A Joyful Heart

So many good things have happened! A few of which are:

• Russell and I finding an apartment for us to live in once we're married. Russell will start "nesting" mid-April.

• Russell also found a great suit that fits him nicely. The worker at the store was very nice and even gave us the tailor charge for free! While Russell was changing, I found out that the man helping us was from Jordan. I got excited and told him that the best man in our wedding/Russell's best friend moved to Amman, Jordan. He then responded that Amman was his home city. I also found out his wife is Filipino and that he gets to visit my home country this July. Once Russell came back out, we talked a bit more about Arabic food and tea before he told us that he'll tailor the suit for free. 

• My maids-of-honor are so cool and I'm excited for my "tea party" bridal shower.

• Our pastor who is doing our premarital counseling told us that if we really want him to marry us in Oroville, he'll travel up there for our wedding. How awesome is this? Totally awesome.

• Speaking of people traveling to our wedding, we have a lot of people traveling to Oroville in April. Relatives from Philippines, Toronto, Chicago, and Texas are making the effort to come. My cousins from Texas have a test the following Monday but they're flying in Friday and leaving Sunday just to see me marry Russell. Also, Russell's best friend is flying from Jordan! YOU GUYS ARE SO CRAZY AND AMAZING. And of course, we mustn't forget all the Southern Californians road tripping it up to norcal. Russell joked that it has become a destination wedding, haha.

• Last but not least, so many things have fallen apart but better things have been put together. I've reached a point now where if I get bad news, I shrug and don't worry much about it. Because in the end, I still get to marry the love of my life. Not only that, but I will also get to see so many people I love all in the same place on one of the best days of my life. It seems so surreal that it needs to just happen already.

All This Wedding Planning Must Be Good For Something

(Source: 20somethingbride)

I ran into this chart while browsing through tumblr and couldn't stop laughing.

Wedding planning is actually getting stressful and all I want is just to be married. There are so many things to get done and so many things to come. However! I still find myself sharing lots of laughs with Russell and it brings me back to this engagement season and how blessed we are. We are learning so much—about each other, about ourselves, about other married couples, etc. While it may be stressful, it's still an exciting time.

Girl Stuff

This weekend, I got a couple wedding errands done with my two maids-of-honor. The first was a trip to a makeup store. We ended up at MAC.

My first purchase ever from this store.

I've never been into makeup. I have the few basics—eyeliner, mascara, powder, and lipstick—that I bust out during special date nights and special events when I'm not feeling too lazy. But these were all bought at moments of desperation. We decided since I'm about to get married, I might as well splurge on the name brands. Hence, MAC. I have no regrets whatsoever. The guy who helped me, Jessica, and Bernadette, was so nice and got our foundation color correct after quick glance at our faces. He was good. I also got some blush 'cause I was feeling extra girly. And I'm a sucker for nice people trying to sell me stuff. I pretty much buy anything that's offered to me if the person was helpful and/or nice. 

Afterwards, we went on a hunt for the perfect bridal shower invitation cards. After searching in three stores, we finally found some and headed back to my house.

Jessica and Bernadette

There's a picture of the two of them working so hard. It's so cute. I have the best friends ever.

P.S. Less than two months!

Catch Up

I'm falling behind on regular blog updates. It's only been a couple weeks but I have tons of stories. So here they are in quick bullet form:

• 
  Four Henrys
  
  
  Russell's dad came up to visit his sons a couple of Fridays ago. The weekend involved Disneyland, food, and lots of movie-watching. Typical laid-back Henry weekend ;)
  
  

• 
  Before dinner
  
  
  Valentine's day also happened. I was showered with lots of love and presents. We even got dressed all fancy and went out to dinner in Laguna Beach.
  
  
  
  
•  
  Road trip!
  
  
  Last weekend, I went back up to Oroville with Russell and my two maids-of-honor. I wanted to show the girls the ranch where Russ and I were going to get married as well as have them help me with a few wedding planning details.
  
  

   
  A picture of when Ottley got under Russell's blanket.
  
  
  With Bernadette and Jessica while we look at baby sheep.

  
  

  

  In Sacramento :)

  
  

•  
  River and Russ
  
  
  On a happy and sad note, a few of our friends are leaving this week to go do amazing work in another country. The picture above was taken at one of their goodbye dinners. 
  
  
  
  
•  
  That's an apple pancake by the way
  
  
  On Sunday morning, I got to have breakfast with two high school friends and play catch up. We went to our favorite, regular breakfast spot—Original House of Pancakes. Marc ordered an apple pancake which I'm pretty positive is just an apple pie on top of a pancake.
  
  

   
  Yum.
  
  

  I got the german pancake which is always too big and always just right. Ah, just looking at this picture makes me want to go back again. Colleen got chocolate chip pancakes which I didn't take a picture of because I wanted to start eating my pancake as soon as it arrived. Enough food talk for this post.

  
  

  
  
•  
  Brett
  
  
  On Sunday, I also got to see my godson and finally give him his Christmas present. Look at Brett growing up too fast :(
  
  

• And last but not least...
  
   
  
  

  Russell's moving! We've spent the last couple of days trying to get their house all empty and cleared up. This gets me excited because it means we're that much closer to going apartment shopping (end of next month) and getting married. Ahh!

Overflowing

Stacks of unsent invitations sit on my desk: an address stamp, a pen, postage stamps, and empty envelopes. Library books are piled high next to them. Last minute cast off scarves are piled on top. When did my desk get so burdened?

My closet is bursting from clothes. I worry I will not know which to take and which to donate when it is time to get married and move. There's barely any room for anything new yet I continue to purchase the new. I want so much--clothes, money, beauty, everything. I want it all. 

The dresser is stacked with hair products and lotion. I want shiny hair. I want it silky like commercial-perfect women have their hair. A couple broken brushes are lying next to it. A box of Kleenex, a box of chocolate, and a can of candy hearts also join the chaos. My trash is close to full and God knows when that will get changed.

Scarves and purses hang behind my door. Books are bursting from my shelves. Headbands hang on my desk lamp. I have too much of everything but not enough. Totes, book bags, hats, jewelry, winter jackets, house slippers--they all play a part in the messiness. Discarded tap shoes are forgotten in my closet. Half-finished scrapbooks, hidden diaries, and even more secrets are hidden like jigsaw puzzles. I want to get rid of it all but I wouldn't know where to start.

Neglected knitting, random Christmas presents, old memorabilia, and other whatnots are clustered and ignored. I don't want to think about how my room used to be like when it was clean. I don't want to think about how it looks like now.

My life is overflowing. I have too much and I am too much. I am becoming a storage room of the present and the unused. The phrase My cup runneth over comes into mind and it is a sense of overwhelmingness that spills over. Instead of trying to make sense of all this chaos, I sit in the middle of it.