Many Moments of Marital Bliss

Dear Family & Friends,

This is coming WAY later than I had intended. I caught the crippling flu this week! My school sent me home after I threw up after lunch (graphic I know). Doug has been such a trooper taking care of me this entire week! I am so surprised he has not caught it yet. I hope that if he does catch it, he will catch it soon! The wedding is only 9 days away!!!!!!!

But, as always, I digress. I wanted to share some wonderful and beautiful memories of my second and final shower. Doug's mom, Gayle, threw me such a beautiful and intimate shower at a very special place, the Madonna Inn. The Madonna Inn is considered the half way point between the Bay and SoCal.

Early Sunday morning, my mom, Kelly and I woke up and piled into the car. Kelly and I had just spent a wonderful day and a half together celebrating with the girls at my bachelorette party. This was certainly an eventful weekend. From the moment that Gayle told me she was hosting me a shower, I was pretty stoked. Then, a few weeks later I got an email from her saying that it would be at a very special spot- the Madonna Inn! The Madonna decorates their restaurant with pink hearts everywhere (you can check out the pictures). Between this shower and my mom's shower, my 2nd year apartment at UCSD was put to shame! There was pink everywhere! What I loved the most though, was being with my "new" family! Doug's family has welcomed me since day one. I feel so incredibly blessed to be a part of their family, to be welcomed into their special traditions, and to be able to go on trips with the "cousins." Lol. Doug has a very special relationship with his cousins. They are very blessed to share such a close relationship!

Kelly, my mom, and I arrived in San Luis Obsipo after Yahoo's map system gave us HORRIBLE directions. Those of you who know me know I LOVE to take pictures. Kelly was such a good sport with my picture taking. We pulled off into a beautiful scenic view of the ocean and took pictures. If you are able to view the albums you will see one of me with my arms in the air. I was screaming the whole weekend "IM GETTING MARRIED!" Our road trip was certainly fun! The great company, the random turns, the stop at the 99 cent store, and so much more made is memorable!

We we arrived, we met up with Doug's wonderful family. Gayle was busy making sure everyone was perfect at the restaurant. Fran was running back and forth to help. For those of you who do not know Fran, Fran will ALWAYS be the first to help ANYONE out! Even when she is supposed to be on vacation or resting, Fran has such a giving heart that she will sacrifice everything for others! Fran and her sister Juli will be doing the scripture readings at the wedding! So, of course, being with Doug's girl cousins Fran & Juli is always fun! We headed down to the restaurant at about 2 o clock. The entire restaurant was beautiful. I felt like a princess. Gayle had put her very special touches all over our table. She crafted a beautiful centerpiece out of our wedding invitation. She had placed some perfect pictures around the table and had adorable wedding rings everywhere. Everything was decked in pink. We feasted to our delight and had a fun time with the presents. Thank you Ladies for blessing me so much that day! Very sadly, my mom and I could not stay for bridal bingo..... but at New Year's we will have to play! Im not going to let us get out of that! :) Especially when Doug and I stay in the honeymoon suite at Grandma and Grandpa Wrights. lol j/k. After this wonderful and intimate shower, my mom and I had to head back south to do a bunch of bridal errands. Before we left, Gayle ordered a fabulous and magnificent cake! You need to check out the pictures!

So long story short (and my head is still filled with Nyquil and other meds... sorry for the words being all over the place).... I had such a blessed and amazing shower! Thank you Gayle and Kelly for all of your love and hardwork! Thank you Karen, Meg, Anna, Fran, Juli, Grandma Wright, and mommy for making the day so special! I love you all and I am blessed to be your family! And finally, when all is said and done, I have to say THANK YOU to GOD! I never could have imagined him blessing me with a man like Doug... and then going ABOVE AND BEYOND and gifting me with this amazing family. Ever since I was a little girl I asked God for just good enough... and he has truly blessed me with great. I have the BEST in-laws. I dont know of many mother-in-laws who would go out of there way like Gayle did to go above and beyond. At the root of Gayle's heart is always the intention to bless and give to others. I am certainly most fortunate to be on the receiving end. As I enter into this new family, I hope that she will take a break and be on the receiving end! Thank you for being the great stuff! I will cherish you always and I hope you know that that is the way that I view you for life! I AM SO EXCITED TO BE A PART OF YOUR FAMILY!!!!!!!!!!!!

See you all in less than 9 days!

(Doug and) Beth <3

ps. to view the pictures you can copy and paste the following links

http://ucsd.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2223736&l=11bc4&id=3304510

and

http://ucsd.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2223742&l=c238b&id=3304510

Dear Family & Friends,

As we approach the 2 week mark, Doug & I are spending one of our last weekends with the guys and the girls! I just got back from an AMAZING trip up to San Luis Obispo. Doug's mom threw me an INCREDIBLE shower (more info to come in the next post). Right now I am sure Doug is having so much fun with the boys. :) We are so incredibly blessed first and foremost to have such an amazing family. They are a GIFT FROM GOD! We were so lucky to have our families involved in this weekend! Thank you so much family for being so amazing, supportive, and wonderful. You are truly making this time so special! Check out the picture to the left. This is us before all of the festivities. Im wearing my princess outfit, getting ready for the spa & festivities, while Doug was geared up to go snowboarding & do other fun this with his brother & dad and the boys!

A little bit about Beth's Bachelorette Party:

PARTY TIME... that is Beth style. So everyone knows that I am incredibly naive and innocent. The girls treated me well and we did this weekend with such style and class! I would like to say a very special thank you to Miss LORI HWANGBO! One of my bridesmaids, Annie, got horribly sick and had to hand the reigns over to Lori, one of the other bridesmaids, to put this weekend together. After Annie had worked so hard to put together invitations and coordinate this weekend with Lori and the girls, she came down with three different types of sicknesses and she could not be with us this weekend. :( Annie, you were missed, but NO WORRIES! The party was a HUGE success and we all wish you could have been there! So THANK YOU Lori for working so hard to make sure everything went perfectly. I could not have imagined a more classy & elegent bachelorette party! I HAD SO MUCH FUN!!!!!!!!! I would also like to thank my soon to be sister-in-law for flying all the way down to help make my party so SPECIAL! :) We built some serious memories and I AM SO EXCITED TO BE A PART OF YOUR FAMILY! :) I would also like to say I LOVE you to JULIA, my SISTER!!!!!! I miss you so much! I cant wait for the days to go by until I see you! We will have our own party when you fly in! YOU MEAN SO MUCH TO ME AND YOU WERE BACHELORETTE PARTYING IT UP WITH MY FROM (your) BIRTH! Thank you for all those years! I LOVE YOU!

Kelly flew in at about 11:45 in the morning. She had a bit of a fiasco at the airport, but she got here safely and was, of course, the life of the party from the moment that she stepped off the plane! We went straight to the airport to Glen Ivy Hot Springs in Corona. There we met my wonderful girlie friends: Lori, Sandra, Alissa & Beth (Ms. Vieira). It was so appropriate that on the way to the spa I got a call from my childhood friend and older sister Jillie! The spa was so much fun. We lounged around in the sun, went into the mud pool, baked in a mud rock area, sat in (smelly) mineral water, soaked in a roman bath, and steamed it up in a fabulous steam room. It was such a fun and girlie girl day! After the spa we headed back to my parents house for the rest of the evening festivities. At the spa I warned the girls that they would be entering what our family has come to know our house as- WEDDING CENTRAL! Sure enough, the girls came over and were amazed at all of the wedding stuff! Kelly described our house to her mom like this "It's a mini Michaels!" Kelly is not overexagerating. Let's just say my dad is so ready for this wedding to be here so he can have his house back! But I digress.

We met some of my other very close friends back at the house. Lori went off to Trader Joe's to get some very special items to eat and drink. Sandra & Alissa met us back at the house. Soon after my very dear friend Heather arrived. Shortly after her came Kristin. And then FINALLY after a year and a half came my very best friends from High School, Pia & Porscha, and my WONDERFUL & AMAZING roomie from sophomore year, Kaneesha! My very best friends from High School (who really should have been bridesmaids too. In my heart they are... ), Pia & Porscha were able to come ALL THE WAY DOWN from the BAY AREA! Thank you girls so much for coming, it meant the world to me. :) You both are so special to me and I love you so much! :) I know that you will ALWAYS be friends that I will value, love, look up to, and cherish! :) Its crazy that we have come this far in our lives... that Pia will go off to law school, Porscha to Europe (probably with the Peace Corps). All I know is I have been so blessed to have you in my life! I would also like to say a very special thank you to Kaneesha as well. She REALLY came through for me in a time of need. She and her current roomie Amber let me live with them for a couple of days when I was "homeless" in San Diego. It was such a good time and it made me miss the good ole days in L-6. I LOVE YOU GIRLS and GOD HAS TRULY BLESSED ME WITH YOU!

At the house we had some good old fun! We ordered Mexican Food from my favorite local restraunt CUCAS! Just in case you didnt know already, we will be catering out Cuca's for the wedding (as well as Ono Hawaiian BBQ and Diane Kline and Cheryl Smith's culinary delights!). We were able to sit around and talk for hours. After talking for a long time, we opened presents. The girls were pretty tame with me, since they knew how traumatized I would be from this whole event. Overall, I would label it incredibly classy just like all of the women in my life! :) I must say, that the end of the night really topped it off. Before Kaneesha went, she prayed over me. I KNOW that God is going to bless this marriage to Doug and continue to bless my relationship with these girls. Growing up and leaving college has been a pretty rough transition. Doug and I are no longer accustomed to the days when we used to be able to walk a few feet and see a billion people. It is much harder to see friends these days. I know this weekend meant so much to us. As I talked and laughed with these girls I remembered so many memories and good times. Thank you ladies for helping to share in these new memories as I approach my life as Doug's wife! :) Even though Im going to be married, I am not going to be non-existent. You all are welcomed over to our house ANYTIME! :) Doug & I both love you very much and we count ourselves blessed to be able to call you friends!

A little bit about Doug's Bachelor Party

Doug's section will be very brief until I actually talk to him tomorrow. I know very little about his weekend (as it should be). What I do know (besides that he loves me very much... hehehe) is that his dad got in safely yesterday from the Bay area. Doug said they got some semi decent (but no Cucas) Mexican food from Redlands before heading up to Big Bear to hit a night skiing/snowboarding session! The boys, Doug, Jeff & Rich, had a blast together. Jeff, Doug's brother & best friend, put together this wonderful weekend for Doug. Originally he booked a cabin up in Big Bear, but the rental people failed him and sold the cabin they were supposed to rent. In spite of this minor speed bump, Jeff pulled it all together and made this weekend so incredibly special and memorable for Doug. Doug is a family man (which is one reason I love him so much). He was bouncing off the walls on Friday with excitement! He was so stoked to see his dad and be able to spend time with both him & Jeff! Doug is also a rugged man. He was more than happy to spend some quality time in the great outdoors. Of course, Doug is always the first to sign up for adventure and a little bit of danger. Thank the Lord the boys made it through the night session safely! Doug then took his dad back to "our" house where they crashed for the night. I think that Doug took his dad to breakfast at Norms, an OC hotspot.

Today's agenda was pretty packed as the boys went hiking at the Laguna regional park area (I believe). After that they were supposed to head out to dinner and then Dave & Busters. :) Steve was texting me today saying they were up to no good in MY house (j/k). I hope when I return the place is in one piece...lol... j/k. There will be more on Doug's party soon. As soon as I get pictures from Rich, I will update them as well. For now, you will just have to look at my handsome soon to be husband with me in the picture above.

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HELPED MAKE OUR BACHELOR/ETTE WEEKEND SO FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

With LOVE & EXCITMENT,

Doug & Beth ... bachelor & bachelorette for only 14 more days! <3

Friends and Family,

Please note that Doug and I have deleted our Target Registry. Please do not purchase any gifts from them for our wedding. Their registry system is flawed and it will probably give you a headache. So to save us (and of course your, our honored guests the hastle), we have completely done away with Target. Thank you for understanding this. We are now only registered at Bed, Bath and Beyond and would greatly appreciate Living Spaces Furniture gift cards.

Remember, presents are not necessary to come to the wedding. :) We cant wait to see you all in 19 days!

With love and excitement,

Doug and Beth <><

Hello Family and Friends, The very excited (and somewhat exausted) Bride-to-Be greets you the morning after her first shower! :) I wrote that I was somewhat exausted, because I was aboslutely overwhelmed by all of the love and graciousness that all of the ladies of my church and my special guests gave to me yesterday at my very special shower that my very wonderful mother threw in my honor! By the way, that could possibly be the longest sentence ever. :) lol. The shower started at 1 and we didnt get out of there until 5:30! Wow these ladies were troopers of Grace (literally and figuratively). I will share more details with you soon (and of course pictures), but I must be off with my dad on a few errands! He is signing over "my" car to me today. Then I have a whole bunch of wedding errands to run. I can hardly believe that the wedding is 20 days away! :) Yesterday really made the wedding day a reality and I cannot wait to share that special day with all of you! Thank you to all of the ladies who made my shower so incredible! Thank you MOMMY for all that you have done for me in my life and especially during this wedding season. I was floored by the shower and all of your hard work and dedication. You are the best mommy ever (I know there are others out there who would disagree.... but hey.. Im the bride-to-be... I get to be right during this season right?). Signing off for now with 20 days left!

AND IM BACK WITH 19 DAYS LEFT TO BE DOUG'S WIFE! :) Forgive the delay in posting the pictures. I spent a long time putting the site together and then it didnt save! So for now, you can see the pictures by going to

http://ucsd.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2221034&l=a6fbf&id=3304510 Just copy and paste it if the link does not work. And before I sign off, I would also like to say a special thank you to Rita for putting together all of those wonderful centerpieces. LADIES CHECK OUT THE PICS! I LOVE YOU ALL AND THANK YOU!!!!!!! All my love! With love and excitment, Doug and BETH <3

Hello Family and Friends,

I am not quite sure why the website seems to be a little messed up, but as I keep viewing it, the formatting looks off. Please scroll down all the way to the bottom to view the important links that you may need to access. You can also see the archives below if you need to access a previous post quickly without going through the hastle of reading through all of them! I just tried to change the template, so hopefully this will fix that problem. Sorry for any frustration this may have caused anyone!

In other news: Doug and I are getting so excited that the day is fast approaching. We are down to 29 (really, the day is almost over, so 28) more days until the wedding. This week was probably the climax of one of our most stressful weeks, but after one of many typical Murphy's law event this morning (yes, my tired blew out on the 5 freeway), Doug of course came to my rescue on the side of a busy and dangerous freeway! So to make a long story short, all I know is that I am happy to have Doug "jack my life up" forever and come to my rescue! If you want to hear all the dramatic details, you can give me a call. I must admit, its the little (and often stressful) moments that put love to the test, but I am so happy to say that it is in those moments I seem to fall more in love with Doug and appreciate those struggles.

Wedding business update: You should see my parent's house! Doug walked in and said "You guys werent kidding when you said this was wedding central!" There is a very small walkway to get in and out of rooms, but there is wedding stuff EVERYWHERE! I cannot believe my dad is being so patient with everything! Of course, my mom and I are loving every second of it. Its really getting down to the wire. By next weekend I should really have everything completed. I actually cannot do anything after next weekend, so it has to be done by then! Doug & I went to get our marriage lisence today... wohoo!!! My mom and I picked out my beautiful bouquet, my sister's boquet, and the bm's bouqets! We are ordering them through the nicest people in Upland! We also go our FABULOUS ringbearer fitted for his tux. ZETH WE LOVE YOU! You are truly an incredibly talented and WONDERFUL kid! :) We are blessed to have you in our lives. We will definately compete for the spot of your number one fans! Doug also took a trip up (or down) to San Diego to visit our best friend and groomsman STEVE! So a lot has been going on for us, but we just cannot wait for the time to be past so we can become MAN AND WIFE (and of course see all of you).

I hope that all of you are doing fabulously well. We cant wait to see all of you (and for those of you who DID NOT RSVP I need to hear from you! Contact Doug, myself or ANY family member or wedding party member! I am beginning to put the seating arrangements together. Thanks everyone!). We certainly do look forward to seeing you soon.

ALL OUR LOVE AND EXCITEMENT,

Doug and Beth

Pictures to come soon.... Im on my dad's computer!