Another day... another $0.25...

B and I were ready for our first real weekend together since we have been married and home. The weekend before last weekend we both had to work because we had drill. And the week after drill is so draining - being here for 6 days straight (4 of those days being 10 hr days). We had the rest of the week before last week off after we returned from our honeymoon, but it was mostly spent adjusting from jet lag and doing laundry. So we had to get all of our gifts put away and really settle into the house and make it ours.

The house has been a bachlor pad for quite awhile, roommates moving in and out. Now B has his last 'roommate'. :) And she is hanging curtains and painting walls! We will be sure and post before and after pictures of our progress as we go so you can all join in.

As for the both of us adjusting to living together, I think it's going pretty well. No fighting or arguing so far! The time just flies and each evening we come home from work and fix dinner. We talk about our day and do the dishes together. Then we usually shower and maybe do a few things around the house. Sometimes we watched a movie. But before we know it it's after 10! And that is late when you have to be up at 5 to work a 10 hour day...

Our sleeping in the same bed has had to adjust a little bit too since I am used to sleeping in my own queen bed, and that means in the middle... B wakes up to me pushing him off the edge of the bed! Poor thing... I just told him to snuggle up to me and keep pushing me back to my side.

I am so excited that I finally got our kitchen all put away and completely organized!! That is a huge relief as our lives center around the kitchen and when it's chaotic then I feel so overwhelmed and stressed out. But all of our new appliances and toys are in their own spot and I am loving it!

After we get the kitchen all settled in, B and I went to his grandparents house to visit and they wanted to give us our wedding gift from them... we got a standing mixer!!!!! I know we will use it. Everyone I know who has one uses the heck out of it so I'm thrilled to be able to use it and have easier clean up.

{Real life fairytale}

So the fairy tale wedding was everything I could have dreamed of! I should say that I never really, as a little girl, had big dreams of my wedding, atleast not planned out with every little detail! I always knew that I wanted to marry someone who cared about those details too and that we would plan our wedding together, even those little details! Maybe to many it seemed far fetched that a guy would care about the flowers or the color of the bridesmaids dresses, but I convinced myself that that guy was worth waiting for. The guy that we would share the whole experience together and make decision together, all the while growing and learning more about each other. (sapping romantic, I know, but that's me :) )

I suppose I compromised a few times along the way, and thank the Lord, He cleared my vision and showed me that I was settling for less than what I always dreamed of. But He hadn't. And He knew all along that guy I always dreamed of, that would want to be my best friend and care about the things I cared about, that he was out there. He was out there because God Himself was preparing him just for me! And only when the time was right and we would both be ready, did He bring us together!

I won't get into that story now, maybe another time. (Some of you already know it)

After the wedding, we headed to the islands of Fiji. (In case you are wondering where that is, it's NE of New Zealand/Australia.) It is a beautiful country and many Americans are realizing that as they are buying whole islands to get away from it all on. We stayed at a wonderful resort that I would recommend to anyone intrested in going! It was on the Island of Taveuni (pronounced ta-vee-unee) which is called the 'Adventure Island'. There are still quite a few villages there with the local people who farm and live right off the land. No plumbing or electricity. Of course the resort we stayed at had those things, but we didn't have a television or telephone in our room.

We stayed in a little bure (pronounced bu-rae) which was basically like our own little hut where we would walk to and from the main lodge on a sweet little path, right over a creek, surrounded by colorful plants and flowers! Amazing! Our bure was like our own little condo for the week, minus the kitchen. We had a little sitting area with a mini fridge and a patio. Our bed was made out of bambo and had high posts with sheer fabric that drapped around, it was very romantic. On our patio in the front we had a hammoc that we enjoyed one sweet afternoon. On our back pation we had a stone wall for privacy and an outdoor shower with our own bathing pool/hot tub and into the hot tub poured a waterfall right from the wall!

At the main lodge is where we ate our meals (gourmet meals btw, with the freshest ingrediants you could imagine!), they also had mountain bikes we could ride and snorkeling gear we could borrow. There was also a pool but we spent our time swimming in the ocean, it was like warm bath water and so clear it looked blue!

While we were there, they had many activites for us to choose from! We went on a hike to view some water falls! They come down from a lake that is at the top of a mountain at the north of the island. The lake never stops pouring down in to the waterfalls! The water is so clear and fresh, no wonder they bottle it up and sell it! We also took a tour down the west coast of the island where we visited the island chief's village, stopped at the 180 deg. dateline meridian (where the time zones begin and end so there is a 24hr time difference from one side to the other!), and also stopped at a local hotspot...

They call it the waterslides because the rocks form a natural waterslide down a lower pressure waterfall. And the water is deep enough that you don't really hit the rocks as you slide down! When you reach the bottom it's a pool of water that greets you! The kids have entertainment while the women are doing the laundry in the river.

Another day we took a day tour out to an island off of Taveuni called Korolevu (pronounced Kora-le-vu) and we went snorkeling in the best coral reef off the island! The water was so clear and there was so much to see. The little fish would swim around us like we were a part of their natural habitat!

The rest of our time we just laid around and relaxed. We spent a lot of time down at the resorts private beach just enjoying the water and surroundings. We also spent a lot of our time reading and talking, just enjoying each others company, just enjoying being married!

If you would like to see more pictures of our great adventure honeymoon, send us an email and we will send you a link to view them. kt_the_bug1206@hotmail.com

fun never ends...

So I mentioned that we are doing some prep work to our house {were B is living now, I'll move in after we get back from our honeymoon!} so that it has that cozy home feeling. It's been a bachlor pad for 5 years now... it's time for a womans touch!

We are enjoying doing all the changes together and we make sure we both like it before we decide, since we will both be living here, we thought that was fair! I'm loving how excited B is when we see the results of all the little changes here and there, plus it allows us to be creative and have fun together.

This last weekend we spent most of our time in our upstairs guest bathroom, there will be pictures once we finish it, but it needed quite a bit of work. You will see when we show the before and after pictures!

But I think its cute how just one little change can make a huge difference in a house to make it more homey. For example, we are going to paint an accent wall in our living room a chocolate brown so on the adjacent wall we thought we would hang some curtains the same color. We couldn't believe the difference it made just doing something so small!

Stay tuned for more fine tuning of the soon-to-be cozy cottage!

I was going through the pictures on B's camera and realized I never took the pictures off of his camera from when we went up the mountain and he proposed! And then I realized that I never posted about it except on our wedding website... [http://www.theknot.com/ourwedding/KatieNies&BrandonBernshausen]

So here is a walk down memory lane for some... and new photos for others! Enjoy :)

This was on the way up. We drove up to Golden State Park to see the leaves changing colors because 'Plan A' fell through.... That is B was going to take me up in a hot air balloon ride and propose while we were view the leaves from a birds eye view! But the wind cancelled that, God had another plan in mind...

The day turned out to be beautiful and the winds died down some. We really enjoyed the view we got as we drove to a special place.












Here we had reached the top and I posing by a tree B really liked.... I was oblivious and you can see my bare hand... the last pic that way forever now!







After we went to the top and there were quite a few people we started to head down the mountain... all the while B was looking for the 'Perfect Spot' and he decided it was at a spot that we had already stopped at on our way up. I pointed that out when we stopped there for the second time... {Again... I was oblivious!} So we walked over to a bench that overlooked a wonderful view down the mountain side. We were talking a little and then he set his camera down... and I had this feeling something was up!And then he took my breath away by asking me the question I had been dying to hear! That's the story of how we got to where we are now. Don't let the date on the pictures fool you, our actual date of engagement was on the 29th of September!


I'm getting so excited to see what our journey has in store for us...

{only 31 days!}

{ Shower of love }

I apologize for the tremendous delay in updating everyone on how the shower went! This last week was a crazy one to say the least... With me being out of town for a conference in Reno all last week to this weekend B and I redid our upstairs guest bathroom (from texture to paint to new fixtures...), we are pooped but so excited!!! [only 33 days...]

So the shower was beautiful!

My maid of honor, Rachael Fricke, along with a few other wonderful ladies { Sheryl, Krista, Tiffany & Manny} planned a shower that was amazing and fit me perfectly!

Everything was very girly and delicately decorated... These were the strawberry green tea drinks they made {minus the green tea here}.

They also served hot tea and little snack foods like cheeses, crackers, olives and bite size cheese cakes!!!!!!!!!!!! I couldn't have asked for more! ; )

Most of everyone invited was able to make it! There were just a couple out of towners that weren't able to make it. But I was so blessed with a very special guest who made the trip: my mama!! I am so happy she was able to come and be a part of the festivities. Total there were 17 people there. Which made for a lot of fun when we played the games....

The first game the girls had them play was where they had a tray with all different types of candies and they teams had to come up with a story/poem about B and I using all the different names. It was hilarious and so cute. I kept them all to put in my memory book!

Another game they played was Toilet Paper Bride... were each team had to dress up a person in a bridal gown... only using TP!!! Then their person had to walk the run way while B's grandma Alice and I judged and picked the best one!

Katie: just gorgeous!
And Sarah... marvalous!
Abby! So dramatic... so chic!

When it came time to open my gifts the girls handed out papers with a bingo board on it, but it was blank! They had to fill it in with what they thought I would get and then who ever got a bingo would get a prize!! I thought that was creative and my bible study leader, Tiffany won! She's so smart ; )

B's mom, aunt and cousin {my other b-maid} waiting to see what I would get.Trying to break the ribbon... {you know what that means ; ) }

After opening gifts, they had one more game to play... this time it was all on me! They had asked Brandon some questions and now it was time to see how well I really knew my soon-to-be... for every one I got wrong I had to chew a piece of bubble gum!

And then I had to try and blow a bubble...

Besides all the wonderful games and the spectacular food, I couldn't have asked for a better, more wonderful group of ladies to shower me!

Krista & RachaelMe and mama!

Katie and Tiffany!
My sweet girls!
And finally, the ribbon bouquet Krista made me out of all the ribbons from my gifts!

Overall, I couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day and shower! {Except having the few of you there that couldn't make it... See you in a month though!!} Thank you all so much for the wonderful gifts and cards. Love you all!!

Counting down...

Did you know it's only 51 days til the big day?!

I DO!!!

I can't believe it's almost here yet I feel like time is dragging sometimes!!

Just wanted to post a little update on the wedding planning. About a week ago I got my veil made! I was so excited to be able to do it myself and make it a little more personal than buying one. Plus they run anywhere from $50 - $200... I made mine for $12. I really like it too because it's the lenth and style that I want (I wasn't really finding it in already made veils)! I'm sorry I can't post a pic of it... it will just have to be a suprise!

We made the pew bows for the chapel and the flowers for the reception table decor (they are made out of tissue paper!). I have actually been impressed with how much we have been able to save just by doing things ourselves and it's that much more meaningful!

Everything is just about wrapped up and either booked or bought! Just waiting for that big day to come!! I feel like a kid again with Christmas just right around the corner and being so excited!!

And you all should know my shower is coming up (just a little over a week away!)... at least the ladies anyway! (sorry guys you aren't invited ; P) I'm getting so excited for it! My lovely little sis, Rachael is coming home from school in CA to host it for me! She has done an amazing job coordinating it all, even doing it from out of state!

Just one more thing... if you haven't seen Horton Hears a Who you really should go see it! Its adorably hilarious!

My Best Birthday Ever!

This is Brandon!

Sorry its taken me this long to share with everyone how awesome a birthday my beautiful sweetheart treated me to but I didn't have the info to log into the site. Anyways it started out last Tuesday when I opened my locker at work to find a Colorado Avalanche Apron! I love to cook and I didn't have an apron and now I do! The best thing is I don't feel like a sissy for wearing it cuz its totally a manly one... Then the next day again in my locker was a present all wrapped up with a pretty little bow and inside were some grey sweat pajama pants with an avalanche emblem on them! They are soo soft and comfy I love em! Then just when i was getting used to this whole idea of coming everyday to work to find another gift from my sweetheart in my locker there wasn't one... I even told her jokingly that i think there was a disconnect somewhere cuz there wasn't another present in my locker. So that night I go home and as i reach to open my bedroom door I see a note that read "Before you lay your sweet head down to rest... Take a peek @ the couch down stairs..." I rushed down there to find a birthday card along with an avalanche clock and a ultra comfy avalanche blanket... And in the bag the blanket was in were two tickets to the Avalanche game last friday night! 8 rows off the glass center ice!

Katie sure knows how to treat me! I was soo pumped! Peter Forsberg is my hockey hero and everytime in the past i have gone to avalanche games I have never gotten to see him play because he was either injured or it was after he had left the team. But this year he came back to colorado and I got to see him skate and get 3 assists none the less! It was so awesome I couldnt of asked for a better game either! We were loosing 4-3 late into the 3rd when Joe Sakic scored with 5.9 seconds left in the game to force OT! After nobody scored in OT it went to a shootout and we won it in the shootout! It is definately the most memorable hockey game i have ever been to... I haven't been treated like that on my birthday since i cant remember when... It was like the 12 days of my birthday! OK, OK, more like 5 but whatever you get the idea... My sweetheart must think im alright to have put so much into my special week... She definately is amazing and I am so blessed to have her in my life!