Where did the weekend go?

I really do not have time to write this, but I have a minute or two before heading to Brandon Woods.

This weekend was busy - but fun: )

I worked at Brandon Wood's Friday night, and then Nick and I tried to watch a movie that I am showing this week in class. He watched it...while I slept! I fell asleep around 9:15! I tried SO hard to stay awake, but I just couldn't do it: (

Saturday I worked out in the morning and worked at Free State in the afternoon. Then, last night, some of Nick's family friends held a couples shower for us! It was a lot of fun - once we finally reached the shower! There was a tornado warning (sirens and everything!) just a few minutes before it was time to leave! Nick and I headed over to Butch and Judy's to seek shelter! I was still in rollers and not dressed! The storm was rather mild compared to some we have had in the past, but - sadly - this was just the first one of the stormy season: ( Hopefully we won't have one on the wedding day now that we've dealt with this one!
The food was delicious! We had "Poor Boy Tacos" - one of our favorites - for dinner and brownies and ice cream (YUM!) for dessert! We are so thankful to have such loving and generous family and friends!

Today I ran TWO 5K races! I ran in the Run for Erica this morning, and then I ran in the Dog Jog with Callie, Sarah, Steve, and Chewie. Sadly, Nick was sidelined from his first race because of an achilles injury: ( - but he did come support us! We all had so much fun! It was a bit windy - but we were happy for a race without rain!

Family Photo:

Our new shirts:

Me and Cal after the race:

Only 41 days to go! Mom and I are making centerpieces next weekend! I am excited to cross another item off the endless to-do list!

I am hoping Nick and I can put some sort of song list together next weekend, too. I love, LOve, LOVE this song! I heard it on one of my favorite blogs - Green Wedding Shoes. As much as I love this version, I know that we will have to go with the original - it is a Wilkinson-family favorite!




Obadiah Parker - Hey Ya from Ryu Lekranty on Vimeo.

cake?

Nick and I are meeting with Tara, Nick's cousin (and my soon-to-be cousin!), a week from today about our cake! She is baking it for us, and we are SO excited! Her cakes are amazing - she is definitely VERY talented! We can't wait to see how it turns out! Only six more weeks until we see - and eat - it: )

I really like the way this cake looks! I like the size of the three tiers, and I like the ribbon at the bottom. Our ribbon would be dark red like the bridesmaid dresses. I like the looks of a few flowers - our flowers would be sunflowers!

I like the colors on this cake! I don't think the flowers look very good, though - and there seems to be a lot going on!

Here is a cake with sunflowers. This cake has more flowers than I want, but I like the looks of the yellow flowers popping off the white cake.

This one may have just about the perfect amount of sunflowers. I may want even fewer since we may have the ribbon, too.

I can't decide what to do about a cake topper: ( I'm not sure if I just want to have flowers, or if I'd like to have a letter or something else on top. Sarah has these for her cake...

SO cute! I thought about a small paper or wooden "A". I don't really want the silvery kind. Maybe Mom could make one...hmmm...

hair and make-up

I have hair and make-up appointments made for all the girlies! YAY! We start at 11am. That does not seem TOO early! We found some RIDICULOUS wedding hair pictures, but I think we'll go with something a little more relaxed!

I really like the style below - but not for me. I didn't grow out my hair for no reason!

Elsie's Dress: )

Nick and I officially asked Elsie to be our flower girl! She will be SO SO SO cute! I can't wait to see her in her dress! Tiffany picked out this dress yesterday - LOVE IT! Elsie is definitely one of the cutest babies EVER!

Thank you!

Yesterday, Nick and I went to KC for a wedding shower for one of Nick's groomsmen, Jamie. His wedding is two weeks before our wedding! We stopped by Mom and Dad's on the way to the shower, and they took some "thank you" pictures for us! I am thinking about making them into postcards to send out as thank you notes after our two upcoming showers. I have some postcard stamps to use up before postage increases...again!



Here are some of the shots (Nick likes the first one we took!):

Ha ha ha: )

Running toward the wedding...

Only about seven weeks until the wedding! Nick and I were talking this weekend, and we realized that we are busy almost every weekend until the wedding! We have wedding showers of our own, other weddings to attend, and races to run!

A few weeks ago, I ran the Brew-to-Brew with Sarah, Steve, and some of their friends. It was SO much fun - despite the weather! Sarah is awesome, and she took the time to write about the day! Check out Sarah's AWESOME Blog for more pictures and details!

Me finishing about 9 miles - yes, my hands are in the air!

It was SO cold! The weather was NOT nice!

Our group at the finish!

Today I ran the Kansas Half Marathon! I ran it two years ago...and swore I would never do it again! Ha ha: ) I ran just a few minutes faster than I did the first time, and I finished in around 2:09. The weather was BRUTLE at the end as we ran up the LONGEST hill ever to finish line! Now I can't stop eating - ha ha: )

Nick greeted me at the end: )



Malinda ran her first half-marathon today! I randomly saw her at the starting line, and then I was happy to see her at the finish! Congrats, Malinda!

Today is Claire's 22nd birthday, so Nick and I met Claire, Mom, Dad, and Grandpa for Papa Keno's - YUM! Then, she opened presents and we ate fruit pizza! So fun! Happy birthday, Claire!

Next up...the Run for Erica and the Dog Jog...and maybe some wedding prep, too: )

wedding site!

I spent the majority of my evening fixing up our wedding site: www.ewedding.com/sites/nickpluslauren - complete with some ten-year-old pictures!

Nick's Graduation - May 1999

Winter Formal - December '99

Salt Lake City - March 2000

running with Cal

The weather has been TERRIBLE lately for running outside: ( I am training for a half-marathon, and I have been forced to run inside much more than I would have liked! Today was beautiful, so I was able to actually run my five miles outside!

I carried all my school bags outside to my car, and then I ran home. Once I reached home, I picked up Callie, and we ran back to school with me: ) She was SO cute!

When we reached home, I wanted Nick to take some pictures because Callie looked pretty today. Here she is...

LJW article!

I forgot to post our article that was in the LJWorld a couple weeks ago...


Lauren Wilkinson has been crunching numbers since last summer.

She’s compared dresses, flowers, food, transportation and photography. You name it, she’s crunched it.

For Wilkinson, an English teacher at Free State High School, throwing a cost-effective wedding never has been more important than now — especially with the shifting economy.
“I was surprised at the cost of things and how quickly the different elements of a wedding add up,” Wilkinson says. “There are things I had never thought of.”

Like coffee, for example.

“It was an additional $1.50 charge if you want coffee included in the drinks,” says Wilkinson, who is planning a June wedding. “We were able to cut some costs there.”

Wilkinson isn’t the only future bride who is cutting costs wherever she can.

Photographer Stu Nowlin has noticed that brides are becoming more conscious of their budgets.

“When someone calls in, I ask them what they want,” says Nowlin, owner of Stu Nowlin Imaging, 4609 Harvard Road. “I try to work with their budget as much as I can.”

Even Heidi Yoder, floral designer at Bittersweet Floral and Design, 1407 Mass., has noticed a slight change in her customers.

“It seems like a lot of them are being more aware,” she says. “We try to encourage them to do a lot of reusing.”

Yoder says purchasing decorations that serve double purposes can be an effective means of cost reduction.

Some decorations that brides might consider cutting back on are flowers.

“We encourage brides not to cut back on their bouquet,” Sharon Reynolds, president of Owens Flower Shop, 846 Ind., says. “They can cut back on bridesmaid bouquets.”

Despite the plummeting economy, Reynolds says she isn’t worried about business.

“I really think that business is going to be there,” she says. “They want it to be something special.”

Instead of eliminating flowers or photographs entirely, Nowlin says brides might just cut back on the quantity of items they purchase.

“What I try to do is address their concerns,” he says.

Still, Nowlin says he can name one item no bride wants to cut back on — the dress.

“The fairy princess ideal is so strong in America,” he says. “It’s going to be the last thing to go.”

Wilkinson wouldn’t argue with that logic.

“I know people personally who have put their weddings on credit cards,” she says. “They find a way to have what they want.”

However, Wilkinson and her fiancé, Nick Adams, are being more realistic about their options.

“I’ve spent a lot of time comparing prices,” she says. “That’s the luxury of being engaged for a long time.”

centerpieces

I wish I had more updates, but I have been moving pretty slow since spring break: ( Mom has been an invitation-making machine! The invites should be ready to send out next week! That means that I have to hurry up and finish our wedding site - yikes! Suddenly everything seems to be happening so fast!

We still need to try cutting corks for the centerpieces. I found a DIY guide. It seems pretty simple, and I like the way it looks. We'll need...hmmm...4 (2 for pictures and 2 for wine lists) X 20ish (20 tables) corks = 80ish. That isn't too bad! I should check to see if Dad has an exacto knife!

Hopefully I will have more updates this weekend...