"Heart" concert

I had been so excited to go to this "Heart" concert since I first heard they were coming to the Tri-Cities. I had seen them the previous year in Seattle when they were on tour with "Journey" and "Cheap Trick."

I knew I was getting a ticket I just didn't know who I would go with. Jeremy would have gone with me if I had asked him but I didn't think it was his kind of concert. I get debating over the next couple of months and then Jeremy mentioned that his mom loved them and maybe I should ask her. I thought that was a great idea and called her up right away. She said she would love to come and would ask for a couple of days off so she could also come down for a visit.

Finally the day came for the concert and I was so excited! Carla came early enough to Hermiston that we were able to sit around and visit before getting in the car and heading to Tri-Cities. Jeremy came with us and hung out with my parents while we were gone.

One of the best parts about the concert was that they were the only ones singing and we didn't have to wait for anyone to open for them. We had great seats and had a fantastic view of the stage. Everyone screamed when they came on stage and I had to try and control myself since I was with my future mother-in-law!!!

I sang to the songs, took lots of pictures and even video of my favorite songs. They sang all my favorite songs and so I was a happy girl. Carla really enjoyed herself and I'm glad we were able to spend that extra time together.

Breakdown

So here it is the middle of September and the wedding is getting closer and closer. I really tried to keep calm and collected but I started getting stressed out about making sure everything was taken care of. Jeremy kept telling me to not worry about things and just go with the flow. I tried but I got caught up in the moment and started losing it before I could stop myself.

My breakdown came at the end of two very power packed days of appts. I had to get these appts in on my days off which only left mondays and tuesdays. Monday had been crazy with my mom and I scrambling all over town to make it to four different appts. We were literally running all day long and then I rushed back to Hermiston so I could watch Jeremy bowl in his league.

Tuesday proved to be another busy day and this time Jeremy decided to make the trip with me to Tri-Cities. As the day progressed I became more and more stressed and agitated. I wasn't a very nice person and the littlest things were setting me off. The drive home to Hermiston was not good with Jeremy. He tried to talk to me and see what he could do for me but nothing seemed to be helping.

Finally I broke down with him and started crying. I apologized for how I had been acting and for letting everything get to me and being stressed. He assured me he still loved me and we would get through this together. He offered to help me with whatever I needed and suggested I hand off things to people who were more then willing to help me.

I had been trying to do it all on my own but discovered that it only made things worse. I guess I just needed someone to be stern with me and tell me that this is the way it is going to be! That very next day I wrote out a list of everything that needed to be done or checked on. I called my mom and told her I needed help. She was more then willing to step in and I gave her a list of things to work on. After getting off the phone with her, I felt like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I felt like now I could enjoy the rest of the planning and look forward to my wedding instead of dreading it. Haha!

Bridal Shower

My sister Jenny who was also my maid of honor, planned my bridal shower for Labor day weekend. She tried to plan it far enough in advance so that people wouldn't be gone for the holiday. The shower was held at my mom's best friends house, Laurine Carey. She was like my second mom growing up and only had boys, so she loved being able to be involved in the wedding planning process.

It just so happened that Jeremy and I had driven in from Denver the day before. When we arrived at my parents, it was pouring rain and we decided to crash there for the night. Jeremy was able to go to my parents church the next day with the family. That was nice since that was where we were getting married.

Since I hadn't been home yet, I left early that afternoon for Hermiston so I could shower and change into my outfit for the bridal shower. Since Jeremy didn't have to dress up and was just going to hang with my dad, he stayed at my parents. Then my friend Tam came to pick me up so I could help her with directions and getting to Laurine's.

There was a big outcome of people and it was great to stand around and talk, especially to those I hadn't seen for awhile. As we got started, they let me know that the theme of the party was recipes. Everyone wrote out some of their favorite recipes and then included some of the ingredients and cookware needed to complete it. It was a great idea and I received lots of excellent recipes and tons of food. I also received non-food items that were more frilly, lacy and scandalous!! Hahaha!

At one point Laurine had me go inside and the ladies got into two different groups and they proceeded to use toilet paper to decorate one lady in their group to look like a bride. I was then supposed to pick my favorite but I liked them both so much that I chose them both.

For food, Laurine had made an orange punch and had nuts and peanut m&m's out to snack on. She also had everyone bring one of their recipes so I had a chance to try it out. It was a great way to see which recipes I really loved and would be making right away.

She decorated her back patio with pots of blue and orange flowers to go with my color scheme. She also made me a beautiful wall hanging with orange poppies! The weather was pleasant enough to have the whole party out on the back patio which was a good thing since Laurine said there wouldn't have been enough room inside for everyone. Haha!

Once the main eating started, I called my dad and Jeremy and had them come over and eat with us. Some of the ladies were able to meet Jeremy for the first time.

I got so many gifts that we had to cram them into several cars. We went back to my parents briefly then my sister, my parents, Jeremy, Tam and I headed to Hermiston. This way they could all help unload the gifts and see how the house unpacking was coming along.

My bridal shower turned out awesome! Thank you so much to my sister and Laurine for all the hard work!

Cross country drive

So...when I bought Jeremy's plane ticket I only bought a one way. When I bought mine, I got a round trip. This proved to be a problem when we were trying to decide how to get Jeremy back home.

After thinking about it, he decided that the two of us would drive his dad's bronco back home. I will admit I was a little weary of how long it was going to take and how the two of us would be with each other during and after we got back. Long road trips like that can sometimes make or break a relationship and I didn't want it to break us. I was able to call and get my return flight cancelled and now I have a year to use that ticket.

Friday morning, the day we were taking off dawned bright and clear. We got up early and got ready and packed the things into the bronco. Then Jeremy's uncle took us to breakfast and we sat around talking. I guess we were trying to ward off the inevitable but we needed to get on the road. We had made sure to print off a bunch of mapquest directions before we left to make sure we knew where we were going.

After saying goodbye, we headed off on our journey. It didn't take long to get out of Denver and then we were on our way to Wyoming. This was the state we did most of our traveling in and boy was it boring. We wouldn't recommend driving through Wyoming anytime soon. There was a whole lot of nothing and everytime we came over a hill waiting to see some new landscape, we would be disappointed with the same old thing. It seemed to take forever to get through the state and finally it was starting to get dark and we decided to stop and spend the night in a town called Evanston, Wyoming. It was still early in the evening, so we went to dinner and then got a good nights sleep before getting up before dawn to start out again.

As we took off that next morning, we discovered we were only three miles from the border of Utah!! We had been so close to finally being out of the state of Wyoming!! Haha! This was going to be our big travel day and it turned out to be much more interesting with better sights to see. We made a deal that we would get gas whenever the tank got down to half, that way we wouldn't push the envelope. We would fill up on drinks and snacks everytime we filled up and make sure to have at least one good meal.

We had a plan every time we stopped for gas. We would fill the bronco up and then Jeremy would check the transmission fluid and add more if it needed. This plan wasn't decided right away and we had quite a few tense moments. I was the one driving and at first Jeremy assumed I knew what he wanted me to do and of course I didn't. After a few words and hurt feelings, we finally figured it out and had an enjoyable rest of the trip.

We ended up traveling for 12 hours that last day and going through 5 states that day that included Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. It would have been only 4 states but I forgot that I had left my keys with my parents and so didn't have a house key! Oops! It worked out good anyways because we were able to visit with my sister and cousin who were in town for my bridal shower the next day.

Jeremy and I were exhausted from traveling all day and didn't want to drive back to Hermiston, especially when it was pouring rain. So we crashed at my parents and had a leisurely time of waking up and having breakfast. The trip turned out to be a good experience for us and I'm happy to say we survived our first road trip together!!

Trip to Denver

Well, even though I have always heard about Denver and the Rocky Mountains and have wanted to visit, my trip there in September wasn't what I had in mind.

Saturday, August 29 Jeremy received a call from his step sister in Colorado. She was quite hysterical and Jeremy had to tell her to calm down so he could understand what she was talking about. When he finally found out, the news wasn't good. She told him she was with his dad when he starting not feeling good and having chest pains. He decided he needed to go to the hospital when things took a turn for the worse. He began to go into cardiac arrest and the doctors began CPR on him. They worked on him as long as they could but he didn't make it. Although we are unsure of the whole story and what happened, one thing we do know is that it was his time to go whether we wanted him to or not.

It was awful being on the sidelines and watching how crushed Jeremy was when he found out his dad had just passed away. I tried to comfort him as best as I could but it was hard when I hadn't been able to meet his dad yet. I was going to get that opportunity at our wedding a little more then a month away. I happened to be on call that night and was able to get someone else to cover so I could be with Jeremy.

He became very out of it and was in a sort of daze. He couldn't make any decisions and just wondered around. I immediately decided that we needed to pack our bags and drive to Tri-Cities that night and stay with my parents. Then I could use their computer and find a last minute plane ticket for him. We would also be closer to the airport as well. It all worked out and he was able to fly out the next morning around 11am.

It was heart wrenching saying goodbye to him at the airport. I don't know how a 6 ft 5 in guy can look like a little kid, but he sure did that day. He kept asking me if I would be able to fly down to be with him. I told him I would do my best to get the time off of work and let him know. I had switched shifts with someone and had to work Monday. I went to work and talked to my boss and was able to take the rest of the week off. I found a last minute flight for me too and flew out September 1st to Denver.

I was able to meet a bunch of his family and hang out with them. I helped Jeremy out by going with him and his cousin Paul to get his dad's paperwork and affairs in order. Many of those trips were back and forth between Denver and Limon where his dad had lived which was an hour and 15 min trip each way! There were many frustrating moments because people needed paperwork or information we didn't have. Many times they wouldn't agree to Jeremy being the sole heir and signer for his dad's paperwork. Finally the day before we left we were able to take care of most everything. There is still some things being taken care of by Jeremy's aunt Jane and I'm sure there will still be things to do in the future.

It wasn' t exactly how I wouldv'e planned my trip to Denver being, but I'm so glad I was able to go and be a support for Jeremy. Such a hard thing to have to deal with and even harder with our wedding right around the corner.