Ashley's Exciting Opportunity

As some of you know, last May Ashley submitted a business plan to Inside Columbia Magazine's "Build-a-Business" competition in conjunction with UMB Bank. In mid-July she heard from Inside Columbia that she was a semi-finalist in the competition she then had to present her ideas and plans to UMB Bank. She worked hard to create samples of her product, come up with a logo, and have a complete and detailed presentation ready by August 21. Today, August 22, Ashley got a call from Inside Columbia congratulating her for being one of only three recipients of the $1,000 grand prize. In addition, Inside Columbia will track the progress of Ashley's business for an entire year.

To find out more about Ashley's business, visit www.bathcocktails.blogspot.com

The Results are In!

We had our second meeting with Fr. Joachim today to review the results of our FOCCUS exam. Again, FOCCUS stands for Facilitating Open Couple Communications, Understanding & Study. We answered a series of about 200 questions and the results divide these questions into 17 catagories. Each catagory is graded by a percentage of questions we answered the same as our future spouse. Of the 17 catagories, we had 6 scored at 100% and 7 scored above 90%. None of the catagories were less than 50% which Fr. Joachim said is the catagories he usually discusses with the engaged couple. He was very happy with our scores and said we were one of the most compatible couples he's met. The catagory we scored lowest in was Religion and Values which was expected since we are of different religions.

Fr. Joachim gave us a few booklets to help us in planning the ceremony. We will post here later when we've had a chance to review the booklets and make decisions. Check back soon!

Bridesmaids Fashion Show Today!

The long awaited event is here! The members of the wedding party met at Victoria's Bridal in Jefferson City to pick out what will be the dresses for the wedding party and the candlelighters. Ashley, Terri, Grandma Oliver and Renee loaded the dressing rooms with pretty dresses for the girls to try on. Here are some of the dresses and the beautiful girls who wore them:


After trying on hundreds of dresses, the girls were able to narrow them down to the few in the picture. After some negotiating and weeding out, they chose two, which shall remain quiet for a time...

Karen (ok, with Terri's help) devised a scheme to get Ashley to try on some dresses since the crew would not get to help her decide on her wedding dress. Ashley consented, but didn't realize that the girls found HORRID dresses for her to try on... at least horrid as far as Ashley is concerned.... big, long sleeved, lacy, and a lonnnnnnnng train! Seeing Ashley in this dress had everyone in stitches. Here she is, posing with her wedding party.

Ashley really got into the "faux" dress modeling gig, even trying on a veil, which she DOES NOT like. Everyone thought she looked great in a veil!

After the dress decision was made, we headed over to Southbank Gift Company, where our PEO sister, Jill, is the owner. Each girl picked out a personalized handbag as a gift from Ashley for being in the wedding party.

Dinner was wonderful and cooked by Chef Bob (Dad). We had pasta, bruschetta, garlic toast, shrimp cocktail, and ice cream dessert.

Bridesmaids Fashion Show Menu!

Chef Bob Steffes has set the menu for this weekend's Bridesmaids Fashion Show! Here is a sneak peek of the planned menu for Saturday evening following the dress search and special surprise Ashley has planned. Just as a reminder, we are all meeting at 3pm at Victoria's Bridal located at 722 Jefferson St. in Jefferson City. We plan to spend two hours at the most choosing, ordering, and taking measurements for the Bridesmaids' dresses. Immediately following, Ashley has a special surprise for all the girls helping to make her wedding day such a wonderful event. Dinner will be served following the surprise at approximately 7pm at the Steffes residence. The men have plans of their own for that afternoon and evening, contact Eric or David for more information.

Meeting with Fr. Joachim

We met with Father Joachim from St. Thomas More Newman Center (Ashley's church) in Columbia, Missouri about getting the marriage approved and/or recognized by the Catholic church. When we first arrived, Father Joachim asked us a few questions about our family, faith, and those who will serve as our witness. Then he interviewed us individually asking questions such as whether we came to this marriage freely and willingly, if and where we were baptized, what church we were affiliated with, etc. While he was with one of us, the other was filling out a questionnaire called FOCCUS. These questions were to make sure we had discussed certain topics that come with marriage such as financial obligations, family planning, how to raise our future children, how we will incorporate our differing faiths, etc. Much to Ashley's delight, Father Joachim informed us that A.P Green Chapel on Mizzou's campus was a recognized place of worship and therefore approved by the Catholic church to hold a marriage ceremony. We decided to ask Father Joachim to preside over the ceremony and he has tentatively agreed depending only on his schedule that week. This is a huge step in our planning process and we are very pleased with the results!

Save the Date Postcards are IN!

Our Save-The-Date postcards are in! If you've received a message from us asking for your mailing address please respond soon so you'll be on our mailing list! We never imagined what a daunting task it would be to compile all of our friends and families' mailing addresses! If you don't receive a Save-The-Date in the next week or two, please contact us with your mailing address, we might still have an old address for you. Thanks for everyone's help so far!