January 29th, 2018

I am truly, completely, and fully enjoying wedding planning so far! 🤗

Although there’s so much to do still, I am fully embracing every aspect of it! Of course stressful issues will always come up no matter what we do, but in the end this is OUR wedding that we’re getting to plan and just the idea of that is overwhelmingly amazing in itself. ☺️ I cannot wait for our upcoming special day, when I will get to walk down the aisle and meet my soon-to-be husband at the other end...to be forever united in holy matrimony. 👰🏼💍

Although there may be times throughout this whole process where I may be at my wits end, on November 10th it will all truly be worth it when everything on our big day is completely and utterly perfect. But, most of all, I am SO excited to marry my wonderful fiancé! And I cannot wait to officially be Jordan Rachele Donelson! 😍 However, I still have a handful of months to wait until then. (Nine and a half...not that I’m counting. 😜)

So, in the meantime, I will just have to keep myself occupied with all the fun details involved in planning. I never imagined that we’d already have the church, reception, and photography all figured out so soon! Eagerly looking forward to some avid wedding dress shopping next month! ❤️ 

January 27th, 2018

Ahem. We booked our wedding hall today!!!!



Our reception shall be held at the William Tell Banquet Hall! Our room is the gorgeous Terrace Room!

The coolest part about having our wedding at the William Tell is that so many people we know work here! My "Auntie" Sue is the head manager. My mom works here too, along with Sue's daughter Becky (aka one of my bridesmaids!). Plus, our friend Harlee works in the booking office! She actually was the one who sat down with us to talk about all the details.

It really was so nice getting to see the place and talk about all the details—especially with people we know, love, and are comfortable with! I feel so confident and secure that our day will be absolutely perfect with their help. :)

January 26th, 2018

I say a lot of wonderful things about my mother (because, well, she truly is an amazing woman!). But when I really just sit back and think about EVERYTHING she has done (and does do) for me...I’m in awe, really.

Trying to figure out how to raise a new baby is difficult enough, but my mother basically took care of me all on her own for the first six months of my life while my father was away training at the police academy to become a state trooper. Not only that, but she openly and whole-heartedly supported my dad the entire time.

My mom really is a super-mom. She worked full-time up until her last kid was born, and I never once felt like I didn’t get enough attention or time with her. She was always doing things with us kids, from taking us to fun places or simply just playing with us in the yard. She does so much for our entire family and never expects anything in return. Even today she is still constantly doing things for me...and I don’t even live in her house anymore!

I am forever grateful for this lady. I truly am one of the luckiest people in the world to have her in my life. Happy birthday mommy! I love you more than I’ll ever be able to say. ❤️

Ps, look at this cute puppy who went to the groomer's recently!

January 25th, 2018

"No one ever made a difference by being like everyone else." —P.T. Barnum

January 24th, 2018

#Columbia #Chitown #downtownlife

January 21st, 2018

Pouting because I have to start going back to school tomorrow. ☹️

January 20th, 2018

We went downtown with my parents to visit my cousin Jonathan and his girlfriend Jess at their condo today! Their place is really beautiful. ♥️ In the evening we headed to a nearby bar & grill for a delicious lunch! It was a super wonderful day spent with family. So glad we all got to get together! 🤗

January 19th, 2018

This picture honestly was the biggest struggle to get...that’s the last time we have dad take the group selfie. 😂 So happy Zack was home for our family movie night to see 12 Strong! 😊🎥🍿 Afterward, we headed back to my family's house for some fun with VR—my dad especially got a huge kick out of it!

January 18th, 2018

So we are definitely enjoying our new VR games! It honestly is the coolest thing I've ever done. Tonight Mike tried the "deep sea diving shark tank" mini game and honestly I think I was more scared than he was...and I wasn't even playing, lol.

January 16th, 2018

Been a little circus-obsessed as of late. ;)

January 15th, 2018

So my lovely, amazing mother took me out today for a day of pre-birthday pampering! We got our nails done (mani's & pedi's!), she bought me a ton of new things from Victoria Secret, and then we got our hair cut and colored! It was such a nice day, especially getting to spend it all with my mom. :)

January 13th, 2018

Birthday celebrations part 3! 🎊🎈 

I always love me some bd’s! 😋 

Enjoy this shot of Peter in the foil birthday hat.

Another cake for the birthday boy!!

What a very successful birthday it has been this year for my special man! So many fun activities and surprises!! 🤗 So thankful for all the people who helped make these past few days so absolutely lovely for Mike! ❤️

Happy happy birthday Michael! Twenty-three is going to be an amazing year for you! And, well, me too I suppose. 😉 Can’t wait to marry you this year, mister two-three. 😍 (PS: Enjoy being a “year older” than me for several more days. 😜)

January 12th, 2018

And the birthday festivities continued today!! 😄🎂🎉 

Yet another successful birthday celebration for this wonderful man—and yes, he so truly deserves every bit of it! ☺️❤️

I had to outdo myself this year and make two cakes for Mike. ;) I made this simpler Subaru cake to bring over to my family's!

#EXCALBR

Oh, and here's the balloons I surprised Mike with at home (before we headed to my family's house)!

My so very generous family got Mike all kinds of presents! This of course included two new pairs of Converse...because he definitely didn't already have enough, lol.

We enjoyed  a lovely family dinner at La Dolce Vita together. The food was delicious, as always.

Some freezing fun was had at Top Golf again this evening after dinner! (It was so cool we just couldn't stay away!!)

And then we ended the evening with some intense games of Tables & Chairs. :)

January 11th, 2018

Happy birthday to my sweetheart! 🎂🎊🎁🎈🎉❤️

Twenty three means another candle on your cake—but it's so much more than that. It means another year of amazing memories, uncontrollable laughter, inside jokes, unforgettable moments...another year getting to call you mine.

Happy birthday to my best friend in the whole wide world. 👫🐊 I don’t think some people understand the importance of having a best friend in their partner. Lucky for me, that’s what I have in you—and I am so very grateful. I could honestly talk for hours about how amazing you are, but I’ll just keep it brief: you are the single best thing that has ever happened to me, and I thank God every day for bringing us together.

Happy birthday to my fiancé. 💍💕 I wish you nothing but all the happiness in the world. I wish you a wonderful day full of endless celebrations—I certainly know you deserve nothing less. I’m so blessed to get to spend yet another birthday with you! 

Happy Birthday Michael Richard. ☀️☝🏼 You mean the world to me, and I hope one day I can give you all that you truly deserve. I love you so much honey pie!! ❤️❤️❤️

So for this amazing guy’s twenty-THIRD birthday I surprised him with a day consisting of THREE exhilarating activities! Our first stop of the day was at iFly for some indoor skydiving!! 🤟🏼🛩🚁 Definitely one of the coolest things I’ve ever done! Our instructor said I was a natural!! 🙌🏼 

Our second stop of the day was at K1 Speed for some high-speed fun with go-karts! 🏎🏁 Mike totally kicked my butt all three races...but I’m okay with that since it’s his birthday and all. 😉

My champion. :)

We ended up having more time than expected, so we added in a bonus activity: seeing The Greatest Showman! Oh my goodness, guys. This movie was amazing! I LOVED EVERYTHING! The story, the songs, the child-like wonder I felt throughout! Gah, it was such an incredible film. Seriously, if nothing else go see this one. You won't be disappointed.

Our last stop of the day was Topgolf! 🏌🏼‍♀️⛳️ I am by no means a golf person, but even I couldn’t deny how absolutely cool that place was! Definitely need to go back soon. Mike had an absolute ball! (No pun intended 😉)

Here's my handsome birthday boy enjoying some cake after a long (but super fun and eventful!) day of festivities. 😚🎂🚙💙 (He completely loved his cake, btw!!)

January 10th, 2018

Worked all day long to make this Subaru cake for my darling's birthday tomorrow! It's designed to look just like his Subaru: Excalibur. I think I did a pretty good job...but I guess we'll see tomorrow when the Subaru expert makes his verdict. ;)

January 8th, 2018

"There was one time when we were children, he transformed himself into a snake, and he knows that I love snakes. So, I went to pick up the snake to admire it and he transformed back into himself and he was like, "Yeah, it's me!". And he stabbed me. We were eight at the time."

January 7th, 2018

Here's a silly caricature I did of my darling fiance. What can I say? He's such a hunksicle!

January 5th, 2018

Look at this absolutely ADORABLE photo of my fiancé! 😍

January 4th, 2018

Dat P-90x life doe

January 3rd, 2018

Happy 3rd Relationship Anniversary to us!!

Happy 3rd Anniversary, my love! 😍 What a beautiful journey it has been so far—I can’t wait to see all the wonderful things life has in store for us in the years to come!! 😘

As of today, Michael Donelson and Jordan Gembara represent: 4.5 years of friendship 👫; 3 years of love ❤️; 2 months of espousal 💍; and minus 10 months of marriage. 😉💒

Today we started off our anniversary as we have for the past two years: with lunch at George's. :) I love that little diner so much! Aside from the fact that it's the place Michael asked me to be his girlfriend ;), it has delicious food and a super friendly staff. I changed it up and actually had lunch food for a change, instead of my usual breakfast platter, lol. After we were full, we headed to the iPic theater in Bolingbrook to watch a movie in luxury!

We saw Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle, and wow did I love it! I expected the movie to be funny, but it completely exceeded my expectations. It was laugh-out-loud funny the whole way through, plus it actually had a great plot! I loved the casting choices—Jack Black was probably my favorite of the bunch. I especially loved all the little tie-ins to the old movie! We also ordered some yummy dessert while we watched—I had cheesecake and Mike had ice cream. :)

After the movie Mike drove us straight over to Jared's, much to my surprise. He insisted that he wanted to buy me a charm or two to add to my new Pandora bracelet! He is such a sweetheart, that man. He never stops spoiling me! I ended up picking the Princess Jasmine Dress charm and the Princess Rapunzel themed bead.

We stopped home after that (but not before getting a cute picture at the gazebo at our complex!), thinking the festivities were through for the evening. However, shortly after walking into the door Mike suggested we head to the mall. I wasn't ready to stay in for the night yet, so I happily agreed.

We went to the Fox Valley Mall, where Mike immediately took us to the carousel. We ended up being the only two people on! No one got into line, so the lady let us ride extra long. It was so wonderful. :)

We didn't end up buying anything from the mall, just enjoyed browsing around together and enjoying one another's company. As always, I loved looking in the Disney store. :) We also ended up getting a really cute picture together by the huge Christmas tree up in the center of the mall (they hadn't taken it down yet).

After we finally got home (for good this time!), we ate a little something before getting ready to workout. That's right! We did P-90x on our anniversary. Talk about a #FitCouple. ;) It was Plyo, which totally kicked my butt, but it was a good workout overall! Really loving getting to workout alongside my sweetheart every day—it really motivates me to keep at it and try harder every time! :)



We ended the evening snuggled up together under some blankets watching a movie. Overall, it was such a lovely day. I am so blessed to have spent three wonderful years with this amazing man. It's crazy to think that we have a second anniversary to celebrate this year, too! On November 18th it will be the first anniversary of our engagement! :) Some people may not celebrate or even acknowledge that date, especially after they've gotten married, but Mike and I are different. We love and cherish every special moment in our lives! Every milestone of ourselves should be celebrated. I look forward to celebrating any and all anniversaries Michael and I have in the years to come! :)