What a Wonderful World

T minus 2 days until I'm a Mrs.  Can you believe it?!  I can't.  It feels like just yesterday that I was playing on the playground with my classmates, and the only thing I had to worry about in the world was whether or not my dress would flip up over my head while playing red rover.  And no, that analogy was not made up... It actually happened.  To this day, I fear tripping in dresses.  Anyway, as far as life goes, time flies.  It's a beautiful and terrible thing, time.  One minute you're just a little kid, and the next minute you're an adult.  Sometimes I mourn my childhood being over, because my childhood was amazing.  I have 6 brothers who I have grown up with and they have been by my side through everything!  They have always had my back.  I also have 2 parents who have adored me and taken care of me my whole life.  They have been there for me through thick and thin.  That makes for a wonderful childhood.  Since it was my birthday on Monday, here's a little birthday throwback.. enjoy.

Now that I am grown (kind of), I reflect back on my life, both the bad and the good, and I think to myself, in the words of Louis Armstrong, "what a wonderful world!"  I only hope that one day, when I bring children into this world, I can teach them all that my parents have taught me, and I can provide a beautiful childhood for them, like my parents did for me.  I hope that they are best friends with their siblings, the way that I am with mine, and that no matter what they are going through, they know that they can talk to Jason and I, and that we are always on their side.

I don't mean to get too mushy, but I am so incredibly grateful for this world that we live in, and that God cared enough for all of us, to make it so beautiful.  Life isn't perfect, I know that as much as anyone else, and sometimes life kind of stinks, but one thing that holds true: we are incredibly blessed.  Every. Single. One of us.  No matter what we may be going through, no matter the heart ache and hardships, when we count our blessings it is incredibly humbling to realize just how lucky we are, and how much good there is in our lives.  Speaking of good in our lives, did you guys know I'm getting married in 2 days?  Yeah, pretty sure everyone knows.

This week has been absolutely crazy in preparation for the wedding!

Last weekend, Jason and I moved all our things into our own little space, and after hours and hours of hard work, we finally made it a little place to call our temporary home.  I love it!  And so does Jason.  We have watched way too many episodes of F R I E N D S this week, now that we have our own little entertainment center and the comfiest couch that there ever was!  Everything is a work in progress, but here's a picture of our bedroom so far.  I love it, and I can't wait to continue to add to it!

Also, Each of us had our Bachelor/Bachelorette parties.  I wont go into detail about mine, but it was so much fun!  I got some amazing things from my dearest friends, and I'm so grateful to my lovely Nikki, Shydi, and Caitlyn for throwing me such a fun party.  My mother-in-law Mary also threw a shower for me with all of Jason's side of the family.  I'm going to highlight one gift that Jason's grandma, Dixie, got for us.  Guys!  She got us a Dyson Ball!  I'm obsessed with it.  The first thing I did when I got home was vacuum the entire house, and can I just say, the hype about this vacuum is true.  Go get one.  They are incredible!  Also, can I just say, I'm marrying into an amazing family?!  Working in a salon, I have heard countless stories about people's in-laws.  To say the least, I was terrified to get in-laws!  My in-laws are amazing, and I am so blessed to be able to say that.

My Birthday kick started this week, and Jason was so sweet to me.  The day started as any other.  I went to school, ran some errands, and went home.  Jason told me to be ready by 7:30, so at 7:30, Jason came to get me, and he took me to Thanksgiving Point for dinner.  Then, he blindfolded me and marched me all over the place!  I looked absolutely ridiculous... Picture me in a dress and heels with a pink skull blindfold over my eyes, and me tripping all over the place.  Now picture Jason letting go of my arm and laughing and taking pictures of a little defenseless me.  It was a good time.  He walked me around for what seemed like forever And finally, he took my blindfold off.  When I too my blindfold off, standing there were some of my best friends from hair school.  They were holding a cake with candles and a million gifts for me.  They then read me a list of "22 favorite single Sheree moments."  It was hilarious and touching and I cried a little bit.  Jason is so thoughtful and caring to have helped plan this little mini party, and I was so grateful for all of my friends.

Another key moment this week was yesterday.  Yesterday I did something monumental in my life.  I went to the LDS Mount Timpanogos Temple.  It was beautiful and sacred and amazing and utterly indescribable.  It was so lovely to be there with my parents, Jason, and Jason's Dad and step Mom.  I feel like the luckiest girl in the world.

As this week comes to a close, and my wedding day gets nearer, I am overwhelmed with gratitude.  As I open this next chapter of my life, I am so excited to be sharing my life with Jason, and I am so grateful for the wonderful life that I have lived thus far.  To end, I just want to say, "what a wonderful world!"

 Also, look how cute Jason is!  I want a puppy...

Wedding Planning

I don't know how many of you have planned a wedding, but can I just say... it is busy! I honestly never understood before.  Buy a few decorations, get a dress and some flowers, maybe some music, and You're good to go, right?  Wrong.  That's what I thought, until I started planning my own wedding.  I never knew how much planning went into one day!  There's so many little details that you never think about.  I'm sure there's a million that I have forgotten about and I will remember like two days before... I just hope I don't have a panic attack or something crazy like that!

For the most part though, my wedding has been fun to plan!  If there is one bit of advice I can give, it's to have fun with it!  Things are going to go wrong, and you're going to forget about something, but guess what?  No one will even notice or care except you.  And the most important thing?  You're marrying the man of your dreams, your best friend, and nothing in the world is better than that!  I must be the most laid back bride ever. Like... I haven't been to the gym more than 3 times and I've had Mexican food everyday... So all in all this whole bride thing just hasn't really set in I guess... Haha seriously what bride to be doesn't go on a diet?!  Lucky for me, Jason loves me regardless! ;) Anyway, I don't think I've had any bridezilla moments yet.  I could be wrong, you can ask Jason or my mom about that one... But seriously, if you're not stressed about the small things, and if you have a good time table, wedding planning is fun!

I can't wait for mine... by the way it's in 9 days! Holy crap... I can't even tell you how excited I am!  And I can't wait to show everyone pictures and details of the day!  For now, I'll keep it short and sweet, and I'll give you a few teasers. 

My videographer is one of my good friends.  Her name is Caitlyn Cutler, and she is seriously incredible

at what she does!  Check out all her videos at Caitlyn Cutler Videography.  She is the cutest girl in the world, and she is so fun and creative.  I just love her to death.  I'd recommend her to anyone!  Here's our save the date video.  I'm kind of obsessed with it...

Jason and Sheree: Save the Date!

My photographer is seriously the best!  Her name is Shaylee Burr and you can visit her site at Shaylee Burr Photography She is so sweet and fun and makes the experience so great.  I've never been the type to take a lot of photos of myself.. in fact sometimes I feel quite awkward in front of the camera.  Shay helped both Jason and I to feel comfortable and helped us with posing and everything!  She is a doll, and she doesn't charge you an arm and a leg like so many photographers in the area.  She's affordable and amazing at what she does!  Here are a few photos from our engagements and Bridals.  Enjoy!

My Outfit Details: Dress: BCBG MAXARIA Shoes: Target Jacket: Express

Jason's outfit details: Shirt: Express Suit and Tie: Next

 My Outfit Details: Hat and Jacket: Cotton On Beanie: Zumies Dress: Anthropologie Boots: Steve Madden

Jason's Outfit Details: Jeans: Cotton On Shirt: T.J. Maxx Beanie: Zumies

My Outfit Details: Sweater and Pants: H&M Coat: Pac Sun Scarf: Ann Taylor Loft

Jason's Outfit Details: Sweater: Old Navy Jacket and Jeans: Cotton On

My Outfit Details: Custom Made by the Lovely Maryann 

Jason's outfit Details: Suit: Next

V. Day

This blog has been in the making for quite some time now, and thanks to the lovely Rylee Blake and all of her genius, I was able to finally get a design that I love! (you can check out her blog at ryleeblake.blogspot.com) The inspiration of my name came from the French phrase, "mon cherie amour" which means, my dear love. I'm all about Love, and I guess I think I'm pretty clever putting my own name into the phrase. Anyway, since I'm all about love, I figured what better day to write my first post other than Valentines Day? I realize it's two days after Valentines day, but I did start writing this on Valentines day, so we will count it.

To me, Valentines Day has always been well looked forward to. No, I have not always had a significant other. In Fact, most of my Valentines days have been spent solo. Why did I look forward to Valentines day then? Well, let me tell you.

1. The Candy… Duh.
2. The Awesome Valentines Day boxes that I always spent hours making.
3. The hand picked Valentines day cards that I gave out to my best friends, crushes, and not so secret admirers. (you know the kind... "You're a cool cat!" or simply, "have an awesome Valentines Day! I mean... we don't want them to get any ideas, so we make sure they get the least flirty Valentine ever.)
4. The pancake breakfast with strawberries and whipped cream that my mom always makes 5. The cute little Valentine from my mom and dad… At least someone has always loved me!
6. Chick Flicks. Seriously? The best chick flicks always come out around Valentines day. And you bet your bottom dollar that my besties and I made a night of it!

 So for all you single people out there, take heart. There are way too many perks to Valentines day to be all "doom and gloom" about it. Some of my favorite Valentine's days have been spent with my best friends, going to dinner, watching chick flicks, and obviously deep chats, cause it's just not a girls night without one.

This Valentines day is a special one, particularly because I am spending it with my best friend in the whole world. He's also going to be my husband in 22 days...(now 20!) And I'm seriously so excited! But I won't get off on a tangent. I figured since it's a day of Love, I'll tell everyone a little bit of Jason and I's love story. This is the story of how we first met. It was January 7, 2013, and my friends and I were invited to a friends birthday party. There were going to be a lot of people there, and that meant that we could meet some new faces and make new friends. So, we went to this party, and when we got there we saw a familiar face and gravitated in that direction. This party was at a cabin, so my friends and I were upstairs in the loft playing pool with some guys that we knew. Then, some guys that we didn't know came up and… "Oh… he's cute! And wow… his eyes are unreal." I thought to my timid little self.

Luckily for us, these guys that we knew and the guys that we didn't know were friends. They introduced themselves and the cute boy with the pretty eyes told me that his name was Jason. So, as the night went on, we talked and got to know each other, but the party was big and the options were endless, so after awhile we split up to meet other people. At the end of the night, Jason and his friends were leaving, and my friends and I were still with that mutual friend of ours. Jason turned and asked me, "You hang out with Dakota a lot, right?" and I said, "um… yeah?" and he said, "Cool! Well I'm sure I'll see you around then."

 …………

 Okay… really? Well, that was being blown off if I'd ever been blown off before! He didn't ask for my number, nothing. Just a "see you around!" Oh well, you can't win 'em all… A few nights later, our friend Dakota invited us to another party, and we decided to go. Upon arrival, Who do I see but all my friends?! And that mysterious cute guy that I suddenly forgot his name.. oops. And you know what I did? I marched straight up to him, put my hands on both sides of his face, and got unusually close to his face with mine and said, "You're the boy with the pretty eyes! But I forgot your name… what is it? I promise I won't forget it again." WTF… Did I just do that? If you know me, you know that is extremely out of the ordinary for me to be that gutsy.. especially with cute boys. Of course he gave me trouble, but he finally told me his name. Again, it was a party, so we chatted for a bit and went on our way.

At the end of the night, my friends and I were with Dakota, and Jason had taken a picture of my friend and I with Dakota at the last party. Dakota asked him to send it to him, and I piped in and said, "Oh! Send it to me too!" So, he then asked me for my number so he could send it to me.

Guess what? He didn't send it to me. In fact, he didn't even text me at all.

However, I did see him pretty much every single day that week because I had become quite good friends with his friend group. Like all the other times, we would talk but nothing to show that either of us had interest. At this point, I just thought that we were friends. So, now that we were such good buddies, about a week or so later, I got a text from Jason saying, "Sheree Otterson what's up?" I am no game player, so I texted him back right away... smooth right? And not only did I text him back right away, this is what my text said, "haha hey Jas! I'm sitting in English.. Yuck. haha you?" Okay... since when did I start calling him 'Jas' like we are on a nickname basis? And why did I nervous giggle twice in a 10 word text? Give me the award for worst game player ever. Anyway, he asked me if I would help him pass out flyers for his friend's party at my lunch break. Since we were such good friends, of course I said yes and didn't think anything of it!

We met in the food court at UVU to pass out flyers, and he said that he would buy me lunch after for helping him out. So, as we passed out flyers, we talked. This was the first time that I had actually been alone with Jason and talking to just him. We talked about so many different things, and he brought up dating. He asked me, "if a guy asked you out, and you weren't interested and knew that there would never be a chance that you would date him, what is your opinion? Do you live by the one date rule, or would you say no?" I straight up told him that I'd say no.

I'm going to get on my soap box here for a minute. I have six brothers, and all of my older brothers have told me that they would rather a girl be honest and upfront with them at the beginning, because planning a date takes time, effort, and money. Not only that, but they get their hopes up that you might be considering dating them.. I mean, you said yes to the date, so that must mean there's a little bit of interest, right? Wrong. If a girl isn't interested and knows that there's no chance, most guys would rather the girl say no. There's ways to be tactful about saying no, but I think it isn't nice to say yes if you know you're not interested. There's my two cents on the subject.

Anyway, so, right after I told him my opinion and why, you know what this ballsy kid did? He asked me on a date for that Friday! It was a group date that he and his friends had planned, and of course I said that I'd love to go. So, we went to Costa Vida and had lunch, and we talked and talked for hours. I missed my next class just because I didn't want to leave him yet. We had found out that we had so much in common, and I was blown away by him. That little "trick date" that he took me on couldn't have gone better! And I couldn't wait to see him again. However, I was still a little confused, because I didn't know if he viewed me as just a friend, or if he was interested. I have always been "one of the guys," so I didn't know if he asked me just because I had become such good friends with all of them and they wanted to do a fun 'friend' date, or if he was into me. So, I will leave the rest of the story for another day. Just for kicks, Here's a picture of us on our first (second) date.

As for this Valentines day, I had the best Valentine ever. Jason left a pretty red dress and a sweet elephant necklace on my bed while I was at school with the instructions that I should wear it on our date that night. I went to his house and he made me the BEST food! He made an amazing roast, mashed potatoes, garlic bread, and asparagus. He seriously slaved for hours on that meal, and it was delicious. Then we went to cold stone and saw the new Thor movie. It was the best Valentines day I've had yet, and I can't wait to spend every Valentines day forever with him! I got Jason all ten seasons of friends and had a candy bar poster that related to friends and our relationship. Like, "The one where we first met," and then I went on and put candy bars and such. It was clever, I was quite proud. Plus I'm stoked, because I feel that Friends will be a good investment for our Marriage. We love Friends! Anyways, I hope everyone had an Amazing Valentines day! I know mine was.