep us in your prayers as we begin to embark on our spiritual journey toward marriage.

Found a Possibility

Brandon had to work this morning which gave me some time to sleep in! When Brandon got home, we decided to head up to the National Conference Center in Leesburg to check out their new ballroom. When we first moved here, Brandon was the front desk manager at NCC. Their ballroom was very nice and we were able to see the set up for a wedding which was also nice. Since we just dropped in, we weren't able to speak with the woman about booking and pricing. We will have to call to schedule a meeting with her. It really has everything that we are looking for: a cocktail hour prior to the reception, a buffet or plated dinner, a dance floor, tables, chairs, linens, place settings, center pieces, an open bar, an outside patio, rooms for out of town guests, a comp room for Brandon and I, a head table, sound proof walls, good parking etc. Now it will just depend on the dates available and the pricing. There are two other places that I want to take a look at as well which also offer the same accommodations.

We have our first church class on Tuesday. Wish us luck!

Rusty's Birthday

Today is Rusty's birthday! He is 4 years old today. Unfortunately, I was not able to plan his birthday party because so much is going on right now. We have been looking at reception sites and we are having some friends visit for a long weekend. I will have to look at maybe scheduling it for next week sometime. He did really enjoy getting all of his birthday presents. He thought it was his lucky day because he got new toy after new toy! As you can see, after all of the excitement, he had to take a rest. The last picture is really how he likes to sleep in his crate! He's so goofy.

We are still looking at sites. We went to one yesterday that is a definite no! It was disgusting actually. I'm not worried though because I have a list of many, many more places.

It's Going to be a Busy Week

After checking many websites and reading many reviews, I have a list of about 8-10 more places to go see in the next couple weeks. We are crossing our fingers that we will find a place that we like and can afford. I'll keep you posted.
In other news, I am planning a birthday party for Rusty, our dog. Don't laugh, it's true. He turns 4 on August 20th. I'm hoping to have 3 of our neighbor dogs, who are Rusty's friends, and their owners over for some playtime for the dogs and a cookout for the owners. I got the invitations yesterday. I'm so excited to have a birthday party for him because he has never had one before. Of course, he is really excited too ;)
For those of you who don't know, I started a new job in June. I left the school system and I am now working at a private clinic. I really like my new job. I value the time that I spent in the school system however, the new job is so much better! I finally feel like a real Speech-Language Pathologist rather than a slave to paperwork and the parents! I am working part time right now but will begin full time in September. Oh yeah, the best part, I have Fridays off. Yup, we work Monday - Thursday. It's pretty awesome!

The Reception Site Search Continues

Well, today definitely showed us that we need to continue our search and it may take a while to find a place within our price range. We checked out a couple of places today, one is a maybe and the others are definite no's. It is looking like the hotel sites are going to be way out of our price range as one today went up to $150 per person. Yikes!! Although some may be doable if we do a Friday night wedding. We haven't decided that yet.
I am actively searching the Internet and bride magazines for other sites. We have a couple possibilities that we will check out in the next couple of days. In the meantime, we are working on our guest list and waiting for the church class.

The Planning Has Begun....

I had the opportunity to meet up with some friends on Friday night to celebrate Cyndy's birthday. We began talking weddings and Debbie H. really inspired me to begin planning so I did. She has really been able to give me some great ideas since she and her husband got married in the area last year.
I got up this morning and began calling places that I had researched on the Internet. We have some appointments to check out reception sites on Friday. When I called the church, I was a little disappointed in the process but we have to do what we have to do. I was told that before we can even talk about available dates, we have to attend a marriage prep class at the church and the next class is not until 9/2/08. After that, we have to complete a compatibility questionnaire which takes about 2 weeks to process and then we have to meet with our priest to go over the results and then we are able to look at available wedding dates if the priest approves.
I expected us to have to take a marriage class at church but I was under the impression that it would take place closer to the wedding. But oh well, I'm learning the wedding planning process as I go.
This means that we will not be able to set a specific date until mid to late September. We are still hoping that the wedding will take place sometime during September of 2009.

We're Engaged

On June 7, 2008, Brandon proposed and I said yes. We are very excited to be engaged. The night of the engagement was awesome! It was my birthday weekend and Brandon had planned a surprise for me. I had no idea what was in store for us. All he told me was that I needed to pack an overnight bag. Of course I had a million questions as to what I needed to bring with me. I'm not all that great with surprises but I loved this one!
So, we headed out east in the very early afternoon on the 7th. We stopped at PF Chang's in Tysons because we love the lettuce wraps! After that we continued to head in the direction of DC. Brandon took me to the historic Willard Hotel in DC. This hotel is around the corner from the White House. We checked in and explored the hotel and then Brandon gave me my birthday present which was a Coach purse that I had been eyeing. He did this to make sure I didn't think anything else was going to happen. We then had dinner at the Old Ebitt Grill which was within walking distance. Dinner was excellent! After dinner, we headed back to the hotel to have drinks at the Round Robin Bar where many presidents have also enjoyed drinks. After a bit, I was ready for bed but Brandon decided to have another drink. Come to find out later, he was trying to procrastinate until midnight because then it would be my birthday. I couldn't wait any longer as I was exhausted. We left the bar and headed toward our room. On the way, Brandon pulled me into one of the sitting rooms. This is where he pulled out the ring and asked me to marry him. I was so shocked, the first words out of my mouth were "are you serious?" When he said that he was, I said yes to marrying him. This was definitely one of the happiest days of my life thus far!

When It All Began

It all began many years ago, a little over 10 1/2 to be exact. I was in college and Brandon had just graduated. I decided to join the girls for a night out. We ended up at a friend's party. Brandon quickly gravitated toward me and we clicked. Our first date was attending an Erie Otters hockey game. For anyone that knows me, you know that this was a perfect date since I love hockey! Eventually, we began dating more seriously and our relationship blossomed from there. We have had our ups and we have had our downs along the way. We have worked through the downsides and have been on a high up swing for quite a while now. We are finally ready to take the next step!