A LOT OF FIRST's

Life has become a whirlwind of exciting events. It's been incredibly fun and rewarding. At the same time it's been interesting to see how I deal with all of these changes and situations and to make important decisions. So far I've loved every stage of planning out my future life with Jacob and getting ready for our marriage.

Jacob and I re-met the beginning of April and have been dating since May. We got engaged on Juli 21st and have/had a 6 wk. engagement. By today we only have 12 days left. By the time of our wedding I will have moved back North, trained my replacement at UNC, finished all of my responsibilities in the ward there, started a new job in Logan, moved all of my stuff into our new appartment, planned a wedding, started school and got ready for our new life as much as possible. Jacob will have finished up his 3 summer jobs, got trained in and started his new part time job, moved into our new appartment, begun his semester with a lot of Landscaping Architect Credits, continued as piano teacher and helped plan the wedding. In addition to all of this we both had a lot of extended family and friends to meet, got ready to have my parents come visit, and hopefully helped each other to stay sane. As I said, I think we both enjoy it but I, more than Jacob, get stressed out every now and then. Luckily I have the best, most unselfish and loving fiance and we both have been blessed with amazingly supportive family members and friends. It's been very special to witness little and big miracles all the time that help us accomplish the things we need to get done. Everything is falling into place and we get so much help. We feel very loved and blessed.

For those who haven't gone through this process themselves, let me enlighten you just a little about just some of the things you have to think about when planning a wedding:

Set the date, Invitations (design, print, sending out), Engagment Pictures, Cake, Flowers,  Dress/Suits, Brides Maids/Witnesses/Escorts and rest of wedding party, Temple Sealing, Sealer, Reception vs Open House and or Dinner/Breakfast, Venue, Programs, Decorations,Food, Pictures, Honeymoon, Wedding License, Gift Registry...

It's fun but at the same time it can be overwhelming and mind boggling. Most of all it makes me excited for the wedding to finally be here and for Jacob and I to become Mr. and Mrs. Hendrickson.

We had a few issues with our invitations to get here so my wonderful brother worked together with my family on a homepage with a digital announcement and all the information necessary for our reception etc.
Here is the link if you haven't seen it in an email or on facebook. We hope no one got offended or felt left out by not getting an invite yet. We just don't have them yet either. Well, that's it for now!

http://www.dautelweb.de/jacobandrike/information.php

Soon to be Rike Hendrickson. (Kind of crazy! :)

Alright, folks.

Believe it or not, I'm engaged! Yup, to Jacob Hendrickson.

Here's a link to our digital announcement with all the information about our wedding reception etc.

http://www.dautelweb.de/jacobandrike/information.php?lang=en

Some of you will think: 'That's nothing new!' Others may shout: 'HALLELUJAH! It's about time!'

Well, what ever your reaction may be, mine still manifests itself with a cheesy, excited and permanently situated grin on my face, a remarkable (even more than usual) scatter brained-ness and a consistent lack of sleep. Needless to say, I am blissfully happy :)

Jacob and I got engaged July 21st. He did a great job in asking me and surprised me with a beautiful ring.

We decided to get married Sept. 3rd in the LDS Logan Temple. We will have a reception/open house on the 2nd at Jacob's home ward in Bear River City. We are trying to get invitations worked out asap and will hopefully get them to you. The next 5 weeks will be very busy as we are getting ready for the wedding, for school/work and our life together in Logan.

I haven't blogged a lot about any of this, in fact I've been neglecting my blog a lot. There are too many other things that I need to deal with and get done right now. But, let me just assure you that I am incredibly happy and doing very well. I feel so blessed to be able to prepare to get married and be sealed for time and eternity to the most amazing person in the whole wide world (for me anyhow)!

Thank you everyone for your prayers, and for all you do to show us your support and love!

It means a lot to me! I wish I was able to let everyone feel how much I love them and wish for you to be a part of this special time. Thanks again!