El Paso, Texas

After our beautiful, amazing and everything that I ever dreamed my wedding day would be like on September 5, 2009 @ 5:00 PM, Fritz and I drove from Columbia, SC to El Paso, Texas to our 1st home! It was a 24 hours, 1694 miles from my parents driveway to ours (with Major in the back seat).

We of course had to ship a LOT and I mean a LOT of my stuff including our weddings gifts., and the best part is that 2 weeks later we are still getting presents :) The people down in the office loved when my 132 lb box of clothes and gifts came all at the same time, oh yeah, and our new grill and a few other smaller boxes!

Half way to Texas!

When I came with Fritz in June to El Paso we picked out the aprtment that we are living in and also brought a good bit of both of our belongings to get our soon to be home together set up. Since then, I am enjoying putting all of OUR new gifts out and doing a little bit of redecorating!!!

Set up in June...

Set up in September :)

I had to brighten it up a little and add some more color!!

FedEx

As I am up stairs trying to get ready to go to Carolina Ale House for the USC game, out with everyone for a "last fling before the ring" and picking Fritz up from the airport at 11:30 PM 2 days before our wedding....I hear my Dad yelling "Temple! Temple, come here NOW, quick! Temple, hurry up!" So I figured her BFF Donna had got into town early and surprised her. Well how WRONG was I! I then hear my Mom yelling" Jennifer, come here NOW!" and I reply with "Why? I am trying to get ready (due to the fact I was running late, but that is nothing new :))" So she tells me "Come sign for your package from FedEx, it has your name on it." So with my make up half done and one shoe on I went running down the stairs, fling open the door and what do I see....NOT THE FEDEX MAN but FRITZ with a dozen hot pink roses!!!

So needless to say I was beyond EXCITED and full of questions b/c he was not supposed to get in until 11:30 PM and there was no car outside! And on top of that while I was just getting my eyebrows waxed he was "at the airport and had to go" Well he had to go b/c Glen was there to pick him up and bring him to my house!

Fritz LOVES to surprise me all the time with things like that...Kind of like the time he had to take his Grandma to the dentist and could not come back to Columbia from KY but really the whole day he was texting me he was DRIVING! Have a mentioned that I LOVE THIS MAN!

Bittersweet!(OLD)

Today is a very bittersweet day for me....it is my last full day in the office of USC School of Medicine!! December would have been 6 years that I have worked here and learned a whole new world of things along with many great people! I have truley enjoyed my job working with the 3rd and 4th year medical students as well as the many Internal Medicine Residents!! It has given me many great opportunites as well and wounderful work experiance. I might miss it a little bit but I am even more excited to see what is about to begin for me and my life with my soon to be husband in 15 days!!!

Soooo to play a little bit of catch up on the things that have been going on since my last post I will start in order of dates :)

On August 9th I had my second bridal shower that was hosted by Anita and Rhonda, I was joined by some of my co-workers along with friends my awesome 2 sisters and mom and some bridesmaids!!

I LOVE my china :)

Oh the Bachelorette weekend at the beach!!!!!!

It was a blast to say the least :) thanks to my amazing friends, SISTER and bridesmaids. We went to Myrtle beach for the weekend...it rained all day Friday but Friday night it stop so us 8 girls could have a blast!

We decided to get a taxi to come pick us up from the condo so that way we could all have a good time, but seems how there are 8 of us we need a VAN! Well Bethany called around to some places and one of them said no problem we will see you at 9:30 at your condo and we will be there to pick you up from Broadway when you are ready to come home! Perfect right :) well it was even more perfect when we all walk outside and there is a LIMO to pick us up!!!

Count down has begun!

• 6 days until shower # 2
• 11 days until Bachelorette weekend at the beach
• 19 days until shower # 3
• 15 days of work left at USC
• 33 days until wedding day!
  
  How EXCITED do you think I am right now?!?

Bridal Portraits

Friday is the day that it is all going to become very real! I have my bridal portraits :) so I will have my dress on, hair and make-up done and see the whole thing put together! I cannot wait to see what it all looks like!! I am doing something a little special as well, My Dad is going to come with me and we are going to do some Father-Daughter pictures with him in his uniform when I take mine as well….but everyone will have to wait until September 5th at 5:00 PM to see :)

back tracking....

Ok...I know it has now been 2 months since I last posted anything on my blog and that is horrible!

Where to begin with all of the updates...

On July 19th I had my first Bridal shower hosted by my best friend of 10 years Lindsay Dinkins and it was awesome, everything that I could have imagined and more. Thanks to all of my great friends and family I/we got lots of fun new stuff like my perfect something blue from Katie! It was a monogram shower so of course lots of things with our Name and initials on them.

My Bridesmaids minus 3....

That same weekend was Brianna's 4th birthday and Bethany's birthday as well. Brianna my flower girl wanted to have her birthday party at "Jen's house". She is too cute; we went to the water park for the day at Ft. Jackson followed by dinner and CiCi's pizza then cake and ice cream at the park in Lake Carolina near my parent’s house. She had her friends Haylen Grace and Jackson there to play at the park. Then a fun filled night with my parents and sisters coloring in her new princess coloring book and playing dress up in her new Cinderella dress :)

Emily and Brianna coloring....

The weekend of July 25th was Lauren's 20th birthday so I got to spend a day on the lake with her and her boyfriend and roommate then enjoyed a good home grilled meal and homemade ice cream cake!

I have my second shower coming up this weekend on August 9th and I am just as excited as I was for my first one! Anita who I have worked with for the past 6 years is hosting this one for me. This is also going to be another busy weekend for us, my parent’s 27th wedding anniversary is on Friday and on Saturday my Mom is graduating from USC Upstate with her BSN, YAY congrats mom!

Things are coming along smoothly for the wedding...invitations are out and I am having fun checking the mail daily for the RSVP's. We got the programs printed this past weekend now it is just putting them together b/c we all know that I cannot do anything just simple :)

Fritz's Graduation

I know it has been a long time since I posted anything, there has been tons of things going on :) I am getting ready now to fly to Kentucky for Fritz's Graduation in Fort Knox. He graduates tomorrow, June 4, 2009 at 10:00 am! I am so excited to finally see him, we haven't seen each other since we got engaged! We will be able to spend about 13 days together, it is going to be a blast...we will be going to Texas to find a place to live and get Fritz all moved in and ready to start his new job!





Well I am off to the have lunch with my Mom and then to the airport. I will be back to you guys in a few days, I can't wait to see everyone at the engagement party Friday night :)



Love,

Soon-to-be Mrs. Behnke!

23 days!

I have about 23 days until I am going to Kentucky to pick up the Love of My life from Ft. Knox....not that I am counting or anything :)

Fritz stills seems to be pretty positive about school although I know it has been a huge challenge for him. Last night they were in the field for the night (unexpectedly), he got to call and tell me all of that in about 30 seconds. Next week I think, they will be spending a week in the field, then turning in weapons and all of that good stuff before "Graduation" and I say "Graduation" because they are not really doing anything for them after 12 weeks of school & training other than sending them off to a new job in Ft. Bliss, Texas.

We have about 3 weeks’ worth of stuff packed into several days that he will be home, here is just a few:
1. Visit Family in Kentucky and South Carolina
2. Engagement Pictures
3. Drive to Texas
4. Find a place to live in Texas
5. Spend time together
6. Get our marriage license in South Carolina
7. Relax (not going to happen)
8. Wedding plans
9. And much, more!

Wish us LUCK!

Dresses & Shoes

You would think picking out your own wedding dress would be hard to do or flowers or something other than the bridesmaids dress! I have finally picked them out along with our official wedding colors. Fuchsia & Lime green it is :)

Thanks to Katie I was able to find the perfect dress for my style wedding along with the Tux for the guys and the little boys. I am still trying to decide on Brianna's flower girl dress...

I also found some shoes that I really liked for the girls...still looking for what I want for me. So we finally got just about everyone's dress attire picked out for the wedding day.

Now I need to pick out our color theme for the engagement pictures that we are having done while Fritz is home, any ideas?

Daddy's approval

Tonight I took my Dad to see the dress that I fell in LOVE with. The tears in his eyes said it all!
We also had a very successful meeting with the photographer. The big things are getting done, we are meeting at the venue tomorrow and hope that it goes as well!

Update on Fritz!

I just wanted to give everyone an update on Fritz! He is currently at school at Ft. Knox, KY until June 4, 2009! He has been there since April 1st. This whole going on active duty for the Army has been about a 6 month long draining process for us all but especially Fritz, but he continues to make me proud of him every day! When he finishes school we will get about a week together before he reports to Ft. Bliss, Texas where WE, yes WE will be stationed for about the next 3 years!



In that week we are going to be going like crazy…engagement pictures, visiting family, cake and food testing and just enjoying our time together!

We are very excited, nervous and ready to take on the journey together in September after our September 5, 2009 wedding!!!

Dress Shopping and Photographer

I have found my dress :) it is the one and I definetly got that feeling that everyone tells you about that when you put it on you just know and I know! I went to Charlotte and tried some on a few weekends ago and HATED everything. A friend of mine told me about a place called the Glass Carriage and when I went there I found 3 that I loved, so I knew I was going to need to bring my sisters and Dad back to see them to help me decide, but because I still was not sure I went to one other place this week that many people have recommended to me called Evelyn’s. There is a lot to be said for the small town shops vs. the big places! We went in and just started picking out about 20 (+) dresses that I liked. I went into the room to try them all on and she told me to pick my favorite and start with that one so...I looked through them all and found my fav and put it on. My mom zipped me up and we both said,"this is it!" I walked out of the fitting room and just knew it; I was not going to take it off! It was a combo of all the others that I liked into one. Well of course I tried on some others but nothing was like this one. So I am taking my Dad back with me today to see what he has to say about it and then we are going to meet with the Photographer :) I am super excited to see her work and what she has to say and offer to us. We will hopefully schedule a date and time for the engagement pictures as well! Wish us LUCK :)

The Beginning!

Well I guess I should start out by telling how "real love stories have no endings" came about! I work at this place part time called Lite Um Up Cigar Lounge. It is across from my apartment complex, I started working there at the end of June beginning of July 2008. I love it, it is a great place with great people that come to sit down enjoy themselves, smoke a cigar and have a drink! My boss Tom had been telling me that there was this guy that he wanted me to meet. I kind of ignored him and thought 'yeah, yeah, another guy...yuk'. Tom talked about what a great guy he was, a lot of fun, a good hard worker and that he was of course in the Army ( the only thing going through my head was "great, what will my dad think about this").

Then, around the end of August there was a big event at work, it was a Saturday afternoon and it was my first one, this whole thing was a new experience for me. Later that evening my parents and some of their friends came in to visit, I was sitting down talking with my Mom for a few minutes to give my feet a break when in walks these 3 younger looking guys…my Mom hits me on the leg and says, "who are those guys?" Of course I had no clue or who I was about to be introduced to :) As the night went on we were talking. I was serving them, and they told me that they were in the Army, and had worked with Tom at Ft. Jackson. They all seemed like really nice guys, and one of them in particular was pretty easy on the eyes too... I distinctly remember standing at the sink washing some glasses when Tom walked up behind me and said “that is Fritz…the guy I was telling you about.” (no way...)

Now as I was serving Fritz, Richard and Wade, I became more interested in what they were talking about and trying to see what this Fritz guy was all about. He seemed to be a fun, good guy just as Tom had described him. Before I knew it, it was time to close and everyone was leaving so that we could clean and lock up. As Fritz and his friends were leaving, Fritz said “you should come meet us at Bar Louie”. I decided that I had nothing to lose, and said “Sure…I will meet you guys there but I need to go home and change first.” He asked me if I was just saying that or was really going to come, I said "yes I will be there but it will be a little bit".

So when I left work I called a few people and asked them to come meet me out…Bethany, and my parents said they would come later. I got changed, I wanted to look good, just in case...and went to Bar Louie's to meet up with Tom and the guys. From the look on Fritz’s face when I walked in the door he was shocked that I really came :) After having a great time with him and his friends the night was over, but before we all left he told me that I at least owed him a real date. Again, I was thinking, " yeah okay sure" (he already seemed to good to be true). Monday night I gave in and I agreed to go to dinner with him on a real date! Everything was amazing, good convo, no weird silence or anything so I was thinking that this was all looking pretty good! As the days went on we were talking everyday, meeting and going out to dinner, he came into the lounge and hung out whenever I was working, and on our days off we would lay out at the pool. We quickly became inseparable.