Just a quick note

Hey everyone

it's been an interesting couple of months. we are back at school after christmas break. our school has this thing called j-term where you take a semester class jammed into just over 3 weeks. each class is slightly different but you sit in class for about 3 hours everyday and each day the prof attempts to go over a week's worth of material. they're not the easiest thing but so far we are both doing fine. clint is taking a basic humanities class called art as an experience. the hardest thing for him is to stay awake at this 8am class. i am luck in that i get an extra 1/2 an hr as my class doesnt start til 8:30. I am taking a class called church history. we're going over luther right now. it's not too bad. the worksheets are an easy way to get points albeit time consuming.



there's not much on the wedding front we are still trying to find a place for the reception but neither of us are too worried about it. We have registered at Target and Amazon.com. I am still looking for a job but God has been faithful.

something i found out a couple days ago that really encouraged me and reassured me that God really is on our side is this. Most of you know that at school i hold the position of student mentor. it's a leadership position that pays a small dividend. In december i was not sure how i was going to make my car and insurance payments . the student mentors were all supposed to get our checks early christmas break. i got mine and was able to make my payments . i didnt think too much about it. until i got back to school and found out that the business office (that issues the student mentors checks) had messed up and everyones except mine.

this really encouraged me. it was kind of like God telling me that despite the fact that people have doubted my motivations for things He approves and that is all that matters. I dont believe that if i were on the wrong path God would have blessed me like that. I believe that if i really were on the wrong path God would have let me be at least late on my loan payment.

Thanks to all who read.

Rachel and Clint

A lot has changed...

well it's been a crazy semester that's for sure. It's christmas break and i am sitting here at clints house thinking about what all to write here.

Getting the worst over with the change is the bridal party. Initially it started out like this:
Maid of honor: Hannah (sis)
Bridesmaids: Sarah
Dana
Andrea

Later I added Brooke and Shayna
Well it now looks like this:
Hannah
Shayna
Rachel
Andrea

Long story that i am not going to go into details about but Brooke, Sarah and Dana are basically no longer my friends.


In other not so depressing news, I have ordered my dress! I ordered it over thanksgiving break and got a good deal on it. We also got my sister's dress for $99 which is happy. :) Because my dress is special order (no train) it will be ready in january. We found a tailor in ft wayne who will do the alterations for about $100 tops which is a good thing. I thought it was going to be way more because it has a bubble hem.

We have also picked out the wedding rings. They are basic hammered bands in 2 different widths that we both love. I know some girls love the sparkly diamonds and want more in the wedding band but I am just not that way. I know we dont have the money for more and i dont want any more. I love our bands, their simplicity and earthy look.


I have my shoes. My best friend Shay Rae ordered them for be a while ago. So I have my purple chucks with the wedding date on the heel. :D

All the bridesmaids dresses have been picked out and will hopefully be ordered soon. I am almost done with their jewelry.


I will be posting more often as the wedding draws closer.

love to all

Rachel and Clint

this and that update.... no lists arent you proud of me?

Hello all

We hope that all is going well with you. Clint and I are doing well. We have been experiencing a lot of changes and challenges. God is faithful though and we are trusting in him to lead us along this road.

Some recent developments -

Clint and I have been looking for a church that we could get connected with almost ever since we started dating. And we have finally found one. It is called The River Christian church. It was started by a few local families just recently. (the daughter of the head pastor is actually in one of my classes …. Small world…) So the congregation is fairly small and the ministries are still developing. We don’t even have our own building yet so we meet in an elementary school. We just started going 2 weeks ago but have already talked to the youth pastor about getting involved in the jr/sr high ministry. Clint is especially excited about this because he has been longing to really get involved. I am really excited about it as well despite the fact that I know it will be a stretch for me. I have always wanted to be more involved with that age group but never just taken the step to just do it. We are both very excited to see where God will lead us in this church and how he will use us.

Another big thing for us is my decision to change my major from pro writing to counseling. To some this might not seem like such a big change but it really is for several reasons. The main one being that I am a jr already and have already taken many of the classes for my former major. Because of the fact that it is so late I will be in school a bit longer than originally planned. About a month ago I started thinking about it. I had thought about it several times over the past 2 years but had just dismissed it as me just being scared. But over the past few weeks God has really been working on my heart and I realized that I want to work more with people then with words. I still want to write, don’t get me wrong, I still love it and it will always be a part of my life. But I want to do so much more. I want to go into teen counseling. It will be more along the ministry aspect that I have wanted all along. And it will better equip me to serve alongside my future husband clint. When I first started thinking about it I had wavered between counseling and youth ministry. I am really excited for this new major. I cant wait to start classes and get more into the psychology of it all.

In other news, I got hired by TUFW Campus Safety. All my friends think it is weird. I can see why. When I first came in to TUFW I swore I would never get into that department soley because that is what my dad is in. (no offense dad, bob or anyone else) Well, I got desperate. I actually think it will be fun. I had my first training shift early Friday morning. I like the people that I work with and I like that it is above normal campus pay. This will be interesting as I am used to the access control part of that job, but I am a student officer here. Yay! for late night/ early morning shifts. It will prove a challenge as the shifts are late at night and I have early classes 5 days a week. I am only the on call person so I am unsure that I will be able to get the hours that I need so I am applying to work at Michaels craft store. They just built a new one in fort wayne (they aren’t even open yet) and are looking to hiring lots of people. One of my other friends got hired and is going to give my application to her supervisor. (that would be a fun job… I wonder if they give an employee discount….*laughs evilly*)

For those of you who don’t know, Clint has been working as a DJ for the online radio station Remedy. On Tuesday nights is his live Hardcore show but he also has several other recorded shows on the weekend. Remedy is amazing! Since clint and I are currently sharing a car(explained in the next pp), I have been spending quite a bit of time in the studio just hanging out with my laptop writing these offline and hanging out with lots of fun people.

Clint’s car is with his parents at the moment because there is something wrong with it. I am not really sure as to what but we have been sharing my car nonetheless. Which has been working out better than I thought it would. I currently only work on campus so that hasn’t been an issue as I was hoping to get an off campus job at Michael’s craft store. Still working on that lol….

As far as work goes, I am also working on getting my jewelry design store up and running. I have always loved working with beads and this past august decided to do something about it. So I got a storefront on etsy.com. Etsy is like ebay except for all original handmade items. I have several listings up and am working on more every day. I have sold one piece recently but it wasn’t online it was to a friend. But anyway if you want to check it out and support me check out my website I do my best to make affordable, original, durable pieces.

Well that’s all for now. I will try to do better at updating this more often. There should be a post soon about the VFW Hall. If there isn’t one soon you all should bug me. I really need to get on that…

Thanks!

Rachel & Clint

a long over due update...

Well, we are back to school. We were trying to get as much planning done as possible. I wish that we had gotten more done but all things considered we are doing pretty well.

My main worry right now is that we do not have a place for the reception. We were going to do it at the pavillion in the park but when i went to scout the site i found out that the tables are bolted down.

Lots of stuff is going on. Both of us are quite busy; there are a lot of decisions to be made and busy work to be done. And not just related to the wedding. Clint's car is with his parents at the moment to be fixed and so we only have one car. I (Rachel) am working on getting a job as we have bills that are coming up that cant be covered by his income alone.



Since I work in lists here are some of my current ones-


Things done:
- bridal jewelry
- bouquets
- dress picked
- ceremony site reserved
- bridesmaids dresses picked
- asked jonathan to do music
- started on registries


Things to do:
- find reception site
- food
- last of bouts
- brides shoes
- find a pastor
- order dress/ find seamstress to alter it
- finish bridesmaids jewelry
- look into cupcakes
- photography
- talk to groomsmen
- guest list


More later...

love to all

last week....

I have been working on more of the jewelry and flowers. I made my necklace and it turned out better then i thought it was going to. I also got Clint's and one of the groomsman's boutonnières done. They are different but i love the way they turned out.

I am really excited about the bridesmaids packages. I just got the last 2 sent out today :)

I got to hang out with one of my bridesmaids on Saturday. I gave Dana her Bridesmaid's Info pack (they each contain a personal letter, a pair of earrings designed especially for them, and an info sheet). She accepted and loved the earrings. They were a bit too long but i fixed them.

I made my first venture to David's Bridal with Dana in tow. I really wanted at least one of my friends to be with me when i went so i jumped at the chance to have her with me. I tried on a LOT of different dresses. I fell in love with one but it is a bit pricey ($600) so i will probably go with my second choice. It was a lot of fun though. Dana has pretty much decided on her dress so when we got home i got to design her necklace with her. We went to the mall and hung out and it was just a lot of fun. I only wish that my other girls had been there with me....

****Venue/ shopping Update****

So we have the venue as of yesterday. We reserved Foster Park (pics below) unfortunately i do not hav any of the pavilion that we will be holding the reception at. it is in another section of the park but i will be visiting the park with the purpose of taking pics of the pavilion.



i have had 2 ventures to the bridal shops and now have a good idea of what i want but nothing is really picked out yet. i also am working on the centerpieces and jewelry that i am making. yay ok... on to pictures.....


























^ the gazebo where clint and I will be standing when we say "i do"




















^^ a sample of the beautiful flowers









^^the entrance to the bridal glen where the ceremony will be held










^^the view of that same arch from the inside








June 20 2009 - the day i marry my best friend!

A small update:

We got to talk about it before I left IN. We decided one place that we would like to try and have it and a date! :D it's still tenative though and it will depend on if we get the venue and such. Clint is going to go and get more info this week.

The colors are picked - lt blue and dk purple

We have so many fun ideas. I am working on:
~ asking my bridesmaids (they'll be getting a package in the mail within 2 weeks)
~starting on the favors (wait and see ;) )
~ making my first venture to the bridal shops
~ experimenting with centerpiece ideas
~ talking to my friend who is a photographer
~ looking at some flower girl dresses that a friend of my mom has (yay for saving money!)

that's all i can think of at the moment... as soon as we know we have the place Clint and i will talk about time, food and invitations

:D