Open House, Friendswood. Home Sweet Home, Stamford.

-My sisters-in-law made the most beautiful and elegant cake I've ever seen.  I loved it.  It was so classic and simple, not to mention delicious. Italian cream with coconut and pecans and cream cheese frosting... it was mouth watering.
- They also worked so hard all day decorating the entire house and it looked lovely.
- My parents flew down for the weekend, I was so happy to have them there with me.
- I got to wear my wedding dress again! {But only for 1 hour, the heat got to me and all of a sudden it felt more like a straitjacket than a wedding dress, so off it went}
- I was finally feeling better after being so sick on our honeymoon &  thankfully so, my brother-in-law BBQed delicious sausage, brisket and chicken for all the guests, yyuummm.
- I met lots of new faces.  It was fun to visit with people Mckay has known for such a long time.  They were all so happy and friendly.
- Mckay was nice and tan from our day and a half (sigh) in the Mexico sun. He looked good.
- Spent more time with the Dunn side, enjoyed that, especially my new nieces and nephews!
- Got to open a few more gifts down in Texas, yay!

{love}

{1. my handsome/beautiful parents. i am so grateful to them for everything they did for us and this wedding. they've taught me so much over the years, and lately i am thankful for their example of a loving, happy and selfless marriage. 2. the lovely cake. 3. my brand new baby niece Alyssa, isn't she precious? i love that tiny thing a lot.

The next day we went to sacrament meeting with his fam and then we were off to Connecticut.  Although it was a wonderful, busy and fun month, I was so ready to be home.  It felt good coming back to our little apartment.  Since we've been back we've working hard getting everything together. I've cooked dinner like 3 times now. Uuhhh, ya. That doesn't sound too impressive, I'm working on it though.  The love nest is slowly but surely becoming the cutest, homiest, most yummy smelling, feng shui home on the block. So give us a few more weeks and then we need some visitors!

We're both working and grateful to have good jobs.  We watch Glee and The Amazing Race and Modern Family every week.  We try and make time for the gym.  We go to BB&B every day (it feels like) to buy this and return that.  We are looking for a new car.  We love being married.  We love having each other.  We love this new phase of our life!

the honeymoon

this is basically how it went:
monday we played in the pool and splashed around in the ocean all day long. it was perfect and warm and lovely and blissful. i sunburned my stomach, we ate really good food and went to bed happy.
tuesday i woke up sick.
wednesday i was worse.
thursday i was miserable but did manage to drag myself out of bed for a few hours to lay in a covered beach chair so that mckay could get some sun.
friday i was feeling better, but we left mexico at noon.

for real.
i got tonsillitis and a very bad stomach ache thingy. just the thought of it makes me sick. i'm sure the room service people were amused at room 2645 ordering oatmeal, cranberry juice, toast, bananas, hot tea, vinegar and honey all week long. mckay was wonderful and took such good care his yucky, sick bride.

here is the resort, it was so beautiful and pristine. pity we paid a pretty penny to stay in the room all week long... and not the good kind of staying in your room all honeymoon long-just the sick, miserable kind.

here is what mckay did most of the week:

*that's sitting with me quietly and reading his book in really bad light so that i can sleep. what a man. he's even smiling! i would post the picture mckay took of me, but no one should ever have to look at that.

here is a funny story:
mckay was calling room service to get me some oatmeal and a few other items. he asked the lady if they had any apple cider vinegar (for my throat) she said, "yes, could you hold me for one minute?".  i was sitting next to mckay and heard his side of the conversation, "yes, i could hold you for a minute" (keeping his laughter under control) i burst out laughing and continued to giggle over that for a few days.



despite being sick and miserable, but it wasn't all bad. we watched tons of movies, ate lots of yummy food in bed, ordered coconut ice cream a few times, he drank about 10 pina coladas, we bought a pretty vase for the apartment and even made it to a few of the delicious restaurants.  i also got spoiled with tlc from mckay. 
{we might just have to plan a re-do in the future...}

take my whole life too

Sealed in the Logan, Utah temple

on September 17th, 2010

It was a perfect day. 

There is a lot to tell & I have a few specific requests... I'll get to that later.

For now I'm just content to sit in my furniture-less apartment and dream up what to do with it.

& in an hour I'm meeting my HUSBAND (oh yes. oh my. oh wow.) for lunch.

Week 3, 2, 1?

Life got a little crazy.  I forgot to keep track of my goings & doings- here is a quick recap of what I can remember...

I moved out of my employers house, said tearful goodbyes to Kelly and Ariana, got a speeding ticket on the way to our apartment (uuhggg), moved my stuff in when it was 100 degrees outside (no air conditioning), & cleaned like crazy. 

{How cute is she? Watching Dora in a basket and "helping" me pack up my room. She said, "I will miss you so much Nick", over & over again, heartbreak!}

I slept at the Bishop's house for a few nights, picked paint colors with his wife, bought better cleaning supplies and cleaned some more, shopped for a rug, helped Mckay get packed and moved in and bought a ton of "stuff" from Target for our place.

We ate pizza on the floor.  This is a standing Craven tradition-when we move into a new house (2 times and counting)... we order pizza and sit on the floor in the dining room to christen the new home. Mckay was a good sport and I think he even thought it was cute, so we ordered Domino's and stuffed ourselves with pizza.  After dinner we got to open a few wedding presents, so fun!  

Once I got barely settled in Connecticut we took off to Utah. I'm now home until the wedding, Mckay stayed for the BYU game and to take bridal pictures with me on Labor Day and is now back to work in CT.  

My Mom's mother died on Wednesday September, 1st and on Saturday the 4th we had her funeral.  It was a very tender and spiritual experience.  Grandma was diagnosed with cancer almost a year ago and on the 1st she was released from her mortal pain to return to Heavenly Father.  All of her granddaughters sang the primary song "I Often Go Walking" at her funeral and that song will always have a special place in my heart.  My grandma was a woman of extraordinary character, a great capacity for love, endless patience, and a sweet sense of humor. 

My bridal showered was scheduled for the Saturday of the funeral so that was obviously canceled.  After the funeral, we all went back to my Aunt Lanell's house to visit (favorite McAffee past time) and I was so sweetly surprised by my aunts and cousins with a spur of the moment bridal shower.  I couldn't have asked for anything more perfect or needed than to be surrounded by the women who have meant most to me during my life. And I suspect my sweet Grandma was looking down on us from heaven, pleased that we were happily celebrating together!  The women in my family amaze me, it is so good to be with them.  There is always lots of laughter and love, even in the "December of our lives".

And today is ten days from my wedding day. 

Still lots to do.

Mom & I are a little overwhelmed, but going strong.

I don't think I'll blog again before the wedding.

Till October:]!

week four.

I went to Texas to meet the family I'm marrying into & am really happy they are so wonderful. 
I survived the unmatched heat and humidity of Houston in August and even {kind of} happily watched three hours of football in it.
I did take my camera but did not take a single picture, grrr.
I will get ten darling nieces & nephews when we get married.
I met Mckay's high school girlfriend at his 10 year high school reunion we attended. Special huh?
I am sick of being engaged, living in my horrible "packing up" room, and searching for new jobs.
I would love to be able to be putting our new apartment together, but tenant boy is still there.
I am excited to be going home a week from Friday!
I am elated to be getting married three weeks from Friday!
I need to find a veil to wear in some photos (general consensus from friends and family).
I want a hot, homemade oatmeal raisin cookie right now-but will not go make a batch.
I wish furnishing a little love nest didn't cost money.
I was at the library the other day and picked up a baby names book, I literally read it for an hour.
I think I'll like naming babies.
I feel a little stressed at having a only a week left out here and a big long to-do list glaring at me.

{Two of Mckay's good friends, Kevin and Joe also came for the reunion with their lovely wives Danica and Cherise.  It was good to finally meet them and their cute kiddos. Photo courtesy of Cherise}

{I think this is the veil I'm looking for. Short and cute and sassy...}

"marry mckay"

& we're off to Texas.

Announcements were mailed this week, thanks to my wonderful Mom.

The new nanny came on Monday, she's nice.

On Saturday I had the most wonderful and perfect "bridal tea"

-courtesy of my dear friend April.

Picture this: china and tea and a 100 year old house as a back drop, sweet friends and presents and delicious food and a chocolate cake & even coconut M&M's. The tables were decorated with scrabble pieces and we drank out of mini glass tea cups. Like I said, perfection.

(I'll post some pictures of that later).

Before I go, one more picture and a story:

One frigid February day I was in the city with Alli.  On our way back to Grand Central we stumbled upon this wishing wall of sorts.  It had entries from people all over the world and their wishes/goals/dreams.  You just walk up to it, wait your turn, and then type in your name, where you are from, and your wish.  It gave me nervous butterflies to write this & I was self conscious that somehow Mckay would see it and think I was crazy! But I did it (probably with a little encouragement from Alli) because it was the only thing I could think about standing in front of that wall. Alli was smart & snapped a picture before it was added to the hundreds of other wishes on the screen and eventually disappeared.

This is one of my favorite pictures, it makes me smile and then it makes me feel very grateful.

week five.

If last week was the week of nothing update worthy, this was the week of all things update worthy, productive, decisive and lovely. Here's why:
1.  Found and purchased my dress
2.  Mckay booked our honeymoon
3.  Picked flowers with flower lady
4.  Picked food with food lady
5.  Picked cake with cake lady
6.  Harassed friends and family and then addressed 456 envelopes by hand
7.  Ordered engagement photos
8.  Checked out reception place
9.  Got my drivers license, been driving with an expired license for five months
10.  Signed the lease to our first and very own love nest, wow oh wow

*Also squeezed in a whole day of quality family time which was wonderful. My cousin Alex will be serving a mission in Washington DC and we went to Idaho Falls on Sunday to hear him speak in church and eat yummy food with family and friends.

Internal debates & other thoughts:
1.  Veil or no veil? I'm leaning towards no veil... What then? Headband? Hair clip?
2.  Did you know I've never met Mckay's family? It's true. At first I was having minor anxiety over this, but now I just think, how fun! What an adventure, I love surprises, right? Right.  Plus I've talked to a few of his sisters and they're so sweet, so I'm not worried.
3.  Is there something I'm totally spacing on our registry? Married people?
4.  Bridal shower this Saturday and I'm elated!

The dress I did not get:

Gorgeous isn't it? It had a price tag that would have fed a small country. I love lace, and I loved this dress- but still- it's the "trendy lacey old-fashioned" look, if you know what I mean. I absolutely adore the one I did get. No pictures of that one, it's more homemade and old fashioned looking.

How adorable is this guy? I love him a lot. He's such the gentleman. He opens the car door for me and Regan everywhere we go. Can't wait to see him in his handsome suit at our wedding.

Why I love going home {minus one, she was in CA}.

Oh PS: Ellen DeGeneres on SYTYCD tonight?! Dancer, lesbian, comedian, lovely talk show host, Dory fish extrodiaire. Of course.

week six.

Saturday we went kayaking on the Long Island Sound and then had hamburgers with friends. Josh & Colleen had us over to their lovely home on the water for that. We also played SingStar. I beat Mckay at one of Pink's songs. Twice. Then we played boys vs. girls and killed them again.  Mostly because Colleen knows every song by heart. Mckay's good friend Christine was passing through from LA and we got to spend the evening with her, lots of fun!

Sunday we went to Waveny Park for a picnic. The weather finally cooled off after a few weeks of temperatures and humidity that had me certain I live in a butterfly conservatory. I'm glad of that, as Pollyanna would say.

Tonight I'm flying to Utah for a weekend of wedding planning. Kenna and Trevor won't even be there, bummer, but I'll be an only child in my parents house. That has not happened since Regan was born.  I keep getting excited butterflies in my stomach to be home with my family!

Here's one of the engagement pictures, I've had a few requests from impatient people {wink}.  I'm not looking at the camera and I blame him {see below}, otherwise we probably would have used this picture.

He is so cute!!!

I hate packing, as excited as I am to be home, I still haven't finished that task. Mckay will be here in 15 minutes to take me to the airport so I better get my butt in gear. There are no wedding updates because I hardly did anything update worthy. This post is almost not worth posting but whatever!
We're hanging in there and counting down the days till September 17th!