Part 30: Of Pre-Wedding Goodness: 10/11-10/12

Hello from the void! Things are finally settling in for me and Mr. Clifton as we've made the transition from honeymoon, to a temporary place in NH for two weeks, to driving from 11am-5am (yes an all nighter drive) to NC as of Thursday/Friday. Almost a week later, we're unpacked and into our 2nd temporary home before we make the big jump to AZ this winter!

Right now however, I figured it was about time to share on the subject of pre-wedding days :] It's crazy to think it's almost been a month since we tied the knot! I'll do my best to retell the event that will forever in my mind be timeless and perfect, starting with the days leading up to the big day. Here we go!

Jacob flew to NH a week before the wedding to help with set up + to just see me. I hadn't seen him since the beginning of July, so it was LONG overdue! The really craziness began around Saturday, however- when baking, organizing, making, creating, and finalizing things took place. Following a long and busy day Saturday was Sunday- a church day, max back squat day, dress up day, and rehearsal dinner day! To be honest, I wasn't fond of the idea of a huge rehearsal dinner, mostly because I already had so much to think about- lucky for me, I have a sweet momma-in-law to planned the whole thing!

The dinner was held at a church in Lakeport, NH- one of the oldest churches in the area, actually. Setting up and trying to organize all those people... it made me wonder how the heck we would get anything done that night! Luckily we did and things went so, so smoothly. It felt so surreal. It really didn't kick in what we were rehearsing for... but oh, the memories of that night are warm in my heart.

One of the best parts of the night was hearing both of our dads talk and seeing the slideshow our mommas had put together for us. Talk about emotional moments... reliving our entire story, remembering all the days and months we had to spend apart... it was a reminder of how great our God is: that he brought together two people who should never have met. Among the other songs in the slideshow, I had hoped to hear this one and I did:

http://grooveshark.com/#!/s/To+Find+My+Way+To+You/4O4JYZ?src=5

It's all those little moments rolled up into one sweet and fantastic evening... goodness. It's just goodness. All of it. I'm so grateful for all the work our families and friends put into that evening, because it was worth more than a million.

Ah yes. This picture. Well. After the dinner, I went back to my best friend/maid of honor's apartment and we had our 'bachelorette party', aka eating whipped cream, dancing, snuggling cats, watching youtube, braiding hair, and making unfortunate videos until late hours.

When I finally got home, I couldn't sleep. Maybe it was the sugar rush, considering I don't ever eat sugar? But either way, I went outside at around 1am and did 100 pushups and 100 jump squats because #weddingday #bridebebroswole #bridedoeswhatshewants and all that jazz, right?

Wait a second. I checked the time again. It was 1am. IT WAS WEDDING DAY. WEDDING DAY, PEOPLE. I stopped my starlight workout and snuck back into my house and off to bed.

When I woke up, I was going to be Mrs. Clifton.

After all these months and days and seconds and moments and tears and phone calls, there was an adventure on the horizon.

What Almost 11 Days Before Your Wedding Feels Like

Hello, strangers.

Forgive me for my absence. Planning a wedding (and life!) seems to do that to you... sorta.

But I'm here to tell you not what's going on- lawdy, everyone knows what goes on when weddings come around. I'm here to tell you what it feels like.

1. It feels like everything in your life is going to end and begin all at once, which is slightly brain numbing.

2. It feels like you'll never know what it feels like to have floorspace, as your current bedroom floor is engulfed in boxes, bagged clothes, etc.

3. It feels like your brain is always on red alert- because what if you forgot to do something IMPORTANT??

4. It feels like texting got 10 times more lame... because well. Impending marriage makes texting seem a little less cool =p

5. It feels like every workout is the best one ever- excellent way to clear your mind and muscles.

6. It feels like every moment with your family, at work, at home, in your room, at your house, at all the places you normally go, is the last one forever.

7. It feels like you can't think straight- which is probably why I'm having so much trouble writing this.

8. It feels like you're always forgetting something.

9. It feels like you need more time, but you also want time to go by faster at the same time. No pun intended.

10. It feels it isn't really going to happen. Ever =p Despite how close the date becomes.


I wish I could give you more, but I'm tired. And I want to backsquat tomorrow. Or something to that extent. But yes. It's 11 days tomorrow. It's 4 days (tomorrow) until I see Jacob. I'm not sure what else to say.

Here's to the Cliftons... ETA October 13th, 2014!

Buddy Holly and a Million Other Things Happening Today

I like listening to Buddy Holly.

While reading how to potentially renew my license online.

While doing laundry.

While emailing our photographer on what photos I want to have at the wedding.

While finding addresses for some such people.

While icing various parts of my body.

While calling and filing for insurance.

While re-stacking all the boxes in my room (lots, lots, and lots of boxes).

While feeding cats.

While discussing the timeline between "Sixteen Candles" and Buddy Holly.

Buddy Holly is important, I guess.

While asking whether or not an extra 6 hours of driving is worth it when you're already planning a 13 hour drive.

While thinking that by golly, it's been a whole hour. Maybe I should eat again.

Oh. And I still need to buy stamps.

Happy, busy brain today.

I also feel a lot like a little kid when the mailman comes. So. I've grown accustomed run outside in my bare feet and hope I get some exciting package. Heck, I've spent enough George Washingtons, I will be as excited as I want to!

Hm. So 73 days. And this what my mind feels like.

And registries are fun after the first 24 hours- the first 24 hours are icky. But worth it. Especially if you have food.

"Oh, you're getting married? How's that going?"

"Great! It's been a lot of fun!"

"So when is the wedding?"

"This October!"

"THIS OCTOBER?!?!?!" (cue foaming at the mouth and shaking violently before dropping stone dead)

What else... oh yes! Knowing your dress is going to look JUST as you imagined is a lovely, lovely thing.

And getting wedding bands that are 10,000 times more amazing then you expected?? It makes the 56.32392584 hours you spent researching metals and stones or no stones and how expensive and what not.

And that's all I have time to say right now! But thank you for all the prayers and texts and emails and facebooking and such- I'm very grateful (and busy, but still!) for all those who are following along with us and we wait to see what God's plan is for the future Mr. And Mrs. Clifton.

Here's to licking envelopes!

What If I Ruin My Wedding?!?!

I need to mail invitations. And a zillion other things. But instead, let's talk weddings, shall we?

Ahh, wedding day.

This is the most important day of your ENTIRE life.

Or. So we are led to believe. And don't get me wrong, this day is a BIG deal. But is it worth tears and stress and questioning your sanity? Can you make a wrong choice, order HORRIBLE decorations, and ruin your wedding?

Some might say yes. I say no. Let's delve into why you cannot and should not fret about ruining your wedding:

FIRSTLY: This is YOUR wedding. Be respectful of family members and guests, but this is your and your significant other's special day. If you like it? Go for it.

SECONDLY: What is the most important thing in planning your wedding? Having a God honoring union. How you go about that can happen a zillion ways, right? I mean, otherwise, we would all get married the same way.

THIRDLY: A wedding is about joining two souls, not matching salt shakers, wedding bubble blowers, and the most perfect/unique/ah*mazing playlist. Are those things what make it unique and memorable? Yes. But the ultimate goal of a wedding is to create a marriage that lasts forever. If you have to choose between having lasting memories of your wedding ambiance or a lasting marriage, we know which is more important.

FOURTHLY: Ask yourself: if you do your best to be economical, smart, and trust God to guide you in your decisions and planning, how can you ruin your wedding?


Outside circumstances we cannot help. But when it comes to us, we do our best, trust God, and let the results glorify him. What are your thoughts?

What I Know (don't really know) about Matrimony Crash and Burn

1. Don't make a problem where there isn't one.

2. Seek out the other person's needs and wants and perspective before yours.

3. Do the right thing, the right way.

I've been asked by a lot of people in the past few months (okay, since I got engaged) about how I was planning the wedding, what I would be doing for decorating, where the wedding would be held, what kind of dress I'd be wearing, on and on and on.

Let's face it. Weddings (and the planning behind it) have become a HUGE part of getting married. Maybe more than they used to be, maybe not. Either way, there is a very big focus on what and how and how much you spend and where and why and why not when it comes to wedding planning. What your wedding looks like is a representation of YOU, right? And it's the start to your future. It's the sign to everyone that you're joining together with your best friend.

It should be done right.

What surprised me was in hearing from a woman who, said in so many words, that her wedding was all this time, and work, and effort... but that when it came to the day after the wedding and beginning life together, she couldn't help but wonder... is this it? Well. This is boring.

Maybe it's a culture thing. Weddings have to be HUGE in one way or another. Videographers, photographers, cakes, dresses, bouquets, a soundtrack to remember, a first dance, programs, invitations, bridesmaids gifts, matching outfits, flower petals, etc etc etc. There are SO many details, and you put SO many hours into this day.

Why? Because this is the BIG day. You want it to be perfect. And it should be. But aren't we forgetting something? Aren't we putting things in backwards order a little bit?

Shouldn't we put our focus on making our future marriage perfect over making the wedding perfect?

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying you should makes sandwiches and get married in a sundress in a field. Well. If you want to, do it, but you know what I mean. I'm also not saying you should shoot down having fun in planning a wedding and instead sit in a dark corner and do nothing but read your Bible.

WHAT AM I SAYING?

Plan a wedding. Make it you. Make it fun. Make it wild. But your wedding should NOT be more glorious than the life you plan for afterwards.

You wouldn't pick out bridesmaids' dresses more elegant and glorious than the bride's dress. You shouldn't use up all the best and most wonderful of your budget, emotions, intelligence, etc, for the day of the wedding, only to realize you've got to work from almost ground zero for your starting lives together.

I hear a lot of 'I wish we had focused more on this' or 'I didn't realize how selfish I was until we were married', or even, in the words of that one lady, 'life after the wedding felt like a let down!'.

Why is this? Where is the focus?

I'm not trying to point fingers. I'm simply trying to figure things out from what I know.

I've promised Jacob to make our marriage perfect- not in the true, literal sense of the word, because that is impossible. However, when I set a standard to reach for, when I tell myself that God designed us to glorify him in all we do, that is what I want to plan for. I want October 14th to be even better than the day of the wedding. I want every moment afterwards to be a reminder that God comes first, that marriage is to bring him glory through our words, thoughts, actions, and prayers.

Planning starts now. Truthfully, planning started since I met Jacob. Not in a huge, obvious way, but in small ways. Every time I interacted with Jacob, I tried to analyze my words and actions. Did I respond correctly? Is this a time to do more and encourage him in a bigger way?

Because really, if you think about it, marriage shouldn't be a huge transition. Yes, things will definitely change in your relationship. But the basics? Being kind, respectful, considerate, having a consciousness of the other person, putting the other person first, waiting, sharing, and being patient... aren't these things we can practice now?

Shouldn't these be things we've been practicing since we made intentions in our relationship?

And in the end, it comes down to trust. It comes down to looking to God and admitting, "I can't do this alone. I'm a sinner, I'm incapable, but I want to glorify you by making this marriage something that will lead others to you and inspire others to glorify you, too."

Intentions. I'm not saying this is easy, this is always fun, or this is as pretty as a well done up blog (you can imagine mine, if you'd like. I think my blog is very well done. Ahem).

And yes, I'm sure there are just married people, long time married people, and in between married people that are shaking their heads at my stupid naive ramblings. I'm not married. I don't see the obvious. Marriage is something new and I have not the slightest idea what I am babbling about.

Maybe not. But I repeat. I'm bringing this to God. I can't do this alone. I'm a sinner, I'm incapable, but I want to glorify Him by making this marriage different. How so? I don't know exactly. But I do know what is said of love in the Bible, how we are told to treat one another- and in marriage shouldn't this apply the most?

I seek to honor God in my wedding (and wedding planning), but if I have to place my focus on wedding planning or planning for a marriage that is honoring and blessed by God, I will seek the second with my whole heart.

Lucky for me, I still get my paper lanterns. Like I said- it's not one or the other. But I want to avoid a crash and burn from fairytale wedding to immediately battling through rough edges in my marriage in areas such as selfishness, patience, sharing, figuring things out together, etc.

The fairytale should begin AFTER you say 'I do', not end as soon as you utter those words.

God made marriage to be a representation: a holy, beautiful, representation of Him.

Don't settle for making JUST your wedding day dynamic. Make your entire life a fantastic, wild, up and down hill adventure of the dynamic duo, of the new classics, of you and your best friend.

Wedding Planning: Truths from a Current (Biased!) Planner

So I pondered about whether or not I should make a 'I'm so smart and know what I'm talking about post' about something I've not finished doing yet.

Heck all my friends (or so it seems) just got married. They know how this works. They don't need to read this. BUT- this is a biased truth list. This is a list of truths I have discovered.

I'm feeling a little ridiculous and since I'm in the throes of this whole planning thing, I'm going to make this list and hope you all enjoy trying to figure out what I'm talking about.

So sorry. And for those of you who have been here and done this before- if you feel I'm oversimplifying, incorrectly describing, or basically looking like a fool, please comment that I'm at least a good looking fool, deal?

And in the end, I'm the one who will regret ordering 27 maroon balloons for ambiance, using chinese handcuffs as favors, walking down the isle to 'Ain't That a Kick in the Head', etc etc.

Alright. I'll be vague intentionally in some areas... I don't want to give too much away, you see ;)

So here we go:

TRUTH: Picking out a theme was incredibly fun AND shopping for stuff was an adventure worth redoing.

TRUTH: The system can be cheated.

TRUTH: Handmade bouquet? Waaaaaaay pretty.

TRUTH: Food doesn't have to be 'food', exactly. You'll see what I mean ;)

TRUTH: Personalizing things to make them 'you' is way more fun that being traditional.

TRUTH: When planning the ceremony, it doesn't have to be 45 minutes long. Or it can. But it won't be for us ;)

TRUTH: The best of the best came from yesteryear.

TRUTH: Everyone I know has done mason jars. DON'T DO MASON JARS. PLEASE. I BEG.

TRUTH: Color can be done. And in big, bright bunches.

TRUTH: Gold and silver are and always will be classy

TRUTH: MicrosoftWord and printers and font are nice to have.

TRUTH: Sequins and bangle things are always welcome.

TRUTH: I cannot play 'All of Me' or 'Thousand Years'. I cannot.

TRUTH: You don't need a year or more to be engaged so you can plan a wedding. You don't!

TRUTH: You CAN plan a wedding on a budget. And yes, it will still look good.

TRUTH: Things take some figuring out, but nothing needs to be extremely, hair plucking, bridezilla-like stressful. It just doesn't!

TRUTH: Glitter and toothpicks are time consuming, but so so so worth it.

TRUTH: I need to finish this up so I can go use said glitter and toothpicks.

All in all, I'm really enjoying the whole wedding process. However, I'm really looking forward to what comes afterwards- happily ever after. Forever!

What are some things you learned/discovered/knew while wedding planning?

Jacob + Beth // Engaged 4.18.14

"We should get jerseys
cause we make a good team..."


Being engaged is funny... at a distance. One moment you're 10,000 feet in the air without any thought of coming down, the next you're alone wondering if it was all real.

But of course it is. You've got a ring, silly.

And at this point, it's all just a matter of time till this phase is over. Goodness. I can't figure all this out.

Since I can't, I figure I might as well share a few of the engagement photos our dear friend Stacey took. We decided to do a few different locations, the first being at the Historic Belknap Mill- the place where we will become Mr. and Mrs. Clifton (:

Stacey told us that 1: these were the most unique engagement photos she'd taken (we don't know what she's talking about) and 2: Jacob was the most willing guy she'd ever worked with. 

"You actually look like you're enjoying yourself!"

Maaaaybe it's because he was ;)

After the Belknap Mill we took a few photos at the Laconia Antique Center:

But our favorite photos may or may not have been at the dojo. Because yes. We needed workout engagement photos. Surprised?

We did a 12 minute AMRAP of: 

10 cleans at 95/75lbs, respectively

5/12 medicine ball pushups, respectively

5 overhead squats at 95/75lbs, respectively

5/12 pullups, respectively

Jacob finished 5 rounds while I finished with 4 rounds + 10 cleans. Oh well. I tried to keep up with him anyways! At least in the end, we know who the real winner was ;)

"Did you ever picture yourself taking engagement photos at this point in time?" I asked Jacob.

We both knew the answer to that. But goodness me, I'm glad we both ended up where we did. It makes me wonder, for sure. How many times have you been afraid to go to a place in life only to find out that place was exactly where you wanted to be?

Happy days are here again. For now, I'm happy to be almost-Mrs. Clifton. I'm happier knowing regardless of my name, my place will be perfect.