September

This month we celebrate 3 months since we have been married. It is amazing how time flys by after you get married.

Joel loves his new job and they seem to treat him with great respect and care. The downside to his job is the commute to San Francisco which can be somewhat gruesome. The Palo Alto station should be opening up the end of this month, which Joel will be stationed at. He has done a couple of 49er's game this month and has developed 2 blisters from all the walking in the stadium with his boots. New boots are on the horizon. He gets to be on a rig with an EMT all by his lonesome and is taking the responsibility really seriously. It has been a blessing that his career is taking off with such a great company.

We recently took our nieces to Pier 39 for the first time. It was a good experience for them to see what a busy tourist area looks and feels. They got their share of seeing homeless people on the side of the street. They really couldn't wrap their heads around about homeless people and showing off their un-manicured feet. We took them to eat at Bubba Gumps where they got a great view of the Bay and Alcatraz.

Next month is full of birthdays and many events...stay tuned.

Other things we did this month:
Joanne made her first zucchini bread. (success)
We attended two cousin's birthdays.
We celebrated the return of Jorel & Kayci (from Colorado).

August update

We are proud to announce that Joel has been hired on as a paramedic with a company called Protransport! He will be stationed in San Francisco County for the first month or two and after will be transferred to Santa Clara County. ProTransport will be rolling out with a new ALS (Advanced Life Support) program as well as 9-11 calls in both Santa Clara and San Fransisco counties. Joel will be apart of the first slew of medics that this company will hire on. Though this means a lot of pressure will be put on Joel and his learning experiences, he is eager to take it all on. We are both very excited God has given him this wonderful opportunity.

This month Joel is going to be turning 27 years old. We don't have much planned because he has been super busy with his new job. This will be one of the first years where Joel is not excited about gifts or celebrations. This job is one of the best birthday presents for him.

Joanne is finishing up with her thank-you notes from the wedding. We have been given two gifts these last two weeks, which was a very pleasant surprise. Also, yesterday we were given our official copy of our wedding photos. We were really happy with how they turned out and can't wait to receive our video.

This month is full of events and we hope to have some spare time to celebrate Joel's birthday as well as maybe squeeze in a last minute camping trip.

New Beginnings

Our first post as a married couple, hooray! It seems weird to have a "first" anything because we have been together forever, but we do and we will have more where that came from.

You would think since our wedding was last month we would be finished with wedding related things, but we are not. We have to finish writing our thank-you notes and find a place for our new gifts. We are still amazed by how blessed we were throughout our nuptials. Many of our friends and family dedicated their time and love for us both the days leading up to our wedding and the day of our wedding. Some friends surprised us with not only spending the day with us but involved themselves with setting up or running to make last minute purchases of forgotten needed items. We wouldn't have been able to enjoy ourselves if it weren't for these special friends and loved ones!

Our wedding was just the way we imagined it to be, quick and "us". By "us" we mean matching our personalities and preferences: good food, good friends & family, no frills, personalized, simple, and straight to the point. Though we wish we could spend more time with everyone, we felt the timing was perfect. Not your regular long drawn out event with lots of waiting around. It wasn't perfect, but it was memorable and perfect to us. We hope everyone enjoyed themselves too.

We had an awesome honeymoon to Costa Rica! Our FIRST international travel for both of us. Long story short, we went horseback riding, zip lining, and saw some beautiful sights. We finished by flying into Los Angeles and going to Medieval Times, going to the movie theaters, and having a nice dinner. We were supposed to go to Disneyland, we even purchased tickets months in advance, but travels made us super tired and we decided to save that for later.

Now we are planning for the future and making new adventures as a married couple.

Some adventures since married include:
Joanne making her first apple pie. (successful)
Joel interviewing for a paramedic job.
Making a strict financial budget & sticking to it.
Hiking at Almaden Quicksilver with cousins.
Joanne's first night shift with Joel.
Attending cousins wedding and dancing to Banda.

Traffic, Traffic, Traffic

We recently found out that UC Santa Cruz is having graduation ceremonies the day of our wedding. What that means for our guests is...traffic! Graduation traffic coupled with the normal beach traffic means...more traffic.

Please account for extra traffic the day of our wedding on Highway 17. Earlier, we have posted some places to grab some coffee or go explore some museums for those who arrive early.

If you get lost to our venue please call one of our cell phones. We will entrust them to someone (not us) to help direct lost people out.

Registry

We are registered at the follwing places:

bedbathandbeyond.com

and

honeyfund.com (click below for a direct route)
Visit our honeyfund at Honeyfund.com, the free honeymoon registry

Things to do in Ben Lomond

Coffee/Tea Shops
• Coffee Nine
9505 California 9, Ben Lomond, CA 95005

• Coffee Concepts
175 Estates Drive Ben Lomond, CA 95005
http://coffeeconceptsinc.net/info.htm

• The Quail & Thistle Tea Room
12250 Alba Road, Ben Lomond, CA 95005
http://quailandthistle.com/

• Starbucks
219 Mt Herman Rd, Scotts Valley, CA 95066


Nature Lovers
• Henry Cowell Redwood State Park (one of our favorite parks)
101 North Big Trees Park Road, Felton, CA 95018


Museum Lovers
• Bigfoot Discovery Museum
5497 Highway 9, Felton, CA 95018
http://www.bigfootdiscoveryproject.com/index.php

• The San Lorenzo Valley Museum
12547 Highway 9, Boulder Creek, California 95006 (12-4pm)
http://www.slvmuseum.com/

60 days to go...

Can you believe our wedding is exactly two months away? We can't! We are so excited that the day is near because we want to go on our planned honeymoon. Oh, and of course we want to be married to each other.

This past weekend we spoke to our wedding coordinator and officiant. The meeting gave us a good sense of direction for the big day to come. We are so glad that Commissioner Copeland and Sasha are involved in our wedding, they give us such a sense of relief. They gave us good ideas and are open to making our day special according to our needs.

As the day nears, we are making last minute decisions, but non that are too stressful. Our honeymoon is officially booked! We now need to focus on our ceremony day and some other odds and ends.

We can't wait to see you all there!

3 months to go...

We can't believe we are only 3 months away from getting hitched. We have booked our honeymoon suite today, which was not easy. We were being really picky about amenities, location, and cost, but finally figured one that had everything we were looking for.

Planning is so much easier now, a few more details to work out and we should have a month of nothing to do (that is our goal at least).

We are both so excited!

Wedding Party Attire

These past two weeks went by very quickly for us. We were able to choose the groom, groomsmen, and bridesmaid’s attires.

Since we’re all about practicality, we decided that instead of renting a tux that was expected, expensive and uncomfortable, why not purchase a good looking suit. Men's Warehouse was having a buy one get one free sale which worked out perfectly. All the groomsmen met up and picked out a matching suit that they all approved of. Not only will our groomsmen be able to keep the suit, but they were able to get one for half the price.

The bridesmaids also experienced the same practicality. They had an appointment at David's Bridal this past Saturday. Upon arrival, Joanne expected a bit more of an organized setup, but regardless they were in and out within an hour. Joanne wanted the maidens to purchase a dress that each of them felt comfortable in as long as the length and color matched. Coincidently, Amber & Sarah got the same dress and Lora & Kelly picked out a matching dress. The material that was chosen is more cotton than a shiny material, that way each of the girls can actually wear the dress to different occasions.

Luckily, we both have chosen the best people to be apart of our wedding party. Each of them is caring and supportive of our wedding wishes and needs. It is so important to choose people you love and who love you back. These two weeks would not have gone so smoothly if it weren’t for our wedding party being so involved.

4 Months to go...

We are both excited that our wedding is around the corner. We have invested so much time in planning that we can't wait to see the outcome of it all.

With most of the big decision making done, we have finally come to a point where planning is so much fun and not stressful. We have picked our venue, cake maker, photographer, officiant, honeymoon location, caterer and wedding party.

We have been focusing on a couple of things this month: decor, honeymoon details, suits for the guys, dresses for the ladies. We also plan on meeting with our wedding coordinator and officiant to work out the details of our vows and ceremony.

Other than that we have a sunny disposition that all is heading in the right direction. We have been extremely blessed with our family and friend's love and support throughout the whole process of planning, which is making things go over smoothly for us. Without our blessings we would be in shambles trying to get hitched so for that we are truly thankful.

See you in 4 months!

5 Months to go and counting...

We can't believe how quickly our wedding day is closing in on us. We have been busy planning out the smallest details of our wedding, which can be nerve racking. Who knew we needed to rent a fork? It is definately these little details that have us up to our neck in online research.

Don't get us wrong, as the day comes close we are VERY EXCITED, but we are also nervous that some of these minute details will be overlooked.

C'est la vie!!!

Bridesmaids and Maid of Honor (MoH)

Maid of Honor (MoH):
Amber Riddle - Joanne's Best Friend. Amber has been in Joanne's life for 18 years now (since 3rd grade)!!! They worked together at both Paramount's Great America and The Home Depot and went to the same elementary and high school. Amber and Joanne have been through a lot together which makes being BFFs a duty they take seriously.

Bridesmaids:
Sarah Mendivil -Joanne's future sister-in-law. Sarah is now engaged to Joel's brother, Joshua (Best Man). Sarah and Joanne have similar goals in life and are both creative & determined to do their best at accomplishing them. Best of all we are both going to be marrying a Coon, which will come in handy for both of us to stick together through the good times and the bad.

Kelly Nesbitt-Joanne's best Benicia friend. Has been there for Joanne when she has needed a cheerful soul to help get through some rough patches. Kelly is one of Joanne's most genuinely sincere friends that everyone needs at least one of in there lives.

Lora McGirt- Joanne's best work friend. Joanne and Lora have worked together for the last 5 years and have become really close outside of work. At Christmas time, they make cookies together and it has become an annual event. Lora has a wonderful husband, Dan and two kids Abigail and Michael, which Joanne has known since they were inside Lora's tummy.

Groomsman and Best Man (BM)

Below are the men who will stand by Joel's side at our wedding:

Best Man (BM):
Joshua Coon - Joel's younger brother.

Groomsmen:
Jorel Coon - Joel's youngest little brother.

Robby Willkon - Joel's Best Friend. Joel has known Robby since their beginning days both as EMTs. They worked together at ProTransport1, an ambulance company transporting patients to hospitals. Now they are both certified PARAMEDICS, saving people's lives. They both have so much in common from video games, knives, to both loving Iguana's burritozillas. Robby is married with a beautiful wife, Julie and has two daughters Rylie and Brynn.

Jared Carey - Joel's other Best Friend. Joel has known Jared since high school. Jared and Joanne were in the same grade throughout elementary, junior high, and graduated high school together. Picking Jared as a groomsman was a MUST!

Cake Maker

We have found our cake maker! Our good friend Shannon McCain, will be creating our wedding cake.

We are probably going to be the worst customers she will ever have to work with! Ha ha, hopefully not, but we both have no idea what kind of cake we want. Joel is always giving some wacky idea to Shannon and she is always big eyed at his suggestions, as Joanne is. He has ultimately left it up to Joanne, but she is just as lost as he is.

We plan on going to the drawing boards and giving poor Shannon some kind of reigned-in idea really soon. She is patient with us and we are enjoying being her first wedding cake customers. She does great cakes so we have no doubt in her abilities to make us a fabulous cake.

Her foundation as a graphic designer led to her creativity in the details of cake making and designs. She also does children's birthday cakes, baby showers, any event you can think she can come up with some great idea to blow your guests minds away. We highly recommend her as your next cake maker.

Her contact information is as follows:
Website: http://cakes.shannonlynndesigns.com/
Email: cake.shannanigans@gmail.com