Posted 10:39 PM by Erica and Luke
“Wedding Expo”

Today Sarah and I went to the Best Western’s Wedding Expo in Marshall. It wasn’t as helpful as I would have liked it to be but I did find a limo company to book with. They had the vehicle there which was really nice so I could see it beforehand. I didn’t win the free honeymoon…shucks….but it was fun to see so many familiar faces from the community that are getting married. =)

Posted 10:18 PM by Erica and Luke
January 13, 2003 The flower saga…

I just couldn’t resist putting this in the journal. This story will be in the books forever! (sorry about the length...a short story would not do it justice, as this really was quite the ordeal!) It all started on the evening of December 23rd. Mom and I decided to start hunting/getting ideas for silk flowers for the wedding. We went to Michaels first and found no red rose buds, only huge fully bloomed flowers. We dug through the Christmas leftovers and still found nothing useful for us. We thought we were going to have better luck but we didn’t. So I asked mom if she wanted to go to Wal-Mart soI could show her what I was envisioning as they had the rose size I wanted. We then went to Wal-Mart, dug and dug through all there flowers trying to find simple red roses and all of a sudden we came across the most beautiful red rose bush whose buds were made of velvet. We both looked at each other like could this be it?! They looked like a dozen real red roses fresh from the florist. As we found more and more surrounding them we found 3 different shades; dark red, red and a two-tone red and pink bush. We kept starring at them thinking are these really the ones? Could it be that easy? And at of all places, Wal-Mart! They were only three dollars for 10 roses….3 dollars! No one will ever know these flowers are from Wal-Mart we thought to ourselves. At the time mom thought we should buy all they had but I told her to just get a couple of each until we knew exactly if they matched the dresses. Little did I know…I would be regretting that very statement!

Posted 10:17 PM by Erica and Luke
Not long after mom was able to make a trip to David’s bridal to see if the red roses matched the red dresses. Mom said they matched perfectly! At that point it was oh great! We need to find more of these flowers! I went to the Marshall Wal-Mart and there were four bushes- two dark red and two red red. I then called mom to confirm which ones she brought to David’s to match…she read the numbers off the tag and I had confirmed that it was the red bush. We had a slight problem though, where were we going to find more red roses? Mom had searched the entire northern suburb Wal-Mart’s already- and had no luck. I panicked. We found the perfect flower that would save tons of money but what if there wasn’t anymore? It was 9 p.m. at night and I started calling every Wal-Mart I could think of. First I tried Montevideo, Redwood Falls, Worthington and I wasn’t having no luck. I was so frustrated as all I wanted was enough bushes of this flower to make this work. I then called the Apple Valley store and the lady said she found two shades of red roses with the same serial number I read off to her! OH NO!! What color is the one that matches the dresses…how could two different colors be labeled the same number? So many obstacles and it just seemed like it wasn’t going to work. The lady also told me that they were a non-replenishable item. She had the two bushes though, so she put them on hold for me. It seemed hopeful but unlikely that this would work out…but I kept calling around.

Posted 10:16 PM by Erica and Luke
I was able to reach dad and Catherine to see if they would be able to go to their Wal-Mart in Hutchinson, that night, and search for these flowers. He later called from Wal-Mart and had no luck...the telzon gun said they had one but it was no where to be found. Soon the associate was now trying to see if other stores had some and what she could do. I also called Bloomington and they said they found one rose bush and she would put it on hold for me. Next I had to call Bridget and Dad and see if they would be able to pick them up. Bridget was able to graciously pick the Apple Valley ones up and when dad got to the Bloomington store they had put the flowers back on the rack earlier that day and they were now no where to be found! I felt horrible, here dad had gone to this store just to get these flowers and he left empty handed. So...I had to brainstorm...expand the range of search...so I started calling all the stores near Elisha in Iowa. Elisha also starting calling around; she found six bushes and was going to pick them up the next day. Thank goodness Wal-Mart's are open 24 hours! We were still in need of more flowers but everywhere else I called they had none in stock. The next day I called mom to update her on the status of who had what and how many each one had...we were still short, but I thought we will just have to make do somehow. I emailed grandma Huse later that day and at the end of the email told her of the funny/frustrating flower saga, not thinking anything about it. I later got a reply that Grandma called around to the Wal-Mart's around her and found twelve plus bushes! Could this be true! Grandma and Linda went to Spirit Lake, Iowa and got six rose bushes. I was then going to meet Grandma and grandpa in Worthington to pick up six more while they also were going to stop by Storm Lake Iowa for more bushes. That would have been a six hour commute but bless their hearts they were going to do it! The day before we were going to leave grandma was awoken by a phone call from Linda. She had to go to her mom's the next day and guess where it was? Fifteen minutes from the Storm Lake Wal-Mart! Linda was then able to get the remaining rose bushes. Then yet another twist occurred, a quilter friend of Grandma's was also on her way to Worthington so she was able to pick them up. Finally to wrap this saga up, Luke and I met grandpa in Sioux Falls of all places, to pick up the flowers. It seemed at the beginning the day would never come...but all the flowers are collected and later on dad did get more shipped in from up north! At that point, we started to tell people... NO MORE FLOWERS =)

Posted 10:08 PM by Erica and Luke
January 4, 2003 12 p.m.
"I bought my dress!"

Bridget, Katie, Elisha, mom and I ventured out to David’s Bridal again to purchase my gown and to also try on more bridesmaids dresses. The girls found one that looked great on, but we just were not sure on it so we decided to wait. I can’t wait to go back up to the cities on February 28th to go out with the girls again and make final decisions=)

Posted 10:04 PM by Erica and Luke
December 23, 2002 11a.m.
“My first appointment to look for a dress”

Mom, Elisha and I went to David’s bridal to try on wedding gowns and for Elisha to try on bridesmaids dresses. I found a few styles that I really liked but the first one I tried on turned out to be the one! There was no doubt in my mind that it was the perfect dress for me. They always say it’s the first one you try on…and it really is true! I was so excited when I left that I found a dress that I fell in love with and it fit almost perfectly! =)

Posted 3:44 PM by Erica and Luke
I finally got the journal up and running, so hopefully we’ll have lots of exciting news to post.