9 days

With only 9 days to go, today was the equivalent to mixing up a nice, hot batch of scrambled eggs, only to realize my brain got in the pan somehow. I'm fried. But much was accomplished! Russell got fitted for a tux. I tried on several veils and have a better idea of how I want mine. I talked to my photographer, Apryl. I scanned in my sketch of a wedding cake idea and sent it to my baker (so excited!) I started a spreadsheet to keep track of the gifts that are already coming in the mail. I also lost my cell phone and keys. Oh dear. Anyway, this can't be a long post because of the whole fried-brain thing, so I'm going to end it with a laugh.

I may have been guilty of this. Once or twice.

17 days and distracted

I give in! I'll write another post. I've been battling this incessant desire to write for awhile now, mainly because I know it is just a distraction. I have several final projects due within the next seventeen hours, but instead of finishing them, I've been concentrating on the next seventeen days. That's all that's left! Seventeen days til I go into the temple having my one family, and seventeen days and half an hour later til I come out with my family, yes, but a whole extra one, too! I guess it could be said that I'm taking the Provo Temple president's advice when one busy morning in the baptistery, probably a year or so ago, he told me to "contemplate the solemnities of eternity." Compared to eternity, how important are these final projects anyway? Hmmm....? Okay, I know that's ridiculous and I just need to buckle down and write my paper. But for goodness' sake! I'm so excited!!!!! Russell really is the one for me. I was unsure for so long (that's probably why we dated for a year) but now I know it's right. We can and will make it work. Our religion teacher told us something interesting the other week: You don't fall in love accidentally. I'm choosing to marry this man, and you know what, I'm so glad I made the choice! Now for homework again...

That's how we feel about homework. And that's another reason why I know I want to be with him; forever would be too long without a little bit of silly.

Invitation

Mom might kill me for posting this, since it's not the official one, but it's pretty darn close and pretty darn cute!

6 weeks--forever

5 weeks and 6 days from now, I will be married. How in the world we got from 13 weeks to 6 weeks in about two minutes, I do not know. BUT I'm sure glad that we did.
So much has happened in the last couple of weeks. It's partially Grandma's fault. With my mom and genius decorating aunt down here to spend some time with Grandma, and then help with the funeral, we got some work done.
For the week after Grandma passed away, things tended to go like this with them: 1. Work on funeral arrangements until it was too much. 2. Work on wedding arrangements until it was too much (though too much probably applied to me more than them.)

They're amazing. The funeral was beautiful. Our family, already pretty tight-knit, pulled together even more as we remembered the most amazing mother.

I think that Grandma is happy with the wedding. When I asked if I could wear her wedding dress, she said, "I would be honored."

These last couple of weeks have really been a testimony of the Plan of Salvation to me. (a slightly more divine version of "The Circle of Life.") Death has been prominent, but life has been also, in all of its stages. Friday night I spent some time with my very pregnant aunt. Today my soon-to-be niece worked on her stair-climbing skills, shrieking with joy after every slip or step. Brittany got into Weber State and BYUH and is just about decided as to where to go. (I'll let her tell you, though.)I'm getting married. Angie's getting married. Her parents are grandparents. My parents are not. And we're all connected by invisible gold thread, keeping us close even when mortality gets in the way.

This post is beginning to ramble, so I'll just sum it all up with a picture.



This picture was taken almost 53 years ago. Aren't they a beautiful couple? Yes, that's my Grandma and Grandpa Welch.

I'm starting my own branch of the family tree in 6 weeks. I'm going to wear that same dress. How's that for a juicy detail?


P.S. Family=forever.

Names--Grandma

Names are powerful.
Where I come from, natural vegetation is abundant. We've got a million different trees, from A-Y (alder to yellow cedar.)We've got berries galore. There are grasses and bushes and mosses everywhere.
Names are important.
Here's an example with two of the SE plants that I see every summer.
Skunk cabbage.

You know what I'm talking about. Its big, lettuce-like leaves grow in every wet, swampy place in SE (and that just about describes SE, by the way.) It earns its name by smelling skunky. Well, that's what they say. I think it's fine.
If you didn't know this, you'd still guess that it stinks, just because of its name. I mean, it's not at all like the...

Chocolate lily.
Doesn't that just sound delicious? Maybe it could be my wedding flower...
NOT!
Chocolate lilies sound pretty and look pretty, but they definitely don't smell pretty. To quote Wikipedia:
"It is also sometimes known as skunk lily, dirty diaper and outhouse lily because of the flower's horrible smell."

I know this is pretty random, but it makes sense in my head. Let's not talk about flowers. Let's talk about the name
Welch.
Welch girls have a lot to live up to. Kind, smart, a little goofy/funny, quick-witted, graceful, lady-like, and ever-loving. That's what we're going for.
I'm a Welch girl. This name ties me to my mom's side. It's the name I claim with my cousins whenever we're together. Not because it's better than our other names. Just because it ties us to our grandparents.

My grandma, (who wasn't a Welch until she got married) is the best of the Welch girls. Always loving. Always faithful. Always positive. And pretty darn funny, to boot.

She passed away last Thursday. I miss her like crazy.

But I'm also really thankful, because I know there's something binding me to her that's stronger than just our Welch girl status. Sometime down the road into forever, I know I'll see her again.

Some names are eternal. My family's is one of them.

-Erika

And if you'd like to see some beautiful pictures of my Grandma Welch, click on this and this. My cousin Jamie is a long-time blogger and wrote some beautiful things about Grandma.

Direction

Oh, sometimes I really wish I had my ducks all in a row before doing something as un-rowing as getting married. Really, the audacity of me to get engaged when I don't have a major!

I've been stressed over this for awhile: ever since I decided at the start of my 3rd semester that Spanish was not the major for me after all. Now, only half a semester away from my junior year, I still have no idea what I want to do. I want to take more exploratory classes, but chances are that most of them won't get me where I want to go. And doesn't it seem that the 100 level classes are oftentimes either easy (more of a test of attendance) or ridiculously hard (to weed out the weak?)

Here's what I like:
Dance
Children
Food
Writing
Teaching
the Outdoors

So...dance teacher? Nutritionist? Middle school English teacher? Hermit living in the mountains?

I want a sense of direction here!

And soon would be nice, because how can I plan a wedding when I'm thinking about which classes I'll take next semester?

Excuse Story

Hey All!
It feels like it's been awhile, probably more for me than for you. Sorry! I have some awesome stories to tell, but tonight's not the night. Even though I know you're still dying to know the engagement story, see the ring, and read about ALL the wedding plans. And Holy Cow, there are a lot!
Right now, though it's bed time. But wait, it's only just past 10!
Here's the quick story:

I got a job doing this:


So I can get this:

(Quick wedding detail: We're driving through Canada--Alberta and BC--on our honeymoon, which is why I picked a Canadian penny...)


So I feel less of this:


So I don't turn into this:


Anyway, that's why I'm going to go do this now:

Good night!

The Writing Girls

A week or two ago I was telling my best friend about her dream man. He's quite a catch, you see. This man loves poetry, only drinks non-alcoholic beer, and is up-to-date on world and national affairs. This is essential because she dislikes reading about the news; she'd rather have him explain it to her.

I don't know these things about Caitlin because we've been friends since sixth grade. I know them because in sixth grade, the best teacher I've ever had pulled a handful of girls aside and told us there was something special about our writing. We became a club of sorts: The Writing Girls (abbreviated to TWGs, or twigs.) We bonded over our stories. Our stories and the friendships that grew from them made us branch out to the magical, cozy land of coffee shops and giant pillows.

I don't remember all of the meetings, nor the stories. But some tidbits, like Caitlin's poem, are rediscovered on occasion.

One girl wrote about giving her dog a bath.
One girl always related her pieces to horses. ALWAYS.
One, while writing about some kind of orange bread (I think), mentioned acne scars on the narrator's back.

Some poetry was light and cute. Some of it was a little heavier. When I think of how easy we had it as sixth-graders, I remind myself of the harder stuff. We weren't entirely oblivious, but thank heaven we weren't as grown-up as we thought we were.

This post is mainly for our teacher. She took time and energy out of her life to help us create something special. I think it's funny that she said I might have forgotten her.

I didn't.

So, if you read this blog, and I'm hoping you will, let me know. I think the TWGs have all wanted to get together over coffee and hot cocoa again, but that's a little hard. If there's any other way we can catch up, let me know.
And thank you.

Reason #6,000,001

Love. My. Boy.
Okay, maybe my man. It's funny thinking of him as a man, not because he isn't, (because he totally is), but because I'm marrying this Man, and to marry this Man, I must be a Woman. As far as gender goes, of course I'm a woman. As far as maturity, I'm not so sure.

But I digress.

I love Russell Youngberg for around 6,000,000+ reasons. But the one I'm telling you about:

(See Below Post)

He got me one! He got me the grater!

At Sunday dinner one of Russell's cousins saw my obsession and said it was just an old fashioned food processor. I had never thought of it that way...I guess it is. BUT it's reliable. And perfect.

I love Russell. And I love my new grater. AHHHHHHHHH!!!! Yaaaayyyyy!!!!!

I FOUND IT!

I found it! The most wonderful kitchen tool anyone could ever hope for...and no, it's not a creme brulee torch.

It's THIS:

A Saladmaster Food Grater!

This lil' baby has been used in my house since I was....probably a baby. I'll have to check with my mom on that one. We use it to grate/shred anything: cheese, carrots, potatoes, almond paste...Oh, it's heavenly.
You have to hold other graters steady, and move your whole arm up and down while applying pressure to get whatever it is to grate. With these, all you have to do is push the food down onto the grater cone and turn a handle. Voila!

They seem to have been around forever, or at least the '60s, so when I looked them up on ebay they were listed as a vintage kitchen appliance. Maybe I just like vintage things...

My only question now is How the heck am I going to get my hands on one of these??? On ebay they range from $12 to $300+!

Rumor has it that my aunt Julie found one at DI once, so keep an eye out for me! (Even if you don't want to give it to me, keep an eye out to get one for yourself. They are

Registries and Receptions

Even as school progresses and I start a new job (assistant executive cleaning lady) the wedding plans are moving forward. As they should be; there are only 87 days left!!

Our current project is creating a wedding registry. We registered at Bed, Bath and Beyond because we don't know any other place, really.
My question to you marrieds out there: What was the most interesting (bizarre) gift you got? Which was your favorite that you registered for? Which was your favorite that you didn't register for?
Right now I'm excited for a salad spinner. It just sounds so nice to be at home with my nice little husband and my nice little salad spinner. Perhaps I'll always cook in heels, a dress and pearls, also. ;)

My constant daydream is the reception. It just gets better every (almost) time I think about it. Last Sunday Russell mentioned that a girl in his Spanish class had had a carnival themed reception. It was so hard to concentrate in church after that as I imagined light pink cotton candy, personalized popcorn bags, and those funny body frames.

Like this one:


Except with a bride and groom instead of cheerleader and football player.

Marriage Movies

You know those last few scenes in The Parent Trap when Elizabeth and Nick decide they are meant for each other and give it another go?
It's beautiful.
So darn beautiful that several of my roommates and I (well, Shayla's practically a roommate) decided that we had to watch as many romantic, marriage-y movies as we could before my big day. Without jeopardizing our sleep/school work/social life, of course. I think one a week would be reasonable.
I think that'll give us 13 weeks. 13 weeks equals 13 movies. Which shall it be?
Maybe Ever After and Sweet Home Alabama.
Man, I love those ones.

Anyway, this is just a silly little ramble to make up for not journaling tonight.

Much love,
Eri

P.S. Angela, if I'm getting married in 13 weeks, how many weeks till you do???? ;)

Dresstastrophy

Is it cruel of me to want my bridesmaids to wear green?
Whether or not it is, it's cruel of the fashion industry to make it so darn hard to find cute modest dresses!!!
Time to share secrets, ladies. Where did you find your dresses?

And so it begins...

That's right. I'm engaged! What an absolutely exhilarating, terrifying, exciting, nerve-inducing, fantastic word. State of being.
I'm getting quite a few requests for the story, and while it is a completely cute story (How many girls are proposed to in front of six buffalo??) I have other things on my mind right now.
Ha! Right now? Try always. For the last week there hasn't been a moment when I haven't been thinking of colors and bridesmaid dresses and venues and reception food and the cake and the flowers and getting the dress restored and fitted and taking engagement photos and finding shoes (2 pairs. 1 white and 1 in my fun color of choice)and where to register and.....you get the idea. The worst day dream session was probably in Sacrament meeting when I got distracted for a couple of minutes wondering how I would do my (short) hair for the sealing.

That's just the beginning, I think. Mom has called every day with more things to keep in mind. Her advice is priceless; she's helping me figure out what of the thousands of things to do I should do first.

Of course, this is what I do instead.

I tried to make her look like me, but I kind of think she looks more like Kate Middleton. Perhaps because there weren't good short hair options. Perhaps because the Duchess is my wedding idol.

Russell is being really helpful throughout it all. I've kind of always thought that the groom just sits back and enjoys the ride while the bride works herself and her female relatives into a frenzy, but he's been here for every little thing I want him for. (This makes me happy. He's survived the first seven days of being engaged to me. Only 101 to go...)

He's got other things on his mind, though, too. He's in the process of selling his car and buying US a new (to us) one. He told me months ago that if I'd marry him he'd sell his stick-shift to get an automatic. While I'm actually getting better on stick, we do need another car since the driver's seat in his doesn't move and I have to ride with a six inch cushion behind me so I can reach the peddles.
It will be hard to watch his go. He loves that car like nothing else, except people, I guess, since he wouldn't sell it if I weren't in the picture.

Man, I love him.

Hope you're all well and sleeping. More to come. Much love.

Guess What!

WE'RE ENGAGED!!!