Brentwood Bridal Shower

On May 1st, wedding season officially began with a beautiful Bridal Shower that my Maid of Honor, Taylor and soon-to-be Mother-In-Law, Lita threw for me! There were old friends and lots of brand new (to me) friends, too. Between the teal color scheme and the super-cute shower games, this shower got me pretty excited!

Taylor has a knack for making things look pretty and the details of the shower were beyond adorable: hand-matted engagement pictures, a chocolate fountain, a delicious cupcake tree, Martha Stuart "poofs"and tasty favors. Everyone was thrilled when Jake made an appearance via a pre-recorded video quiz and I did a pretty good job answering the questions word-for-word. Ladies were able to place bets on the quiz and face off in a round of shower gift bingo. Later on, we snuck out to the back to take pictures of all the bridesmaids and together in one place for the first time!

Emily, Sara, Taylor, Tobi, Tah, Brenda, Ann, & Megan

The Levere Memorial Temple

Most people who know us know how proud we both are of our Greek affiliations. Jake is a founding father of his chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon and it has played a huge part in our college experience. So in Chicago, when we realized how close we were to ΣΑΕ's headquarters in Evanston, IL, we just had to make the trip.

The fraternity headquarters is located at the Levere Memorial Temple. The Temple, completed in 1930, is a memorial for ΣΑΕ's many war heroes and a museum of Fraternity and Sorority history. It was named after William "Billy" Levere, an influential brother who first suggested the development of a Memorial, but did not live to see it's completion. The temple is located at Northwestern University and was designed by a brother of Northwestern's Illinois Psi-Omega chapter. The Temple's address is 1856, the year of ΣΑΕ's founding, even though the address is not in numerical order with the surrounding buildings. The distinguishing gothic style of the building and two gigantic lions that flank the entrance make the building unique and unmistakeable.

(shhh... don't tell, but I can't wait to be an ΣΑΕ wife...)

The Temple also houses the office of Eminent Supreme Recorder (the National Fraternity's Executive Director). Jake wishes this was his office.

The basement of the Temple is an assembly hall known as the Panhellenic Room. The entire room took 3 years to paint with murals and the coat-of-arms of 59 other Greek organizations in order of their founding dates. Alpha Xi Delta is one of the original founding Panhellenic sororities so I had high hopes of finding our crest there... and I did!

The lion inside the Temple is the casting of the lions from the entrance.

The Peace Chapel is on the main floor of the Temple and is one of the most beautiful rooms you will ever see. I seriously considered canceling our wedding plans so that we could be married there. The Chapel was created in memory of ΣΑΕ brothers who had served in wars since the Fraternity's founding. The most striking parts of the Chapel are the original Tiffany stained glass windows. The stained glass was the single most expensive piece of the entire Temple at a cost of $40,000 in 1930!

The Fraternity's museum holds pictures and memorabilia of famous ΣΑΕs, the first official pin, and the membership card of one of my personal heroes, the only female member of ΣΑΕ Lucy Patty.

The Temple has a stained glass window for every school with a chapter. We think San Jose State's is the prettiest.

Jake signing the guestbook.

William "Billy" Levere

Christmas 2009 in Chicago

It's a week after we returned from our holiday travels and we are finally rested up and recovered from all the excitement. Here are some memories from our White Christmas!

The gang hanging out in Downtown on our first day of sightseeing. We look pretty comfortable here, but the wind was FREEZING!

Hanging out in the swanky Ralph Lauren store.

Taking in the scenery.

Real Chicago stuffed pizza.

Jake always has to sample the local brew.

Family photo in the snow.

Really loving all this white stuff.

A tiny Chicago skyline at the Museum of Science and Industry.

After the snow stops, everything gets icy. These trees were completely covered, as if they were made of glass! I thought this was the coolest thing.

Christmas Eve pajamas at Aunt Dana's house.

We spent our Christmas morning under the hotel's display tree.

Jake and I call this hat my "ewok" hat. He thinks it's irresistibly cute and I don't have a problem with that!

Headed home to the Golden State.

After a long delay in the O'hare airport, Jake and I took a long nap.

Stay tuned for pictures from the Levere Memorial Temple!

I'm Terrible at Blogging: An Update

I've realized that I'm terrible at blogging. I'm worse at blogging than I am at scrapbooking. The problem is that both of them require you to step back from making memories, put them into words and paste some pretty pictures with them. Thats a challenge for me. Most of the time I'd rather blast forth, head first at light speed into life and making more memories than scribble them down... and it makes my blog so sad! Thats why I'm getting a head start on my first New Year's Resolution... improving my blogging skills. Lets get started with an update...

We just wrapped up the Fall semester and it feels so good! It was Jake's last Fall at SJSU, so it was a little bittersweet. I'm sure it will be weird a year from now when he is leaving for work and I'm still going to class, but I'm proud of him. Bonus, graduating from San Jose State in four years flat is a MIRACLE these days... his commemorative plaque is in the mail. We finished our finals yesterday and we're confident we both did pretty well.

Jake carrying me through the Fall semester.

Those cute Fall boots don't always feel so nice!

Another reason I got so far behind on my blogging is that I moved mid-semester! I'm currently living in the studio apartment that Jake and I will share after the wedding. We are really excited that this will be our very own place. It's one of those bedroom/main room, kitchen/living room, bathroom/closet kind of places, but it's cozy. I didn't spring for cable, so we spend a lot of time cooking, talking and watching movies. It's been a fun way to spend the beginning of our winter, which has been icy cold (for California). I really think that the new

apartment deserves more attention, so stay tuned and I'll do a whole post on it... complete with pictures.

I took on a brand new opportunity this semester and became a colony member of the newest sorority on campus, Alpha Xi Delta. Our motto is "Realize Your Potential" and I've always believed that the purpose of a sorority, when carried out correctly, was to enhance the skills, confidence, knowledge, morals and lives of the women who joined. They must have seen potential in me too, because they appointed me Colony President. Its a full time job representing and guiding 45 beautiful and talented ladies, but I love them all and that makes it worth it every single day. Its also great to know that my fiance supports me and understands my desire to build this organization. I think he's proud that I'm following in his footsteps, since he was a founding father of the California Zeta chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon just a couple of years ago and has kept the dream going since. No pressure on our future children or anything... but Mommy and Daddy are both real go-getters (and they better be legacies)! Our colony will officially be installed as a chapter at the end of January and I'm sure it will be an amazing start to our Spring semester.

Some of my Best Friends and Brand New Sisters.

The in-laws finally met over Thanksgiving and, surprisingly, there was a lack of fireworks. Everybody got along and our mothers chatted the entire weekend away. We took my parents to see the wedding location and now I have a sneaking suspicion that my mother is planning a coup. I've been told we ARE having a big cake, lots of flowers and a chocolate fountain.

You'd think we would do some relaxing over break... but the fun never stops with us! We are headed off to Chicago with the Curtis Family in a couple days. We are going to be visiting Jake's Mom's family and staying through Christmas. It's my first time really visiting Chicago and I'm excited for the sightseeing, shopping and to freeze to death in 20 degree weather. As soon as we step off the plane home, we'll pull an all-nighter down to Orange County for some late Christmas celebrations and New Years with my family. We figure we only have to keep up the back and forth until we have our own kids... then the grandparents have to come to us! We promise to upload pictures and news from Chicago and Southern California as soon as we can.

Well, I'm all blogged out now, so I think I'll wrap it up here. Check back soon to hold me accountable for my promises!

Wishing all of you Peace, Warmth and Rest,

Tobi