So I've been getting sick of myself cause I don't know if I'm being too picky on finding the perfect photog which doesn't exist or if I just haven't came across the right person yet. Everything I look into, I feel like there is some reservation I have. Anyways, tonight I came across this guy who seems to completely rock-

http://www.jeremylawsonphoto.blogspot.com/

Now I just have to wait for the fact he is already booked, charges $10k, or something else.

Photographer help!!!!

Ok, my very top pics for photogs ended up being booked for our wedding date, so I've been trying to find others....but no one is jumping out at me that I have to pick that one over the others! Here is what I currently have it narrowed down to. If you are super bored and reading this, please nose around and leave a comment for which one you pick or would not pick!

1. Brandi Brown (http://www.brandibrownphoto.com/)

2. Studio7 (http://studio7photos.com/); The main photog would be this girl- (http://bethberrypictures.blogspot.com/)

3. Stephen Seward (http://www.stephenseward.net)

4. Catchlight Park (http://www.catchlightpark.com/)

Engagement Celebration!!!

Last night we had an Engagment Party and it was a great time...Dustin and I are paying for it today though- haha! We really appreciated everyone who was able to come and especially those who travelled from out of town...and unfortunately we missed some close friends and family who couldn't be there. We used an empty loft here in dustin's building and just tried to spruce it up some and I thought it turned out really cool looking. Missy worked hard on cd mixes of a lot of our fave songs...unfortunately it was so loud with the talking that we couldn't hear a lot of the music until later in the night when we turned it up much louder. But I still loved what I did hear and think I heard most of the good ones! My parents did sooooooooo much for the party on top of trying to move next week, but I think it all paid off cause the food was great and we had so much fun. It was just a blast!!!!!! Cleaning up today-- not so much of a blast though-- we really should have used more disposable cups and such! Now I know a tad how people feel about weddings-- I was bummed as people were leaving because I felt like I didn't get to talk to them enough and spend time with them. I needed to have done a better job at making the rounds. And I felt like I hardly spent time with Dustin at all and this was to celebrate our engagment! Once only the latenight partiers were left, we went down to dustin's to play rockband...I decided to just be the groupie though and observe cause was too tired by that point! It was so much fun though....let's do it again next weekend! I still need to get the bulk of the pics from mom's camera, so I'll probably do a later posting with those. Oh, and best part of the night is as my dad is giving a speech and says that dustin's parents must be proud of him and Mandi accidentally lets this snicker out loud....it was absolutely hilarious!!!! I'm still laughing about that one days later

Illini RULE!!!!!!

Does anything more really need to be said about this trip than the score shown in th epic to the left?!?!?! I'm a little behind on posts because last week was super busy, but last weekend Dustin, Missy, and I went to Nashville to watch the Vandy-Illiniois basketball game. It was a great game because the lead would change back and forth and was close most of the game....but the illini came out on top!!! We also were able to sit in the vandy student section, so that was fun being amidst the rivals and we were probably only 10 rows from the court...something you don't get to experience at assembly hall! The rest of the weekend was a little boring-- we went to the same bar every night and it was dead and had horrible odor (see pic below of me holding my nose with the 2 other lone patrons). Dustin's friend we were staying with had a friend who owned the place which is why we continuously had to go there. We did go to dinner to a place called Sambuca for dinner that was super awesome-- good food and atmosphere. They are a chain, so if you ever run across this place- go there!!!

Execution Day - 9.26.09

As Dustin's friends were joking last night, Dustin's execution will be 9/26/09 because that is when we are getting married!!!!!!!!!! Now I just need to keep hoping for good weather so it can all go as I want. Our ceremony will be at the botanical gardens in the rose garden at 3:30. I'm thinking we'll then take a ton of pictures all over the gardens since they are really beautiful and have lots of cool scenery. We booked the reception at Windows On Washington which I'm also really excited for. We wanted the reception to be downtown so it would be convenient for most guests staying down here and they can walk to bars before or after the reception easily.

I can't get a photo of the rose garden site, but here is a link where you can click on the box on the left of the page where it says Experience more of this location/see more photos: http://www.cateringstlouis.com/weddings/loc_ceremony_lehmannRoseGarden.php

Not sure yet what colors will pick and that our room will look anything like this, but these were the pics I could find for Windows On Washington (aka WOW). We like it because I think it has a little more urban/lofty feel to them: