Save-The-Dates + CupCakes!

WOOHOOO!!! Last night we officially ordered the Save-the-Date cards for our wedding.  I love Love LOVE that Mike is involved with each little detail concerning the planning of OUR wedding.  I have to say, it really makes me appreciate that it is truly OUR wedding, not my wedding, not his wedding, but ours... It also makes me appreciate the women that get stuck planning a wedding alone, although I guess that is how some prefer it...  Mike and I pondered and viewed, and reviewed options for the save-the-dates we chose (which are AMAZING if I can say so myself) as well as all the matching invitation stuff, etc etc etc....  It has been a blast in some aspects to be doing these things together, and making these decisions together, it definitely makes the entire wedding process a bonding experience.  I will post a picture of the cards when they come in.  The nice thing is that we are saving an epic TON of cash not having to use postage.  The primary make-up of our wedding guests are our co-workers who have become our closest friends.

Oh, so, last week-ish I met with the gang at The Yum Yum Cupcake kitchen.  We will be using Yum Yum for the cupcakes for our wedding.  We thought about traditional cake, but then realized that either of us have yet to attend a wedding with a really great tasting cake, AND I hate traditional frosting, and collectively we hate Fondant...  Hence, gourmet cupcakes!  We are thinking probably 4 flavors, and then a small 6" round cake for us to put our topper on and to save for our anniversary.  We will do 'Bride & Groom' muffin size cupcakes for us to 'cut' at the reception.  We are SUPER excited, but the hard part is deciding on just 4 flavors!!!

Well, that's all for now!  More to come I am sure... this is such an exciting time, and a stressful time as well... we are trying not to let the stress get to us though.

The Wedding Party Re-Visited!

Alright; I guess for anyone who has planned a wedding, you know that there are changes and adjustments... here is the latest 'edition' of the Wedding Party:

• Maid of Honor 
• Jeanette Jofre - Nikki's Stepmom
• Best Man
• John Serrano - Mike's friend and Co-worker
• Bridesmaids (in no particular order)
• Aya Chin - Nikki's Friend
• Annie Ledee - Nikki's Friend
• Becky Ledesma - Nikki's Friend and Little Sister from another Mother :-)
• Groomsmen (in no particular order)
• Jeremiah Hurst - Mike's Second In Command at Work and Friend
• Johann Amurao - Mike's Brother
• Michael Pino - Annie's Brother
• Andy Avila - Friend of Nikki & Mike
• Junior Bridemaid (Certainly the most important)
• EmmaLeigh Amurao - Mike's oldest daughter, Nikki's step-daughter
• Flower Girls 
• Savannah Amurao - Mike's youngest daughter - Nikki's step-daughter
• Kate Marie Jofre-Furno - Nikki's little sister
• Ring Bearer 
• Ryu Chin - Son of Manon and Aya Chin
• Parents of the Bride
• Dannielle Atkins - Mother
• Karen Furno - Mother
• Jeanette Jofre - Step-mom
•  Parents of the Groom
• Mr. Alfredo and Mrs. Evangeline Amurao 
• Walking the Bride down the aisle
• Dannielle Atkins - Mother of the Bride
• Kenneth Rosenfield - Boss and most imporatantly Friend of the Bride and Groom

Well, those are all the updates for now!  So far we have a venue, a date, rings, and I supposed I need to get started on finding a dress, and all that other good stuff!

We have a Date & a Venue!!!

Oh so very very excited.  Mike and I finally decided that we needed to stop letting life in  general get in the way of planning this very special occasion.  Between home and work life, things have been quite chaotic in the Atkins-Amurao household.  Honestly, it took us taking time off of work and making an appointment we could stick to in order to get where we are now.


SO, we picked a location!  We will be getting married at the Historic Dubsdread Ballroom.  IT IS STUNNING!  The ceremony will be outside (fingers crossed that the weather holds out).  There is a cobblestone path and pad, and a beautiful arch located beneath an enormous oak tree :-) I am in LOVE with this location.  The cocktails and reception will be held at Dubsdread as well.  The room is stunning!  There are antique wood floors (no piece-together dance floor!) an great stone fireplace (not so useful in Florida, but beautiful), all in all, the space is fantastic and we are SUPER excited.


On top of simply choosing the location of our wedding, we also set the date. Wait for it...... 
Sunday, March 24th, 2013!!!


More information and pictures to come soon!!

Back in the Saddle Again!

WOW So really, what a crazy few months it has been.  Between Emma coming home after spending most of the summer at camp Grandma's, school shopping, Orientation, Open house, 7 classes - shocking to Emma herself, me going to school, we have been going CRAZY.  Not to mention the stuff going on in my office and naturally the Xymogen International Sales Meeting in Grand Cayman, we are ready for our lives to slow down so that we can continue to refocus on our wedding plans that were put on a drastic halt as of late.  Nothing screams savings deficit like having to replace your growing daughter's entire wardrobe over one summer from all this growing she insists on doing PLUS a whole new list of school supplies, provided by the school (which turns out to be incorrect - and you have to buy all kinds of other stuff).  BUT on the plus side, although we had a few freak outs at home about the amount of classes and homework (which yes, we warned her about, but what do we know?!), Emma has all A's and one B on her progress report.  WE are SOOOOO Proud of her!

So, last week was the Xymogen ISM in Grand Cayman.  MY, wasn't that an expensive trip for us!  We didn't know that our dollar is worth crap there, so a $1 soda can here, cost damn near $5 in the Caymans.  LOL  The trip itself was great though, aside from the tropical depression, the horrible flights back, freaking out about getting kicked off the plane (don't ask.... stupid agents), Customs and Immigration 9million times, Gate Changes in horrible Miami International Airport, AND the pool being drained 2 days into the trip.  LOL the good things were meeting a lot of new people, seeing Mike at work and helping him out so that he didn't go insane, putting names and faces together when meeting sales reps, and seeing a Company Leader truly excited about his Team.  We were greeted by Giant Iguanas and departed in a tropical storm.  The time in between was priceless.  

NOW that we are home though, its time to seriously put some thought into this wedding.  We had lots of questions of "when is the wedding? Where is the wedding?" etc. and honestly, these need to become things we can answer.  SO, Next we go to Dubsdread this weekend and try and schedule a date for this extravaganza, then, get the Family together for some serious dress shopping!

That is all for now, I am tired, and have what feels like a mountain of laundry still left to do.. so look for more posts soon.  

So many changes...Love our girls...

Wow, so its been a little bit since we have updated, but things have been a little crazy.  It is amazing how kids change your life.  They make you more loving, more caring, and more understanding.  But at the same time, they make you more defensive, stronger, and more diligent.  I for one know that since having Emma and Savannah in my life, I have changed immensely.  I would lay my life on the line for either of these girls. I would fight those who tried to hurt them, and I would go to the ends of the earth to make things happen for them.  I am so glad to have them in my life.

Recently we have had some big steps.  This past weekend, Savannah had a very big dentist appointment.  She got her very first filling. We had Mommy (Shelbi) Daddy (Mike) and Mommy Nikki all in the room when it happened.  I laid with her in the dentist's chair and held on to Nanna while Mommy and Daddy and I told her how good she was and what a big girl she was while Mike's Uncle filled her tooth. She did SUPER well!  We were all so proud of her.  When she came home with us, she was excited to brush her teeth and to floss.  Its amazing what kids think.  Also this is her first week in VPK - Big girl school. 

Another big step was Emma starting Middle School today.  I am so proud of her.  She did a lot of reading this summer (although most of it under duress!!).  Although there were a few hang ups this morning, like the bus being late and Daddy taking her to school, but I am hoping that  she learns her schedule, makes new friends, and has some fun at school.

Man these kids are growing entirely too fast!!!

So many things going on with the kids lately, that Mike and I have not done anything for the wedding. (Slackers!!)  I think within the next month we will be going to Dubsdread to check out their wedding planner and the site, etc.  Also in the next few weeks I will be going with my Mom and my step-mom to try on wedding dresses for the first time!  Stay tuned for pictures.

Well, thats it for now!  I cannot wait to hear all about Emma's first day of school!!!  

So Lucky...

Have you ever thought about your luck?  I mean seriously thought about it, your station in life, your relationship, your family, all of the good things in your life, like kids, good jobs, etc.  With the wedding, Mike and I have really been looking at our lives individually and together and we are both really damn lucky.  Although, I don't chock everything up to luck.  Mike, the wonderful man that he is will look me deep in the eyes and say "I am the luckiest man in the world to have a fiance like you" and I will look at him and say, "it was lucky for us to meet one another in life, but it was hard work, determination, understanding, compassion and passion that make us the couple that we are..."  There are some things in life I lucked out on, one of the biggest things being parents who love and support me and are exciting about Mike, the girls, and I embarking on our lives together.  I am lucky to have wonderful friends who are there for me whether it be coffee after work to just relax, or to listen to me drone on about wedding colors, venues, ideas, etc.  I am amazingly lucky to have a job that I love with co-workers that support me and are excited about the wedding, and a boss who is a friend and is so excited to be walking me down the aisle with my mom.  I am honored indeed.  

Mike and I are lucky to have two beautiful, healthy, loving girls who are excited about Daddy and Mommy Nikki getting married, and are thrilled we will all now have the same last names. 

With all this luck, we have never taken one another for granted, nor have we taken the gift of our friends, family, or careers for granted.  We are both hard workers and work to support all of our relationships and still maintain our own relationship with eachother.  

I wake up every morning and smile, as I know in my heart of hearts, that I am marrying the man of my dreams, my soul-mate, and above all , my best friend and I know that luck has nothing to do with that.  

Why does it feel like there is so little time??

Sigh, so it's still over a year out at the earliest date we would want to get married, and yet I feel like there is so much to do and so little time to do it in.  First off, we cannot really pick an actual date until we find a venue for the wedding itself.  We have a few places in mind, some include, Leu Gardens in Winter Park, The English Gardens in Winter Park, and Dubsdread in College Park.  Although we will have somewhere around 100 attendees at max, we still want to have a relatively intimate wedding.  I am finding out that there are some places that just don't give you any help with your event.  In that case we would be forced to hire a planner and staff, which is not something we want to do.  Also, some places have severe time constraints, like, you only have 1 hour to set up your entire event, and an hour between the ceremony and the reception and no time to set-up.  What are couples supposed to do in that situation?!

So there are our current dilemmas.  Also- we want to find an affordable venue, that will provide lots of staff and assistance and help with decorating, etc.  Preferably we would like to NOT to go into severe debt for our wedding.  I know, we are wishing for the moon aren't we?  We are trying to save by doing a lot of stuff ourselves, such as making favors, centerpieces, invitations, etc.  Hopefully what we put into the wedding in time, will pay off in the end.

We are lucky though to have eachother.  Mike is super involved in the wedding, which I LOVE!  I am so glad that he has not turned this into some "Do what you want and tell me where to show up" kind of thing.  It makes me super happy that he helps make decisions, has an opinion and is willing to spend hours at a time looking at wedding stuff, sharing ideas, and wandering through the wedding aisles at assorted crafting stores.  I am so lucky to really be marrying my best friend and soul-mate. 

So lucky to have one another.