Jason and the Princesses

Jason came up with a great Christmas idea for my nieces: "Princess" scooters! So he went to WalMart and purchased the scooters on his own and then put them together the other night. I thought it was pretty cute to see Jason, an anti-pink, anti-princess, anti-girly kind of guy slaving over pink scooters for two sweet little girls! Hopefully they won't check our blog and figure out what they are getting for Christmas...hee hee!

"You aren't really going to take my picture, are you?"He even read the directions!

Testing out the first one...

The finished product The unsuspecting future princesses

Christmas Greetings...

Our attempt at a Christmas Picture:

Not bad, eh?
Merry Christmas everyone!

Blast from the not-so-distant-past...

Jason and I started dating in November of 2005, so our first Christmas together was last December. He drove to Atlantic on Christmas day and met my family, spent the night, and drove back to Dubuque the next day. He was so nervous to meet everyone! Truthfully, so was I! My family immediately liked him so the rest is history. It is still amazing to me how quickly things can change in just a short year. This Christmas, we will be spending a full week in Atlantic.
Here is our "first photo" by the tree at the DeArment house.

The tree is up!

I had some help with the Christmas tree from my little elves: Adrianna, Alexis, and Garrett Keith. Jason couldn't help us because he had class. Kimmie made peanut butter cookies while we worked on our masterpiece.

Our Thanksgiving

Jason and I spent a busy but relaxing Thanksgiving weekend in Atlantic, IA with my family. Thanksgiving day was spent with my parents, my brother Jeff, and my brother Nathan and sister-in-law Shannon, and my two nieces, Addie and Reese. We spent the day eating too much turkey, watching football, and playing cards.

On Friday, I spent some one-on-one time with Addie at the movie "Happy Feet"...between the two of us, we almost finished a bucket of popcorn and a bag of M&M's.

Saturday, we headed to Sioux Center, IA for a bridal shower for my cousin Jill. Jason was introduced to my grandma, and several aunts, uncles, and cousins. It was a long day, with a 3 hour drive to and from Sioux Center, but we were glad that we made the trip. I hope everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving holiday! Time to go Christmas shopping!

Jason watching football

Addie and Reese sharing Aunt Angie's lap

Aunt Angie and Reese

Addie is the princess of the Leaf Parade...at least that is what Grandpa told her!

Reese's funny face

Love those blue eyes!

Shannon thought it would be funny to see
how close she could get to our faces while
taking this picture! Don't be frightened!

Welcome to our new Blog!

I am switching us over from a Windows Live blog to a more visitor-friendly blog here on e-blogger. A couple of friends have blog sites here and I like the format better. I'll be adding pictures and blogs from the other site first, so some of what you see will be a repeat. I'll be updating at this site from now on. Thanks for stopping by!

Wedding Dress Shopping Day!

Last weekend my parents came for a brief visit. Their sole purpose in coming was so that we could go wedding dress shopping! Me, Mom, and a couple of bridesmaids (Jenna, Kim, and Grace) hit the shops for what I feared would be a looooong day. I found the dress that weekend (it didn't take long at all and it wasn't a hard decision) and I am thrilled. Obviously, I won't be posting a picture of the actual dress, but if you e-mail me, I'd be happy to send you a picture of it! We also ordered all seven bridesmaid dresses!

This is going to be fun, right??

With three of my bridesmaids: Jenna, Grace, Kimmie

With Mom

With Jenna

With Grace

With Kimmie

Bits and Pieces

Jason has FOUR WEEKS left in this semester! He "casually" mentioned this to me over lunch today. Doesn't seem like there could only be four weeks left in this semester. It's also hard to believe that Christmas is a month and a half away! Where did the fall go? This is all taking me by surprise! Remember Jason in your prayers as he has quite a bit of schoolwork left, (mostly papers!), to finish up before the semester ends.

Our fall has been busy...filled with church activities and school responsibilities. I have been attending a Bible study that I have really enjoyed, called "Believing God" by Beth Moore. Beth requires "homework" - five days worth - so that took a little getting used to. I'm not going to claim that I'm right on track, but I'm keeping at it! I just won't quit! I have learned a lot and been very encouraged by this study. We listen to DVD's of Beth's teaching and then discuss the homework and concepts that Beth teaches. We have two sessions left. I have found that I enjoy a weekly Bible study and I hope to be involved in another one after the holidays.

We enjoyed the Emmaus Alumni Reunion a couple of weeks ago. I was able to officially meet many of my "internet friends" most of whom I only knew from our interaction on the Emmaus Alumni webpage, and had never met in person! The weekend was a blast, the highlight of it being a concert by Fernando Ortega in the Marble Chapel.

In addition to Emmaus, I am still working part-time at Eddie Bauer, and I will most likely be taking on some extra hours as the Christmas shopping season begins. I enjoy working there but it can wear me out! Jason has been working some early mornings AND some very long evenings. He works every weekday morning in the Dining Hall, and works the weekends as "nightwatch" or night security. He works hard and without complaint (most days, heehee!)

Jason and I picked Vail, Colorado as our honeymoon location. We will probably book our room within the next few weeks. Neither of us were really wanting a beach getaway, and Jason has never seen the Rockies, so the decision was an easy one.

November 19 is the anniversary of our first date, coming up next week! I remember that day very clearly! Coffee at Borders, dinner at Ground Round...hard to believe it was only a year ago!

We will be spending Thanksgiving in Atlantic with my family. Actually, Thanksgiving day will be spent in Sioux Center, IA where Jason will meet my extended family (forty-plus people!) and the rest of the weekend in Atlantic. We will spend Dec 23 - Dec 30 with my family in Atlantic as well.

Engagement Party

We had a wonderful time at our engagement party this past Friday night. It was hosted by Donnie and Sherri Patten, and David and Grace Keith. It was a great time--good food, lots of friends, and we played the newlywed game (we lost!).



Jason and Mr. Lange, his Professor and Mentor






Jason and Dan Stratman

Me with Rachel Sylvester, a great friend since high school!

Playing the Newlywed game

Jason is stumped








With Kati, Kim, Grace, and Jenna, my Dubuque bridesmaids! Missing Shannon, Steph, and Linda






With Colin, an Emmaus friend and usher in the wedding







Jason with Eric, Colin, Jon, and David







With Ken and Jan (Ken is my boss)







With Jesse and Kelsy







Opening a few gifts and cards







Garrett, our ringbearer, enjoys his cake!

Summer ends, School Year Begins

We enjoyed our last Cubs trip of this baseball season (sad) but we ended it on a great game. I am already looking forward to next season.
Us at Wrigley:

Our friends, David and Grace Keith:

David and Jason in front of Cracker Barrel:

with Grace, my matron of honor


Jason is back in classes for his final year...he is so ready to be done! He will graduate on May 12, 2007. I just welcomed a new roomie, my good friend Kimmie. She's going to massage therapy school at Capri College and will live with me until right before the wedding. Some good friends of ours are throwing us an engagement party next week. We are looking forward to "officially" celebrating our engagement!

In wedding news, our date is June 9, 2007. We will be getting married in the Marble Chapel at Emmaus Bible College in Dubuque, and our reception will be held in the backyard of my boss's home. I am enjoying wedding plans and am thankful that I have plenty of time!