Well a week tomorrow I'll be a married woman, gosh it's gone by so quick. My family get in tomorrow, we pick them up at the Airport at like 8pm. I need to check in to their hotel before we leave for the Airport, so I'm gonna put a few groceries in there for them like Milk and snacks and things.

The weekend went well, I picked my Wedding Dress up on the Friday that cost me $60. It looks nice all pressed and cleaned, I had to ask the lady to put a white sheet over it because I didn't want Clayton to see it. Then we headed down to the Chapel to talk to Laura our Pastor. We went over the ceremony and what vows we'll say, she's going to e mail us an outline of everything. We also decided to do a Unity Candle, where the moms of the Bride & Groom light the two side Candles which represent the two individual families, then Clayton and I will each take one of the side candles and light the main candle, which will mean our Family and life is one. I thought it was a really nice thing to do, so on the way home we stopped at the Mall to get the Candles. We also went to the Court house to get our Marriage license, that was funny they had to swear us in, with us raising our right hand and swearing to tell the truth. That cost us $55, what really annoyed me, was that they didn't have forms for people who had emigrated. I had to write my UK address down, which is actually longer than any US address, and when I was done the form looked a mess. Oh well, I still think they should supply forms for people who emigrated.

Saturday we went to Clayton's parents place for lunch, Clayton's mom wanted to go over all the Wedding details with us. Lunch was lovely we had Salmon, it felt a bit strange saying Grace at the table though. I'm not a religious person, I never went to church, I went to Sunday School when I was young. Clayton on the other hand went to Church all his life till he was 18, so it did feel strange saying that. I didn't even know grace, so I just remained silent, I know the lords prayer from school, but wasn't to sure on this one. I felt a tiny bit embarrassed, I did talk to Clayton about how I felt afterwards though.


So anyway here is the plan for the week ahead so far....

Tuesday June 29th - Clayton & Natalie Pick up my Family at the Airport.
Wednesday June 30th - My Family get over Jet Lag.
Thursday July 1st - Wedding Rehearsal at the Chapel at 8pm
Friday July 2nd - Everyone meets up at Clayton's Parents place for dinner.
Saturday July 3rd - Clayton & Natalie take my two younger sisters to Seattle for the day, then pick up her big sister at 8pm. Clayton's parents also take my parents and grandparents out for the day.
Sunday July 4th - Wedding rehearsal Dinner at the mariner restaurant by Bellingham Bay. All Natalie's and Clayton's Family, watch independence day Celebrations over the bay.
Monday July 5th - Clayton's mom Natalie, her mom gran & sisters go up to the Chapel to set up the decorations for the Wedding.
Tuesday July 6th - Clayton & Natalie get Married, The day of the Wedding. Wedding starts at 3pm.
Wednesday July 7th - Clayton and Natalie Stayed in the Hotel Bellwether by the bay for honeymoon night check out is at noon. Take back Clayton's Tux. Natalie's mom Clayton's uncle take Sarah my big sister back to the Airport.

So we have a busy week ahead of us, my family fly back to the UK July 12th so I'm sure we'll be doing other stuff with them from the 8th-11th. Oooh look at our first Wedding present Multi Region DVD Player My mum & dad bought it for me, I wanted a Multi Region player to play my UK DVD's I've been wanting one of these for ages. So at least now I can play my UK DVD's, I can't wait, I haven't had it yet but I'm waiting patently for it to be delivered.

Ugh this is so not fair I just checked the Weather Channel and it's 60% risk of showers for Tuesday July 6th, all this week is all Sunny and warm and for the Wedding it's rain. Noooo please change!!

Wow, it's been a while since I last posted. I've been ill the last couple of days, I've had a slight cold on the weekend. I'm a lot better now though. The weather has been so nice here, up in the 70s and 80s very warm. We didn't do much on the weekend seeming I wasn't feeling up to much, we stayed around the house and sunbathed in the backyard. Yesterday I cleaned the Cottage quite a bit, seeming I slacked over the weekend. I managed to get a hold of the flower lady and order another bouquet for my sister, I also paid her off too. I need to pay the Chapel off by the 26th June, and the cake also needs to be paid. I paid for the Food and Limos, so I'm half way there.

We are heading down to see the Pastor on Friday to do our Wedding Vows so that'll be sorted. I also need to pick up my Wedding dress from the cleaners. I can't believe a week from today my parents, grandparents and sisters will be here, it's gone by so quick.

I've been looking online for hair styles for the wedding, I like a few I've seen but not really liked. So I'm gonna buy a Wedding Magazine and have a look there. I want to take the Tiara and hairstyle to the Salon for me to have a test run before the Wedding day.

I've been working on my Adjustment of Status paper work the last couple of days, I'm gonna write up a section about it on my site. Just to let everyone know what forms the need and such. I'm a little mad cause the government have put the prices of the filling up. So now it's going to cost us at least $400 to file everything. They must think we are made of money or something.

I've spend all morning putting my Welsh Flag up outside my Cottage, I did it all by myself. My arms are killing me now though hehe but I am very proud. Take a look at the pic I took....


My Welsh Flag, outside my Cottage! 

Ooh Clayton's home early from work, so I'm going to go spend some time with him. It's such a lovely day I think we are going to go out for a ride in the car.

Ooh guess what everyone, my big sister Sarah phoned me this morning and surprised me by saying "Have you got room for one more at the Wedding" She's flying over to the USA July 3rd to the 7th, to be here for the Wedding. Yay that's great news, I'm so excited. She's going to be Maid of honor, I've phoned the flower lady and she's going to make another bouquet for her. Clayton and I booked a hotel for her, literally across the road from the other hotel my family is staying at. So that was good news today, I've had a happy face all day.

We've sorted the food platters out for the reception. We ordered them from Haggens, Meat & cheese trays fruit & vegetable trays and some salad trays. We also went to a rental place to rent round table sheets for the tables at the reception. I took my Wedding Dress to the Dry cleaners. Clayton's mom recommended a place, so I went down there today. It'll be ready next Friday all cleaned and pressed, it'll cost about $60-$80.

Clayton's parents stopped by this afternoon with fresh Strawberries and raspberries for us, which was really nice of them. So we are going to have Strawberries and cream for dessert after a Chicken roast dinner yummy. I might make a raspberry pie for tomorrow.

Today has been fun, Clayton has 3 days off so it's nice to be able to spend time with each other. We got up around 9:30-10am it was nice to have a lazy morning. I called Laura our minister for the Wedding, and arranged a day where we can write our vows. So next Friday the 25th we'll go down and meet with her. I've already written some of my vows I'm not sure about Clayton he probably won't tell me anyways. I called a few dry cleaners to see how much it would cost for my dress to be dry cleaned. I'm going to talk with Clayton's mom to see if she knows of anywhere good. Speaking of Clayton's mom she stopped round the cottage yesterday afternoon (Hmm my cottage wasn't very clean the dishes hadn't been washed) Wow I'm very house proud, sorry lost track hehe. She bought me a nice American flag oven mitt and pot pad. Seeming I burned my arm on the oven the other day, she thought it would be handy for me to have :) How nice of her. I have an oven mitt, but it was nice of her to think of me.

This afternoon we went for a nice long drive, and had a picnic by a lake. The weather is nice sunny and hot here, it was very romantic by the lake. On the way home we stopped by the hotel my Parents, grandparents and sisters are staying in. I wanted to check the rooms out. And yes mum they are lovely, although Eloise & Emily (my sisters) are gonna have to put up with your snoring all night long ;) hehe.

Clayton surprised me with a trip to Baskin Robbins for a mint choc chip milkshake mmmm it was so good. I think he was trying to bribe me into helping him clean his car out, which I'm off to go do now.

Talk to ya guys later hugs.

Well it's Monday yet again, I've had a lovely weekend. Friday we went to my local British store Piccadilly Circus I had such a great time, I bought some Snow Flakes and a packet of Hob Nobs, I was in heaven, there were loads of my favorite chocolate and British foods. They also had Robinson Orange Squash which is like a deluded juice drink, you just add water. They had Birds English Trifle and of course I bought a box. I felt a little more happier that there was a store close by that sells a bit of my home foods, I don't feel as homesick. The lady there was lovely her husband is British and he started the store originally, we had a lovely chat. And she even offered me a job, if I ever wanted to start work I could work in the store gift shop or the tea rooms/restaurant they have there. I told her I'd take her up on that offer when I've learned how to drive, seeming it's like an hour away. But it'll be nice to work in a store like that, bringing a little bit of my culture to the area.

We also went to visit a lady that does Wedding Cakes, called Cake KeepSakes. I found her online, and saw her cakes they are lovely. We talked for a while, and I looked through her portfolio we also had a yummy cake tasting mmm. We chose this heart cake, she's also going to decorate it with Lavender and White Roses. We now only have the Caterer to sort out, we were thinking and we thought it might just be easier to order the platters and not waste the money on a Caterer. We were looking at Haggens they have some nice meat & cheese platters as well as fresh fruit platters.

On Saturday we went to the Deming Log Show it was fun to see all the loggers doing relay races and then when they climb a 90ft tree in like 20 seconds that's amazing. We had fun going round the fun stalls and the fair ground. I was glad the weather had stayed sunny and dry. Sunday evening we went to see Garfield The Movie I so loved that movie it was great very funny, Bill Murray did wonderful with his voice. I can't wait till it comes out on DVD hehe.

Things have been good here in Washington, I had a lovely Birthday. I got some more packages on Monday & Tuesday. One of which was my mothers she put some yummy Thorntons chocolate in there for me. Your a life saver mum. I'm really missing good chocolate, I mean I can't complain I can pick up a bar of Caburys Dairy Milk in the local store here. But I can't get the unusual British chocolate like Galaxy caramel or Snowflakes mmm Snowflakes. Oh I did find something really cool though I found a local British Shop called Piccadilly Circus we were on the way to sort out the Wedding flowers out (which is another story) and we saw this British shop along the way, we didn't call in there because it was closed but we are thinking of taking a trip out there on Friday. How cool, as my sister was saying it's funny how much you take for granted like Hob nobs and tea bags hehe.

Had to take Liza our cat to the Vet on Tuesday poor thing has an eye infection in both eyes. Luckily enough we had an appotiment with the Animal Shelter vet, seeming we are covered with them for the first couple of weeks. Funny story really, she tried to escape when we got to the animal shelter. She jumped out of her box, gave me heart failure, I had to crawl underneath a car to pull her out. Poor thing was scared. She seems to be doing better now though, the vet gave me eye drops for her.

Tuesday evening we went out to dinner with Clayton's parents and Uncle. It was a nice evening really, Clayton's mom bought me a lovely house plant called Calandiva

 
She also gave me a $50 gift certificate for a Salon that I booked my hair appoitment at for the Wedding. She said that this should cover all the Wedding Services you needed for your Wedding Hairstyle. I was very surprised that she gave me that, it's lovely that we are getting on a lot better. I think they are finally starting to except me! Which makes things a lot easier.

I spend all day Monday putting pictures up in the Cottage, to make it feel more house warming, it's looking a lot more better now not so plain. Had a nice chat with my big sister yesterday we chatted for a good hour which was nice to catch up. Then I called my friend Laura and we chatted for a while also.

I sorted the Flowers out for the Wedding, we went down to meet the lady last night at 7pm. Hehe took us ages to find the place, we got lost! I'm not much of a good navigator lol. She was really nice, the total cost comes to $278 so not to bad for Fresh Flowers. The bridesmaids bouquets are going to be with lavender roses, and greenery. Then the Bridal will be lavender and white roses with some trailing ivy. I also ordered rose petals to sprinkle on the tables.

I also updated my website, I finally got round to doing my Port of Entry page. So have a good read of that, the main link can be found on the K-1 Visa Section.

Happy Birthday to me! Happy Birthday to me! Thanks for all the lovely Birthday Greetings everyone and thanks Julie for the lovely E-Greeting card. I've had loads of gifts off family & friends, I had a Tatty Bear Ornament from my Mum dad & sisters. I had a 21st Key of the door from my friend Laura she also gave me a Silver Welsh Dragon necklace. A family friend Gill bought me a Silver Welsh Daffodil necklace. I also had money off family & friends, I'm still awaiting a package from my Mum and Sisters, so that should arrive tomorrow. Clayton bought me a $15 gift certificate from Target, he also got me a nice romantic card. "For my Wife" awwww. He took me out for dinner this afternoon. And then we went shopping at Target. I bought a lovely Black Gemini Top with a cute saying on it. I also bought a couple of DVD's and a new lamp to go on my bedside table.

We went Garage Sale Shopping on Saturday bought a new Corner shelf to put pictures and knick knacks on, that cost $5. And we bought a new Bedside table for $10. I bought a cute Country heart craft picture. I also bought this lovely wooden music box, it's like a chest drawer cabinet. I cleaned it out earlier on and inside a secret compartment was a little plastic bag with two coins in it. One was a 1949 half dollar coin and the other was a British 2 pound coin with "Tercentenary of The Bill of Rights" written on it from 1689 to 1989. I will have to see if they are worth something, I doubt it but it was cool to find something like that.

I took a picture of everything I had for my Birthday and the stuff we had from the Garage Sales. So here it goes...


21st Key of the door from my friend Laura and the Tatty Bear Ornament from my mum dad & sisters.

Hehe read the T-Shirt 

Welsh Dragon Necklace off Laura my Friend. 

Silver Daffodil necklace off family friend.  

A Corner shelf to put pictures and knick knacks on. From garage sale $5.  

I'll post the rest in my MSN Group tomorrow, just thought I'd show ya'll :) Well I've had a good Birthday, missing everyone back home though. Love to all back in Wales.

I'm back yay. As you may or may not know our computer was offline for a few days. Thanks sis for leaving a message for everyone. Monday night the computer just crashed and wouldn't work properly when we restarted we got a black screen with an error message in C drive. So Clayton and I spend all day Tuesday trying to fix the problem. I think we were on the phone for a good 5hrs to the computer technical support line. They told us there was an error in the software and we'd have to reinstall Windows 98 back to the factory settings. So basically we lost everything that was saved on the computer before. Luckily we both didn't have that much to lose. It's taken us all day today to reinstall all our software including the Internet then all the Instant Messengers and such. But thankfully it's running a lot better than what it was, so that's good.

We've also had problems with our Car, on the weekend the car battery died. So we had to buy and replace the car battery that cost $60. Then Monday night we noticed the headlights weren't working, so Clayton took it to the Car dealer thinking it just needed the bulbs changed. Turns out the casing of the headlight had been smashed, probably by a stone or something. So that'll cost $240 including labor to repair.

Also I haven't been able to call home the last couple of days. Because the stupid phone company blocked our Long Distance service. We normally use the 10 10 987 number which is a United States number to call long distance for a cheap rate. Well Clayton had previously signed up for a long distance plan with a local phone company, until he found out about the 10 10 number. And so he cancelled this Long Distance service just before I got here. Well, what this stupid phone company has done is, when they stopped our long distance service they blocked the 10 10 number also. Grr stupid people, Clayton's just phoned them and sorted it out, So it should be back online soon.

So the last couple of days haven't been all that good. It's one thing after another at the moment. We had a good weekend though, we didn't go and see Shrek 2 afterall, it was a holiday weekend. And all the kids were out of School so we knew it would be busy with kids. We ended up going to see "The Day After Tomorrow" which was really good, we both enjoyed it. Ooh I also liked the fact that the Movie theatre was letting you have Free refills of Popcorn. Is that a new thing in the US or what? I knew you could get free refills of drinks but popcorn that is soo cool.

We also bought our Digital Camera, we went shopping for one on Saturday. And we found this one a Kodak Easy Share. It's really cute, I liked it. It was ether this one or a Fuji Film one. And I'm not too keen on Fuji I've heard they aren't that good. So we bought the Kodak one. We're thinking of buying the printer dock soon to go with it.

Liza our cat is getting better day by day, she's a lot more at ease with us. And Clayton is even taking a fondness to her, she's so cute. It's great to have a cat around the house again. She's really funny, Clayton's been leaving for work early in the mornings the last few days, he normally leaves me in bed for a sleep in. Well when he leaves, I hear a cry and a scratching on the door I open the door and she comes in meowing at me. She then jumps on the bed to keep me company.

I took a picture of her with my new Digital Camera ain't she cute. :) 

I added more pictures of her to my MSN Photo group here you'll have to join if you haven't already. It's a members only group, please be sure you say who you are in your application. I won't accept blank applications. Also this group is where you'll find photos of Clayton & Natalie's First meeting, Photos of our Wales UK trip and Christmas meeting. And for those who haven't seen our Cottage, there's an Album there to go through the Keyhole of Clayton & Natalie's Country Cottage. Hope you enjoy, I'll approve you all as soon as I can.