We just spent a fabulous night in Little Rock working on our invitations. They are going to look beautiful and it is all because of our friend Cathy who is doing them as a gift to us. I was blown away when she initially made her offer and continue to be so impressed with her. Having Cathy in our lives is such a gift, as I feel like all of the Little Rock families are. There is such a close friend network in LIttle Rock that I have been immediately accepted and loved right into just by being with Trevor. It is like a family and it is so beautiful. Most people miss the whole village rearing idea these days, but it definitely exists in Little Rock and it's a really great thing to see and to be a part of.

Also, on another note, I bought an ipod nano with my Christmas money. It comes with a free engraving and I had it engraved "Elly Bates" because really, that it is forever, and in so soon of a time. Strange, but almost painfully exciting.

Space Bible With Volume Lumps

Merry Christmas to those both on and off of our celestial space! Elly and I could not have imagined a more merry celebration than the one we enjoyed this year with our families and friends.

Your loyally engaged couple exchanged gifts on the eve of Christmas Eve. Elly gave me a great light jacket, a hand-knit scarf and warm hat, and a slide guitar that has consumed most of my time as of late. I gave Elly the first and second season of Art 21, which documents the work of contemporary artists, a 1973 printing of the Narnia series, and a tiered basket for our future home.

Christmas Eve, the Bates and Denny clans converged on J.D. China for a feast worthy of a mighty, "Wassail!". We took a stroll around the square and then back to the Denny home for carols and Elf.

The Burdens came to my parents home for Christmas. I was at the house early Christmas 'morn, then, after the economy-stimulating exchange of gifts, I went and swooped up Elly and brought her to the Bates' Christmas Dinner. We wassailed far into the night.

December 25th: BOXING DAY!!! The Denny's come to the Bates for a small continental breakfast when, SURPRISE, a family shower is thrown! Elly and I were so surprised and felt very blessed to be loved so much. There are a few less things to get on our registry now, so ATTN. ALL SHOPPERS: Save on Trevor and Elly's wedding gift by visiting any one of our registry sponsors and remember, our economy is in the can.

So I, Elly, hate to post, but I sort of made a deal with Trevor that we will alternate posting turns and I am up. I have to pleasure to say that our Save-the-Dates came in two days ago and they are beautiful. Trevor's best friend since second grade has a wonderful mother who is doing all of our invitation stuff as a gift to us. She really is so great (thanks Cathy!) Anyway, we will be collecting addresses and they should be in the mail before New Years... I haven't really thought about them too much at this point being how I am in the thick of finals, but in like two days I have a month to not have to worry about school at all.

I am obsessed with oncewed.com. It is a blog where pretty much really great original weddings are showcased. These weddings aren't the grand events that are in, say, the Wedding Planner, but they are funky, eclectic, and much more to Trev and my taste. We have gotten a lot of ideas from this site.

Trevor is really into picking the music for our wedding right now. It should be an interesting mix, but very much a representation of us-- the music maybe him more, but he is a vital part of "us."

I don't know how to add more things on to our blogsite, that is all a little bit beyond me, but I will ask Trevor to do it because we have more registries then just Crate and Barrel now. We are registerd at Bed Bath and Beyond, Pottery Barn, and Williams-Sonoma as well. I am sure that list will grow because it is still early in the game of pre-wedding bliss and we haven't found sheets to our liking yet, so just you all wait.

To end this post I will just say thank you all so much for anything and everything that you all have done for us, together or individually, I wouldn't be the person Trevor fell in love with had it not been for the influences other people made on my life and the same goes for him. So thank you, that is what we want our wedding to portray to you all, an intense gratitude.

On Your Marks, Get Set

And its off to the races! That's right, folks. The deed is done (partially). Elly and I have spent the better part of the week setting up registries at various registry-type stores!

The week started with us making a trip to Bentonville to visit with a potential cake-baker. She had taste tests ready for us at the door. Exquisite sublimity. We then decided to venture over to the fear-inspiring Promenade Mall - a twisted land where Christmas songs seeps out at you from beneath inconspicuous rocks. This place has a brand of surreal Romanticism all it's own. And what a wonderland of gifts! We perused the usual suspects: PB, WS, BBB. We registered at all three but it wasn't until we got home and began making changes via the World Wide InterWeb that we found our favorite (cheapest by coincidence): C&B. More to come.

Follow the rabbit hole:

http://www.crateandbarrel.com/Gift-Registry/Guest/ViewRegistry.aspx?grid=4250864

And we're going to be in Oklahoma City for New Year's:

I love Trevor. That is a blatant fact. He compliments me so well. He believes in me and it makes me feel like I can honestly do anything. It is interesting how the more we talk about our future and what we want the more I feel absolutely confident that he is perfect for me. My dreams are his dreams are our dreams. It is a full feeling. Plus isn't he dreamy? Look at how blue his eyes are. He is something else.

On other thoughts, my goal was to have all of the major decisions for the wedding made by the end of October. I am pretty well done truth be told. We decided on a caterer, a band, and our invitations will be sent to be made soon. Those were all of the major decisions that had needed to be made and here they are almost done-- a week early even. We are pretty good at this if I do say so myself and since I am saying it I have to admit that of course we have had so much help already with everything wedding related. People have loved on us so much. It is a grand thing.

(Not so) SECRET ENGAGEMENT PARTY!

Last night, Elly's roommates threw us an engagement party! The party (as all Lindell House parties are) was themed. Hats off to the lucky couple. If you didn't bring a hat, there was a large community hat box. The party was also a potluck and we came away with lots of gooodness. Shrimp and white wine (thanks, Beaver Boys), Tim's Veggie Deelite, and a heapin' bowl of Texas caviar. To top it all off, our friends helped us start our game collection with Pictionary, ImaginIFF, and Apples to Apples. It was such a fun night and made us both wish that it was a bachelor/bachorlette party so we could be married in a couple days!

I've known about this party for a couple weeks now and had successfully kept Elly in the dark (despite the unknown efforts of a select few) until the night before the party. We were passing around a laptop at my house and Elly, while attempting to check our blog, saw the Facebook invitation to our party. So it goes in a time when invites are electronically organized according to social tendencies. A friend reminded me that one day, it will be a good story about dated technology.

We met with a potential caterer last night as well. Susie Seeger is starting her own business and has done one wedding so far. With the wedding in the evening (7:00) we are leaning towards hors d'oevres and finger foods, which is what she did for the other couple she catered for. She couldn't have been nicer and more willing to work with us. She even had some hot samples for us. Elly and I get a real, home-cookin' vibe from her - and we like that.

Pictures from the enGAMEment party soon!

So Trevor and I have begun the registering process-- meaning that we have now begun to look at stores trying to figure out which ones have the stuff that we want to tell you all about. Due to the surprising difficulty of finding things that we both really want in stores that offer the registry program, I cannot really even guess when we will have a registry up for your perusal. It has been really fun though, walking around and just scheming for our life together. I am building a home with the man that I love and that makes me feel so full and happy.

"She had too many ideas for herself; but that was just what one married for, to share them with some one else."

Henry James
Portrait of a Lady

Here are some of our favorite shots - Mt. Comfort. Thanks Uncle D!
-Trev

Our Wedding Website

Trevor and I (Elly) are getting married and have decided to keep people in the loop of all the wedding plans. So here is some basic information:

Wedding Date: May 30th, 2009
Wedding Location: Pratt Place Barn (on the top of Markham Hill in Fayetteville Arkansas)
Wedding Time: 7:00pm

This will all be given here before too long via the save-the-dates and the actual invitations.

Anyway, we just want those of you who want to stay involved to be able to. I am glad we thought of using just a normal blogsite rather than one of the free wedding websites that come from places like theknot.com or ewedding.com. Those companies kind of freak me out and that is just the truth. I can handle only so much of traditional wedding decor.