One Month

(A little sneak peak at our wedding fun)

Ok...we get our wedding pictures at the end of this week, which will then solicite a recap of our wedding events. In the meantime, I am bursting at the seams with joyful thoughts about the past month.

One month! It has already been this long since I said "I do" to my now husband, Chris. So many things have happened during this seemingly short period of time. As soon as we came back from our 9-day Honeymoon in Jamaica, it was back to reality. Work & a house full of boxes hit us full force and we knew it was once again time to work work in order to function fully again.

I have been capturing little snapshots of mine & Chris' time together as we put together our home. There have been quarrels and laughter and all around joy. I smile as I think about last night, when I had spend a lot of time reorganizing our pantry. I was so excited for Chris to see my work, but when as he stood in front of the double doors looking concerned at our shelves, I was sad.

"What....what are you worried about Chris? Do you not like it??" I was immediately offended. His frown remained as he said, "No it's great, Im just trying to figure out how to give you more space." I wasn't mad anymore, I melted and was reminded of the caring, wonderful man I married.

I have litte moments like this where I just watch him, because he fascinates me. When he hangs things, it has to be perfect. There are tape measures, levels, drills, studs & little hooky thingys involved. No wonder why he wants to help me hang things, when I just "eye" it and practically add more holes to the wall when the drill slips off the screw head and slams straight into our newly painted drywall.

One thing we both have learned, is how particular & organized we each are...to a fault. I am more "go with the flow" organized, and he is "indecisive man." So I make decisions right away and he wants to know every thought process on how I got to that conclusion. Its cute. Now that I know that this is how he is wired, I slow myself down & just explain everything so he feels comfortable. Basically, our house & our lives will have every rhyme & reason to them, & that's just the way we'll have to have it.

Marriage is fun. Marriage has been the best adventure I've ever been on thus far. I always have someone to keep my feet warm, to yell at the TV with, to tell me when the sweater I'm wearing is a little old, and to kiss my cheek when Im making dinner. When so much stress, prayer and thought have been put into finding the perfect guy, I'm so happy he's finally here.

Olsen Adventures: Briana and Chris

Short But Sweet



After two weeks of wedded bliss, I am still cleaning up and processing the glittery, bow-wrapped mess that is my kitchen. And we haven't even opened our wedding presents yet! (This is the last wedding on each sides of our family so we are waiting until all nuclear family members can be present and accounted for.) The floors have been cleaned, the dishes have been washed, but there is still so much to do. Luckily, I have a great guy by my side and getting settled into our new home together has been such a wonderful experience.

I will write a recap of our wedding day and honeymoon adventures in Jamaica, but only when I am caught up with work, organizing my pantry, and just have a clear mind to recap those details. It is amazing how extra work responsibilities, social responsibilities, to-do lists and massive amounts of cleaning can really take you out of the game. I have enjoyed every moment of it, but currently I feel like a turtle who is not ready to come out of my shell until I have a fully functioning brain again :)

Ok...back to my clients and back to probably another late night at the office making sure my associates and I are in good standings with all of our renewals this year.

Adios!  - The New Mrs. Olsen

Here We Go

A new blog for a new part of my life.

With the current blog that I have called "Taken Into Account" I write about everything from personal encounters, business, politics, religion, epiphanies I have, etc. I would have people ask me about updates on my life, & when mass quantities of people are asking for details, I felt like starting a new blog about my engagement & soon to be marriage. At times I would send them to my other blog, because I have from time to time written 'life updates' if you will, but that was not what I had intended for Taken Into Account....and with people from Japan, Australia, Europe, and all over the U.S. (hard to believe, but truly amazing!) taking interest in my thoughts there, I will continue to pursue my creative writing passion through both outlets.

Another element, if not the most important one, of starting this new blog, is to archive my thoughts and memories during this time in my life. I realize that this is an epic year, that most will not be like this one and I need to cherish every moment. Sometimes those memories can get lost in the stress of planning and organizing and putting together. I realize that it is easy to get lost in the 'motions' of it all and to not stop and look around and realize how blessed I have been, and to remember this amazing time when the trials and tribulations come.

I am not assuming everyone cares to read these things, just that a select few do. This life, after all, is not all about me and never will be. I prefer it that way. I am not used to having a lot of attention on myself, and while I am enjoying the support of my friends and family during this time in my life, I look forward to the coming months when I will have a more-free schedule to spend the desperately needed one-on-one time with my future husband, friends, & family.

I look forward to the adventures, the simple days, spending time with people I love, DECORATING, being a new wife, loving my new husband, and all that comes with these things.

The Final Countdown...

24 Days. As I look at my calendar, it is a mere 3 weeks away from my wedding day, the first day I will be Mrs. Christopher Olsén. Along with the excitement & butterflies that come from picturing me walking down the aisle with my dad, towards my fiancé, also comes symptoms that only a shot of Pebto Bismal could cure. So many things are changing, but all of them are positive, amazing wonderful things. Hey I cried when I moved into and out of my college apartments & condos, so getting engaged, planning a wedding, graduating from college, starting a full time career at a financial firm, purchasing a home with my fiance, & moving into said home before our wedding, is bound to spark more than just a few ounces of emotion.

I just had the most amazing Bridal Shower I could have ever asked for. You know the Barbie Dream House? Well I had the Barbie Dream Shower. There was a pink "dessert bar" complete with pink champagne petifors, pink gumballs & candy canes, a Red Velvet Heath Trifle, Dark Chocolate Macadamia Nut Toffee cookies...and that was just dessert! Don't even get me started on the rasberry marmalade over the baked brie as one of many amazing appetizers...

Overall it was an amazing afternoon, and as I finish up my last thank you notes to the wonderful women who made that day so special, I look out onto the sea of bakeware, home decor, & other goodies and can't help but hope that Chris is going to love all the meals I make him, the way I decorate our house, and how organized I am.

I got the chance to walk through our beautiful (new to us) home last night, and I must say, I have the most amazing future husband for all of the work he has put into getting everything ready before our wedding. In the last two weeks he has negotiated & implemented new tile downstairs, having the whole house painted (including accent walls! you can't forget those), getting our carpets stretched & cleaned, getting the cabinets painted, and will now seal our garage floor with apoxy coating...not to mention the amazing wedding gift from his dad of custom garage cabinets, & replacing our small crown molding on the cabinets with 3 or 4 inch crown molding...such a blessing!

Back to the wedding: the last vendors have been called, the last quotes have come in, mostly every decision has been made. The food will be great, the music will be perfect, and my dress will be white (even with all the teasing I have been doing to Chris about a yellow dress...come on, lets be real). The days are being counted down until I get to walk down the aisle towards the man I have been falling in love with for the past (almost) 3 years. I can't wait to say our vows to each other, to have our first dance, & to celebrate this once in a lifetime experience with all of our wonderful friends and family.

When I think about the gluing, the mailing, the melting of beautiful wax stamps, the stamping, the sewing, the ordering, the recieving, the phone calls, the emails,  the printing, the faxing, and the taping, the laughing, the crying, the smiles and the hugs...it has all been worth it. It has all been wonderful. And I will never forget the past 6 months.