We're Married!

On April 16th, 2011, I became a wife!

Our wedding day was remarkable!  I will share more pictures with you when I get them back from our photographer, Elissa R Photography.  In the meantime, check out Elissa's blog post featuring our wedding.

I have a slew of pictures from our honeymoon, and I'll begin updating you on our adventures very soon!  Here's a personalized postcard of us in Ireland:

I hope you're enjoying this gorgeous weekend :)

Moved In

We're finally all moved into our new house, with only a few miscellaneous boxes that aren't unpacked yet.  It is a lot of work, but definitely worth it.  We love our neighborhood.  Dozer loves the huge yard, although he still always wants wherever he can't be.

We have squirrels in the front yard.  Therefore, Dozer does not approve of being locked in the backyard.

It's crazy how much money a house costs in the beginning (and forever after that).  We've been to Lowe's four times in the past week and a half, and spent hundreds of dollars.  On tiny little stuff that you would never guess you'd have to buy.  Austin's been loving working outside in the yard and fixing up the garage.  Of course he wants to go buy a bunch of tools but, um, those aren't on the "need" list right now.

Aside from moving in, I've been putting together our wedding day timeline, checklist, emergency phone numbers, etc.  I'll probably be way over-prepared, but that's what happens when you're suddenly unemployed three weeks before your wedding.

The emotional side of it is what gets me.  In the past two months, my maid of honor suddenly dropped out of the wedding and quit talking to me altogether, and I lost my job - neither of which I had any control over.  To the outside world, I'm sure other people think "Oh sure, it wasn't your fault at all, right..." But seriously.  I have been in situations where I was at least partly responsible for the consequences, and in those times, I recognized that I was at fault.  And in both of these situations, there was absolutely no warning or chance for me to change their decisions.  It's really hard to face, because I'm the type of person who always wants to fix it.   If I do something wrong, I always come back around and apologize.  I can't stand for someone I care about to be upset with me.

These aren't exactly the emotions I wanted to be feeling 9 days before our wedding.  But I'm not in control of the circumstances, and I just have to trust that there is a reason for this.  I truly cannot wait for next week to be here so I can be surrounded by my friends and family in a giant celebration.  I just hope that all the happiness around me doesn't cause me to spin into an emotional breakdown.

In brighter news, the 10-day weather forecast is here for Saturday, and it's supposed to be sunny and 86 degrees.  Perfect weather for an outdoor wedding :)

The Unexpected

I wrote before about all of the wedding planning bloopers that have come up during our 9 month engagement.  Well, there've been more, but they're all inconsequential if you really think about it.  Not all of them are directly wedding-related, but it's sh*t you don't expect when you're trying to plan "one of the happiest days of your life".

Two weeks ago, I was let go from my job.  It's still sinking in and all of the emotions start swirling around in my head every night as I try to fall asleep.  It was unfair, unwarranted, and completely unexpected.  They did it on Monday morning of the week we were supposed to close on our new house.  Which, if you've ever bought a house before, is not a good thing.  It ended up working out okay, but we did have to extend our mortgage term, thus increasing the interest rate.  But, we still qualified and that's what's important.

So, we bought a house last week!  And it proved to be a pretty good distraction to keep me from thinking about being unemployed.  This weekend, Austin's mom came to visit and I hardly even thought about being jobless.  But now she's gone, and Austin's back at work, and it's easy to start feeling awful again, wondering what I'm going to do with my future.

Of course, luckily, I have one other small distraction, the wedding and our honeymoon!  I'm just worried that I'm not going to be able to fully enjoy it all because I'll be freaking out about all the money we're spending in just a few short days!

I've always struggled with looking at things in a positive light.  It's something I'm working on, though.  Perhaps God just wanted to give me a little break.  I'll admit, it's nice having a bit of time to get unpacked and settled in our new house.  Also, now I'll be able to go to my parent's house a few days early and straighten out all of the last-minute wedding details.

Everything always works out for the best, and I know this to be true.  Sometimes my mind likes to play tricks on me and convince me that I'm just a huge failure and always making a mistake.  I'm not.  I try my best every single day to be successful, and I'm going to make it.  And my future husband?  He'll be right there beside me.

One Month

The countdown is on!  One month until our wedding day.

Since I still can't show you my dress (eeeee!), here's the next best thing:  the flower girls.  We have three flower girls in our wedding party.  Austin's two little sisters:

And my adorable cousin:

I can't wait for the girls to meet - they're going to become fast friends, I know.  My cousin and Austin's oldest little sister are both in first grade this year!

We've decided that we're probably not going to have a ring bearer.  We discussed having Dozer be our doggie ring bearer, but neither of us want his whining to interrupt our ceremony.

Also, here's one of our D-I-Y features.  Recently I made these bride and groom signs to hang on the back of our chairs at the sweetheart table.

I can't wait to see everything come together on the big day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

Since today is centered around love, I have a wonderful poem I'd like to share with you.

“Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion. That is just being “in love” which any of us can convince ourselves we are.

Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away. This is both an art and a fortunate accident to have roots that grow towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossoms have fallen from the branches you realize that you are one tree and not two.”

-Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, by Louis de Bernieres.

We plan to include this as a reading in our wedding ceremony!

Instead of including the typical bible verse from 1 Corinthians or Romans 8, we chose something a bit more unique and personalized that relates to marriage.  I will enjoy looking back on this poem in the future, as a reminder of our wedding day.

We're also re-wording the speech our officiant will give before the ring ceremony because neither of us wants to hear how a ring is an unending circle like the sun, moon and earth or that love freely given has no giver or receiver.  Don't get me wrong, this speech might be just perfect for someone else, but for us, it's confusing and isn't very symbolic of the commitment we are making to each other.

Wedding Planning Bloopers

Things are destined to go wrong when you're planning a wedding.  And the best way to deal with these events is with a smile on your face, or to laugh it off.  Thus, here's my series of Wedding Planning Bloopers.  Let's start from the beginning:

- The night we got engaged, my fiance called to tell one of his best friends the news, and his response was, "Yeah man, I just found out that my girlfriend is pregnant, so we're getting married too".  So, we set our date specifically to allow for said groomsman to be able to attend after his baby is born in February.

- The weekend we picked happend to coincide with the biggest festival in my home town, thus ruling out our first pick for the ceremony venue, which happened to be in the middle of the festival location.  Then we picked another location for the ceremony that was still on the same street as the festival, in the naive belief that it was far enough away that it wouldn't affect us.

- Four months later we were notified that the streets surrounding the chapel would be blocked off, and that we would be provided with zero parking spaces.

- We could not change our date because 1) then the groomsman with that baby wouldn't be able to come and 2) I'd already bought my plane ticket for our honeymoon to Ireland.

- Therefore, we attempted to get married at a small church near our reception, but they wouldn't allow it because our officiant was non-denominational.  Finally, we changed our ceremony to be outdoors at the same location as our reception.

- We set up our tuxedo rental on-line for Men's Wearhouse, then sent out the colors & styles to each guy individually.  When my dad went in to get measured, they told him they couldn't measure him until we went  into the store and set up the colors and styles ourselves.  So we did that, and then my dad went back in to the store and they ended up asking him to pick out his style tux, shirt, shoes, color anyway, against their own policy.

- Three months before the wedding, the groomsman with the baby due in February told Austin he wasn't going to be able to make it.  We offered to pay for his plane ticket, but his wife still didn't want him to be gone all weekend.

- On the exact same day, one of the ushers also backed out because he changed jobs and wasn't guaranteed time off.

- Two months before the wedding, my maid of honor still hadn't ordered her dress.  Then she finally ordered it, but she kept receiving phone calls asking her which color purple she wanted...after the third phone call, I became suspicious and discovered that the website she ordered from was not an authorized manufacturer of the bridesmaid dress I had chosen.  Thus it would be a different shade of purple and the style would probably be a bit off as well.

- Eleven weeks before the wedding, I asked my maid of honor to cancel the dress and re-order it from a legit website.  I warned her that she would probably need to use rush-shipping, and offered to pay for it.

- Ten weeks before the wedding, my maid of honor e-mails me saying she thinks I should ask someone else to be the maid of honor because she can't afford it.  And that she doesn't want this to affect our friendship, that she's sorry that it's "kinda late notice".  Then she ignores my phone calls.

Wedding Registry

Austin and I set up our wedding registry this weekend at Bed Bath and Beyond, but we're already thinking about changing it.  After looking around Target's website, it looks like they have a wider range of options, and they're more affordable too!

We registered for the "expected" things like plates, bowls, bath towels, sheets, a stand mixer, blender, coffee pot, tablecloths, bakeware, and we even went for a few "unconventional" items - like a massage cushion!  And when we set up at Target, Austin wants to sign up for a Wii.

We thought about signing up for home bar furniture, curtains, and closet organization devices - but all of those things are best purchased when you know the arrangement of your house.  Since our lease ends in March, we're unsure where we'll be living after we're married.

Registering was a lot of fun, but it took a lot longer than I expected!  Now we just need to decide if we're going to delete our registry at Bed Bath & Beyond, or just have two registries - one at Target and one at Bed Bath and Beyond...

What's your favorite department store?

Invitations

Our wedding is still 7 months away - but I started working on our invitations this weekend.  What can I say, I'm an early-achiever.

If you're curious how I made the invitations, here's a quick summary of the process.  First, I created the invitation wording template and printed it on white cardstock.  I cut them into 3.5"x5" sections.

Next, I took a piece of 8"x6" purple cardstock and measured 2" on each side and folded them to meet in the middle. 

Then I made a 1" slit along the fold in the middle of the cardstock, and threaded a purple ribbon thru.

Next, I glued the white cardstock invitation on top of the ribbon and folded the side flaps closed.  Finally, I tied a bow with the ribbon.

Simple and homemade!  So far, I've spent $0.13/ea for ribbon + $0.14/ea for envelopes = $0.27/ea.  I haven't printed the maps or rehearsal dinner invites yet, but I'm guessing there won't be any additional cost for those since I already have cardstock on hand.  If my prediction is correct, I'll have my invitations done and only spent $20!
(The postage will be additional, of course.)

I'm still working on the ceremony invitation / maps / rehearsal dinner invitation.  Everyone's welcome to attend the rehearsal dinner, so it seems pointless to mail it separately.

Are you a procrastinator, or do you prefer to early-achieve?

Doggie Ring Bearer

We've all seen the pictures of pets in weddings.

The question in my mind is - how does this work with energetic, hyper dogs?  Namely, our 3 year old Jack Russell Terrier whose favorite pasttime is greeting people.

We would absolutely love for Dozer to be a part of our wedding ceremony.  Wouldn't he be so adorable in a little doggie tuxedo?

If we were having an outdoor ceremony, I would be a little less worried.  However, we're having a private (family-only) ceremony in a small chapel.  The chapel has agreed to allow him in the building if we pay an additional deposit.

So now the question is - will we regret having him there?  Will he be whimpering to go run around and greet people?  The last thing we need is a distraction from the ceremony.

But we LOVE our dog.  He is a huge part of our lives.  We've had him since our second month of dating!  And we're the silly couple who brings their dog everywhere.  So why wouldn't we include him in our wedding?

Besides, I have this great poem I want to read at the ceremony, that would fit perfectly if Dozer was present.

Falling in love is like owning a dog

by Taylor Mali

First of all, it's a big responsibility,

especially in a city like New York.

So think long and hard before deciding on love.

On the other hand, love gives you a sense of security:

when you're walking down the street late at night

and you have a leash on love

ain't no one going to mess with you.

Because crooks and muggers think love is unpredictable.

Who knows what love could do in its own defense?

On cold winter nights, love is warm.

It lies between you and lives and breathes

and makes funny noises.

Love wakes you up all hours of the night with its needs.

It needs to be fed so it will grow and stay healthy.

Love doesn't like being left alone for long.

But come home and love is always happy to see you.

It may break a few things accidentally in its passion for life,

but you can never be mad at love for long.

Is love good all the time? No! No!

Love can be bad. Bad, love, bad! Very bad love.

Love makes messes.

Love leaves you little surprises here and there.

Love needs lots of cleaning up after.

Sometimes you just want to get love fixed.

Sometimes you want to roll up a piece of newspaper

and swat love on the nose,

not so much to cause pain,

just to let love know Don't you ever do that again!

Sometimes love just wants to go for a nice long walk.

Because love loves exercise.

It runs you around the block and leaves you panting.

It pulls you in several different directions at once,

or winds around and around you

until you're all wound up and can't move.

But love makes you meet people wherever you go.

People who have nothing in common but love

stop and talk to each other on the street.

Throw things away and love will bring them back,

again, and again, and again.

But most of all, love needs love, lots of it.

And in return, love loves you and never stops.

 

So, what's your opinion?  Have you been to a wedding with dogs involved?

Girl Weekend

My mom, aunt and I had so much fun during our Girl Weekend.

We went to the spa for massages and pedicures. (*thanks Austin!*)

We went dress shopping and I BOUGHT MY WEDDING DRESS!!!  Plus my mom picked out her mother of the bride dress, too!

We ate at some fantastic restaurants.  We had brunch at the Rainbow Lodge.

We made a special toast to celebrate my birthday, my mom's birthday, and my engagement!  Mmm, mimosas!

I ordered the Cast Iron Seared Gulf Red Snapper, Early Summer Succotash and White Corn Griddle Cakes.  Simply delicious.

I would definitely recommend eating at the Rainbow Lodge.  The food is great and the decor is cool.  There is free valet parking for brunch and dinner - plus the outdoor patio is gorgeous.

We also ate at Pappasito's.  I had the Carne Asada with Black Beans, Mexican Rice, Guacamole, and Tortillas.

We ate at Le Petite Paris bakery for lunch.  My mom and aunt both ordered the Boeuf Bourguignon, inspired by the movie Julia & Julie that we watched together on Saturday night.

I had a Caesar Salad with French Onion Soup.

The pictures do not do this meal justice.  It was fantastic, and so girly.  To top it off, we ordered chocolatey desserts.

I thought I'd died and gone to heaven.  The restaurant had such a unique atmosphere, and the entire place smelled wonderful.  Eating at a French Bakery = the best decision you will ever make.

My aunt and I went shopping for shoes to go with my wedding dress, and we actually found a pair for $20 at Sears that could do the trick!  However, I am not 100% confident that they'll be comfortable enough to wear all day.  So, I've been doing some browsing on CSN Stores.com to find a different pair to try out.  I'll do a review of them when they arrive!  While I was on-line, I got distracted with their dinnerware selection and started dreaming.  Must focus on shoes...

I'm so sad our girl weekend is over!  My aunt needs to move back to Texas ;)

Have you ever eaten at a French restaurant or bakery?

If not, I suggest you do so very soon - you're missing out!