WC #7

7. the dress: was it what you always imagined? did you have it made for you? white or ivory?


Oh my gosh, YES, it was everything I had wanted...I knew I wanted a halter top, and a spilt front. I didnt like the pure white and liked the Ivory coloring better with my skin tone...I tried on a few dresses and found this one at a little botique in a small town about 45 min. from my house. I LOVED my dress!!

The back of my dress

Not the best picture in the world, but finally Mr. & Mrs.

One of my favorites

WC #6

6. the colors: show some of the flower and colors you used
Haha, this is a funny one...I couldn't get Matt to agree on any colors...finally he said as a joke, orange and black (OSU Beaver colors) and to his surprise, I said yes!! So, we did orange, black and ivory...I think it turned out good

Me and my bridesmaids

The cake table


Bridesmaids flowers

My flowers...I LOVE them!

WC #5

5. engagement/bridal pictures: let's see em


We didnt really have that many done, my awesome sister Stacey did them for us...here is what I could find...Matt didnt really want to take them, so of course he wore his Oregon State shrit...but, thats Matt, so yeah :)

Gosh, how I wished I would have lost the weight before the wedding :(

This one is my favorite...probably cause it was my idea...Since our last name would be Cone, I found a pine cone and said, hey lets put my ring on it! This is the picture we used for our save the date cards

WC #4

4. the ring: tell us about it! did you pick it out? did he? pictures! tell us about his ring too!

OOPS, I guess I already did this in the post below...but Ill just tell you again how very special my ring is to me...Since both Matt's Grandpa and Grandma passed away before the wedding, I feel a connection to them by having his Grandpa's diamond. I got to meet his Grandma before she passed away, I know that she liked me :) BUT I never got to meet his Grandpa...I ask Matt all the time, do you think he would have approved of me? Of course Matt says YES...

Matt picked out his own ring is palladium just like mine, VERY simple...I dont know if I have a picture of his ring or not. My ring is in the post below.

WC #3

3. proposal: how it happened, how long were you engaged for? was it a total surprise? pictures of that... etc

I KNEW that Matt had the ring...my ring is VERY special...the diamond in my ring used to belong to his grandpa before he passed away. He wore it in his tie tack, he wore it when he met 3 presidents including JFK...pretty cool huh? Anyway, the diamond had been given to us a few years prior to him actually asking me to marry him. I went and picked out the setting I wanted, VERY simple. I wanted the diamond to be the star of the ring. I was on pins and needles just waiting for him to ask me, every time we went to dinner-everytime we did ANYTHING I was thinking...nows the time! Just to be dissapointed every time. He wanted to surprise me...ha!

I left for a week to go to Ohio to visit my "puppy friends" as I call them, a group of women who are also very into animal rescue. I had a great time while I was there, but missed my man so much.

My flight got into the Eugene Airport about midnight. I was just expecting my parents to drop off my car and I would drive home. When I came down the stairs, I saw Matt standing there. I thought to myself "oh how cute, he missed me" and I ran upto him and gave him a BIG hug...I could tell he was nervous, but I didnt know why, surely he wasnt going to propose to me, that was the FURTHEST thing from my mind at the time (jet lag) then in front of everyone at the airport, he got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife. Of course I said yes, although if you ask him, he will say I hesitated...I didnt, I was just in shock...he actually SURPRISED me...I had no idea!! We got engaged in April 2009 and were married in May 2010
Here is a picture of my ring...I just LOVE IT!!

WC #2

2. when you knew he was the one: self explanatory.. but how and when did you know?
Ours is a story of what I believe is absolute FATE...29 years (almost 30) ago, a cute little girl was born to some very awesome parents...said parents had just bought their first house on CONE Ave. Said little girl grew up on Cone Ave. until she was 16 years old...I LOVED that neighborhood, lots of kids to play with, lots of fields, just an all around great childhood...best anyone could ask for.

Fast forward 19 years, when said girl met a man name Matthew Cone (interesting??) One of the first things I told him was "I grew up on Cone Ave. how funny" then he tells me that the street was named after his grandpa Ed Cone who used to be the mayor of Eugene in the 60's and his family was pretty well known in the area...at that moment I thought, wow, could this be fate??

Then I realized that both his family and my family were hard core Oregon State Beaver fans...and that is a VERY tough thing to be living in the Oregon Duck country (Eugene). Then I thought again, wow, could this be fate?? YES YES YES, absolutely!! I always knew I wanted to marry this man, and Im so glad I finally got the chance to do that. I LOVE YOU BABY!!! (More on the CONE reference at later blog posts, its crazy!!)

Matt and I at one of our favorite things to do together, go to OSU football games,

GO BEAVERS!!

WC#1

1. how it all began: how you met, first date, first kiss, how long did you date? first picture together.....etc

well...our story began LONG ago...10 year almost exactly. I was a nanny living in Venezuela-I got home in April after being gone for the longest 6 months of my life, I was young, just a babe, 19 years old. My sister Kelli and I had always been close and she was living with her boyfriend Ben (who is now her husband) and their room mate Matt. She invited me over for Matt's 22nd birthday party they were having, which was on May 6th. I went, mingled...Matt was on the couch with another girl Liz (Kelli's best friend, she really wanted Matt to find someone, to put it in nice terms). Things didnt click well with Matt and Liz, and Kelli had an idea...she was going to hook her little sister up with her friend Matt. Problem was, we were both so shy...she had to come on our first few dates with us, pathetic huh? I was still kind of dating other people, nothing serious...Matt asked me to be his girlfriend on May 20th, 2001...I said I had to think about it...I was young (stupid response) but finally the next day I realized that I DID want a boyfriend! We went camping together the next weekend with some of my friends and shared a tent...It was so sweet as we were going to bed, he asked if he could kiss me-I will always remember our first kiss, it was magical :) Matt and I dated for 9 years before we FINALLY got married last year!! I'm a patient girl!!

Gosh, that was long before digital pictures, I dont think I have our first picture together!! How sad is that?? The first one I can remember is from my 21st birthday and I will have to find that and add to this post later.

Wedding Challenge

When I started this blog,
I never told the story of Matt and I, how we fell in love, ETC...
SO,
I stole this challenge from a friend and I'm going to do it!

Now that we have officially been married a year...I feel like its time!!

SOOOOOOO...
HERE WE GO!
Tell us:
1. how it all began: how you met, first date, first kiss, how long did you date? first picture together.....etc.
2. when you knew he was the one: self explanatory.. but how and when did you know?
3. proposal: how it happened, how long were you engaged for? was it a total surprise? pictures of that... etc.
4. the ring: tell us about it! did you pick it out? did he? pictures! tell us about his ring too!
5. engagement/bridal pictures: let's see em!
6. the colors: show some of the flower and colors you used
7. the dress: was it what you always imagined? did you have it made for you? white or ivory?
8. the little accessories: you know, veil? shoes? jewelry? what did your bridesmaids wear?
9. the ceremony and reception: where was it at? show us some pictures! what day did you get married?
10. the cake/food: i love food. so tell me about what you had at your wedding!
11. your song and/or the first song you danced to at your wedding: share a music video or lyrics if you can!
12. favorite part of the day and least favorite part of the day: can be anything.
13. honeymoon: where did you go? was it good? ;) haha...jk.
14. thoughts on marriage: what is the easiest/hardest part? if you could change anything, what would it be?
15. first place that you lived together: pics if you have them!
16. kids: do you have any yet? if not, when do you plan on it? how many do you want? any tips on good/bad birth control?
17. most recent picture of you and your significant other and what you love most about them :) and any other thoughts

I AM A RUNNER X 2

I cant believe that I went from doing NOTHING, to running 2, count them 2 5K's in ONE WEEK!!! I did my first one last Sunday at the "Bark in the Park" that day my sweet sister Stacey asked if I would walk one the following Saturday for the "Born to run challenge" for the Lane Pregnancy Center...I thought, oh man, will I even be recovered from the one on Sunday yet? But I figured, what's it going to hurt to walk it??

We got there, and I got all excited and decided, IM GONNA RUN IT!!! At first I just thought Ill do it half way, then see how I feel from there...I may be a slow runner, as I finished LAST of the runners, but I did it damn it! AND I beat my time on Sunday by 2 minutes!! Im so proud of my sister Stacey and sister in law Sarah for doing it with me...they were SUCH troopers!! Here are pictures from the day. Its funny, this is the FIRST time I have actually seen the weight loss in me, Im starting to look more like my beautiful sister!

Me and my beautiful sister Stacey, I just ADORE her!

Stacey, me and Sarah, ready to run!

Ok, so this picture needs some explaining...this is my nephew Porter, Stacey's youngest

He is SUCH a mama's boy...like litereally I think I have held him once without him crying for mom. Since Stacey and I were wearing almost the exact same thing, she was taking pictures of the event, Porter came up to me and put his arms out, I couldnt believe it! He wanted me to hold him, and of course he was crying. As soon as I picked him up and put him on my hip, he stopped crying! All was well for about a minute, until he actually looked at my face and realized I was NOT his mother, then this is what happened! HAHA, I love my Porter man!!

Sadness

I KNOW what I am doing with my body is the best, I know it will help me to be healthy when I finally can/do become pregnant...but Im sad, I want to have a baby now-I want to get pregnant now...I know that I am still not healthy enough, another 40 pounds or so, and I believe I will be ready to start trying. But with my 30th birthday coming up in August, Im overwhelmed with sadness, I always thought I would be where I wanted to be in my life by the time I was 30, married with a couple of kiddos...Like my sisters. I FINALLY got the married part down (FYI our 1 year anniversary is on Sunday!!) but I just want a baby :(

sorry for the whining, Im just feeling sorry for myself lately

I think motherhood would look good on me :)

Me with my nephews Andrew and Porter Thanksgiving 2009

I AM A RUNNER!!!

I never thought I would ever ever say those words...I did my first 5k this weekend. I started training about 4 weeks ago-going from not running at all to RUNNING THE WHOLE WAY!! 2 of the 4 weeks of training I didnt run at all. 1 week I hurt my back really bad, another week (the week right before the race) I was emotional too damaged to run...we got some more bad news on Matt's mom, and drama surrounding my life has exploded. BUT, I put my big (not so big anymore) girl panties on, and got up early Sunday morning and went to the "Bark in the Park" a 5k to support our local humane society. The farthest I had ever got on the treadmill was 1 mile...1 mile running, how was I going to get through 3.2 miles??? My first goal was to make it to the half way point, not so bad right? Then I would take a little break and walk, well, got to the half way mark, and thought to myself, just a little further, then just a little further, till I was finally at the finish line. Im not going to lie, I wanted to stop and walk a few times, but I DIDNT! My time wasnt the best, but I did it!! My official time was 48 minutes and 37 seconds...What an emotional journey, I cried tears of joy at the end (SHOCKING, me, cry??) Thanks to my good friend Sonja for being there for me every step of the way! Now, onto the 10k in July and the 1/2 marathon in September!! I AM A RUNNER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Before the race, with my dear friend Sonja...A little nervous!

Me in my running garb...ready to run!!

After the run...still smiling!!