Wedding Pictures!!

Sorry it has taken us so long to post the wedding photos, but at last here they are! You can click on any of the slideshows on the right or go to http://picasaweb.google.com/josh.francia to view them all.

If anyone has more photos from the wedding they would like to add, send them to us at josh.francia@gmail.com.

ENJOY!!

Thank You

We wanted to thank everybody that helped us with our wedding!! We truly appreciate all your hard work and determination. We recently returned home from our fabulous honeymoon in the Caribbean and will post some pictures soon.

Thanks again for making our special day perfect!!

Much Love,
Josh and Colleen

My Story: Why I Became a Mormon

In the beginning of last year, I knew there were a lot of things I wanted to change about my life.

In January, I started a new job and that made me realize that I could change whatever I wanted in my life. There were so many things that I wanted to figure out in my life I wasn't sure where to start.

Then there was Josh. He was a huge ray of sunshine for me. We got along so well and had a great time together.

On our second date, I noticed that he didn't order any alcohol to drink. I noticed it on our first date too, but just figured it was the first date so he didn't want any. So the second time, I waited for the waitress to leave and asked Josh "Do you drink?"

I had no idea that asking that question would lead me to where I am today. He then told me that he doesn't drink for religious reasons. So I asked, what does that mean. Then he told me that he was a Mormon. I told him that the only thing that I know about Mormons is Julie from "The Real World". He laughed and told me that Julie was not the best example of a Mormon. I told him good, because I think Julie is nuts.

We only talked about it a little bit that night at dinner. It wasn't until the next date that Josh told me more about the church. He told me all about who Joseph Smith was and what he did. He talked to me about the Book of Mormon and the Word of Wisdom ( Mormon's law of health). I'll admit, at first, I was turned off by it. It was a lot of information to take in and I didn't know how I felt by it.

A couple months after we had been dating, Josh asked me if I wanted to talk to the missionaries. I said sure. I thought it would be nice to hear this information from people other than the person I was dating. I wanted to understand what the church was all about.

I was so nervous the first time I talked to the missionaries. They seemed intimidating to me. All dressed up with their scriptures and very polite. Only after a couple sessions did I realize that they were 19 year old boys and this was just as much a learning experience for them as it was for me.

I really started to enjoy the talks with the missionaries. I'm sure they didn't like talking to me as much though because I would fire crazy questions at them all the time. Josh tells me that I am very direct with my questions. I think I was the most hung up on the Word of Wisdom. I kept saying, "It says hot drinks, why can't I have iced tea. I love iced tea. I thought tea was good for you." I understood the whole no drugs, smoking, and alcohol thing. That all makes sense to me. The iced tea thing just didn't make sense to me.

So my sessions continued and they were going great. There was only one problem. There were questions I wanted to ask the missionaries, but not in front of Josh. I realized that this would be a dilemma for me. So, I told Josh I was done with the talks for a while.

What Josh didn't know is that I decided to talk to missionaries online at mormon.org so that I could ask them any question I wanted without Josh being there. They weren't horrible questions, just things I didn't want to talk about in front of Josh early on in our relationship. I wanted to understand everything on my own. I wanted to do this for me. I didn't want Josh to think that I was going to go through this just to be with him. I truly wanted to learn.

I needed that time with the missionaries online to better understand the church for myself. I loved going down to the computer lab at my apartment complex and waiting for the next available computer so I could make my appointment online with the missionaries.

After several weeks, Josh noticed that we weren't having our talks anymore and I wasn't asking him any more questions. So, he decided to ask me if I have any questions. I said no. I know that he thought at that point that I was over it and I didn't want to talk about the church anymore. Well, being who I am, I can't keep a secret. So, I told Josh that I don't have any questions because my questions were being answered by the missionaries online. He replied, "Missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon Missionaries)? They have missionary chat?" I said yes, I had been talking online with a few of them over the last couple weeks.

He asked me if I wanted to meet with the "offline" missionaries and I said sure. Through the summer, there were some great sessions and I really started to feel that the church was true. Every time I would learn new things, it would make me happy. I would even read my scriptures before I went to bed and on the train into work the next morning. I gained a testimony that the church is true over the summer. It made me feel so happy. I started living the word of wisdom, no iced tea and all! I've really grown to love lemonade on hot summer days.

I decided in late August that I wanted to become part of the church. I joined the church September 20, 2009. Josh baptized me and it was a wonderful day. There were really wonderful people there with me and really wonderful people there with me in spirit. It felt great. I could not stop smiling all day. It was the most wonderful feeling. I'm so grateful for all the support that I have had from my family and friends.

I've been a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for over 7 months and I'm so happy. I have a wonderful fiance that opened up my world. I know that I wouldn't be where I am today, with so much happiness in my life, if I never met Josh. I know I wanted to do this for myself, but I never would have known about it without him.

Our Story: The First Date

After about two weeks of going out to lunch I finally decided to ask Colleen out on a real date. I was much smoother with my date request than I was with my initial lunch proposal. Our first date was on February 23, although Colleen thought it was on the 22nd for the last year or so. The day greeted us with a winter snow storm and I remember waking up and thinking, "I am pretty sure I could work from home today, but I should go in and see Colleen."

In addition to the wintry weather, I awoke feeling under the weather and dreading driving to work. I left for work at the usual time and didn't realize that we had a delayed opening until I saw that the parking lot was completely untouched.

After work Colleen came over to my house and then we left for a night on the town!!

We ate dinner at a restaurant in SONO called Bulldog. I never heard of it before and we soon found out why. It was the weirdest restaurant I've ever been to. Picture Friday's + Bob Marley + College Dorm Room = Bulldog.

I ordered chicken parm and they thought it was a good idea to serve that on top of a heaping pile of mashed potatoes! My Italian ancestors were rolling over in their graves.

I ordered a Mexican burger and I only ate a quarter of it. It wasn't that good.

So Bulldog was a bust, but we did have a good time chatting. On a side note - Bulldog went out of business 6 months later. After dinner we did the status quo for dates and saw a movie. I was excited to see this new film that had just come out: JUMPER!

That was probably the dumbest movie I've ever seen. Horrible acting and even worse story line. It was good thing Josh is cute or this may have been our first and only date.

I agreed - not with the me being cute stuff (although I do (-:), but the movie was really bad. I think the saving grace we got from the movie was that a few months later we learned that the two stars of the film got engaged.

He drove us back to his house and then we talked a little bit and then I went home. It was still snowing, so I didn't want to risk staying out too late. The date's activities were a bust, but the company was awesome!

Our Story: How We Met

I remember it like it was yesterday. I entered work at priceline.com and noticed something or should I say someone different. Sitting next to the usual receptionist was a beautiful young lady. My eyes locked like I was a deer caught in headlights. Luckily, she didn't notice me staring at her until the last second so I was able to save some face and look away before it became weird.

I don't really remember the first time I saw Josh. It was my second week at priceline.com and I was still trying to get a handle on everything. It wasn't until he introduced himself to me that I really noticed him. And notice him I DID!! I remember thinking that he could be an American Eagle model. I quickly emailed my friend Megan to tell her all about him.

A few weeks after I had introduced myself to Colleen, I finally mustered up enough courage to ask her out to lunch. It took a little while for my mustering to kick in - I was very nervous and remember walking past her desk and hiding out in the bathroom for a few minutes before I actually asked her out to lunch.

Well he didn't really "ask" me out to lunch. Instead he awkwardly approached my desk startling me as he mumbled out the words ... "You got plans?".

I am pretty sure I said "Do you have plans for lunch?", but who really knows.

Anyway - as I was saying. I didn't understand what he was talking about so I simply said "What?"

I think I speak for all men when I say that if a hot girl says "What?" after you ask her out it is quite debilitating and it took my last little bit of courage to repeat my request.

I realized that he was asking me out to lunch, but I couldn't go because I had to meet with my boss during that time. He responded okay and as he was leaving I said "Maybe some other time."

What a huge sucker punch to my stomach!! I had been building this up for weeks and now I had been tossed to the side with a weak excuse. I really thought that Colleen was not interested in me and therefore made up a quick reason to say no. Because I was under this impression I purposely avoided her for the next two weeks. Some may say that is a little immature and those people are correct.

I noticed that I hadn't seen Josh in a while and figured he wasn't going to ask me out any more so I decided to take matters into my own hands. He may say that I stalked him because I mysteriously found his desk, but I just say I was being resourceful. I showed up at his desk startling him a little.

What Colleen didn't know was that only 10 minutes earlier I went upstairs to mail something and spoke louder than normal ensuring that Colleen would hear my voice from her desk and come running. And it worked like a charm!!!!

Of course you did sweetie. So I asked him if he would like to get lunch together sometime this week. Evidently when you just narrow it to one day mis-communication can occur! Josh, being the charming person he is, turned to me and said ...

"Let me check my schedule." - I really regret saying those words because I proceeded to open my calendar with Colleen watching over my shoulder only to reveal that my calendar was completely blank for the entire week! Yeah - I felt like an idiot, but not wanting to admit that I simply said. "Friday looks pretty open."

I really wanted to laugh, but instead I just cracked a smile. I agreed that Friday was indeed "open" and we set our lunch date for 12 noon. Apparently, Josh thought I would forget or come up with another excuse so he decided ...

To send her an outlook meeting request. Wow - you think I would have learned from the blank calendar experience only minutes before, but I didn't. What is worse than sending the meeting request is that it took Colleen almost an hour to accept it!! I was sweating bullets. For any single guys out there reading this -- please learn from my foibles.

Friday came and my Outlook meeting reminder popped up informing me that my lunch with Josh was in 5 minutes. He suggested that we go to Cosi in Darien. I had never been to a Cosi before so I was excited and a little nervous. I took twenty minutes picking out my outfit that morning and even switched my purse.

We arrived at Cosi and Colleen ordered first. It was at this point that the awkward table, which had been so heavily on me, turned.

I opened my purse and realized that my wallet was still in my other purse. My face turned so red!! I sheepishly turned around and informed Josh that I didn't have my wallet.

First she gives me an excuse about meeting with her boss and then she "conveniently" doesn't have her wallet. I thought to myself "This girl is playing me!!!" I later found out that both of these "excuses" were 100 percent true.

As crazy as it sounded, he kindly paid for my food and didn't mention it at all. I was still very embarrassed.

Despite the wallet speed bump, our lunch date was awesome! I remember that we had a great conversation and the hour flew by in no time.

Lunch was really great! So great that later that day I emailed Josh asking him what are good places to go to in South Norwalk. He emailed me back a list of his favorite restaurants. I then replied and said that my roommate (Megan) and I were going to be in SONO that night if he wanted to meet up with us. I also gave him my phone number.

That's right. I didn't have to ask Colleen for her phone number, I guess it was God's way of saving me from another embarrassing situation. I wasn't able to meet up with Colleen that night, but a couple of weeks later we went out on our first date.

More about our first date next week! Stay Tuned!!!

RSVP, Registry and Hotel Accommodations

RSVP:
Just a reminder - please rsvp by March 1st. To rsvp please email us at the email address that is on your invitation rsvp card.

In your email response please include who is or is not attending.


REGISTRY:
We are registered at Williams-Sonoma, Macy's and Target. You can access each of these registries from the links above or the links on the right.


HOTEL ACCOMMODATIONS:
If you need overnight accommodations, we blocked off a group of rooms at the
Courtyard Marriott in Norwalk, CT at a special discounted rate.

In order to get a room at the special rate you need to book your reservation before April 22, 2009.

You can book your room by clicking on either the link above or the link on the right.

We ate Cake and Fought with a Printer!

I have to say the best part about planning a wedding is by far cake testing. If you missed this delectable experience during your own wedding planning, tell us and you can come with us next time. We were on a sugar rush for about 3 hours.

All that sugar energy came in handy this evening when we quickly realized the absolute worst part about planning a wedding. Printing invitations!!!

It is now 10:36 PM on a Friday night and Colleen and I have been printing invitations since 6:25 PM. Yup, four fun filled hours! So when you get one of our lovely invitations just remember, there was a lot of blood (figurative), sweat (literal), and tears (almost literal) that went with that love.



We also would like to take this opportunity to publicly apologize to the bizhub C500 printer. We didn't mean most of the things we screamed at you this evening.