You know the saying about good fences? Well, I think it's wrong.
Our neighbors behind us came over last night to say...they're really upset about the placement of our shed. Not even sure where to start on this one. Let me say, though, that it is the cutest shed in the world. It's natural wood, not real big, and even has the cutest little window in the front with a flower box. It looks like a cute, little house. It's precious.
They said that they're just very upset, because with the shed being in one corner of our yard, it blocks their view. View of what? The road? The houses on the other side of the street? There is no view. A "view," for instance, would be of the woods, which are nonexistent in our area, or of a lake or something pretty.
Nevermind the fact that it is our yard. We could plant 200 pink, plastic flamingos all over our backyard, and there's not a thing they could do. Not that we would, but we very well could. Ridiculous!
In any event, it's Friday. :) Really didn't do all that much last night, aside from work out at the gym, and watch Survivor. Brianna, the make-up artist, got voted off, much to my satisfaction. I was up on time this morning, leaving enough time for, oh, a shower. :) It's getting to be that time of year where I kinda dread getting up in the morning, because it's cold getting out of the bed. But once I'm up, I love it. I love that it's chilly as I walk out to my car. I love that I get to wear a sweater to work today. Love it! I love that football comes on tomorrow, and I love that I really don't have any major plans. I love a lot of things today.
Definitely slept way too long this morning---by, uh, an hour. Five-minute make-up, got dressed, pulled my hair up, and was out the door in less than 15 minutes. I remembered to grab some lunch, but not breakfast. Ah well, breakfast is...um...overrated? Maybe not, but I'm trying to think positive here.
The sky was awesome this morning--the clouds resembled waves, with the sun perched above them. The clouds were moving fast. As I chatted with my brother on the phone as we both made our way through traffic, going opposite directions, I asked if he noticed the clouds. He said that it's caused by tropical air, and that a front is moving through. How cool. I'm liking the chilly mornings, too. Still hard to believe it'll be October on Saturday, though. Hay rides, apple cider, punkins, sweaters, cool air. Lovely October. :)
I had a dream with lots and lots of Christmas-related things in it. I think it's because my Mom and I, after fighting 495 traffic, (thanks to an accident which caused both the outer loop and the inner loop to back up miserably) checked out the banquet hall and the sanctuary last night to get an idea of what we still need to do. Answer? A lot. I have a million thoughts going through my head. It will get done, it will get done, it will get done...
My first dress fitting is exactly one week from today. Ryan doesn't want me losing much more weight, but as I explained--once next Thursday comes, that's it. My weight has to stay the same from there on, or I will worry about my dress not fitting--whether that be too tight or too loose. I can continue to tone up, but nothing drastic. Not that I was really aiming for "drastic" anyway. Ryan says I will look great no matter what...and I am thankful for him! ;-)
Speaking of Ryan--he called ABC yesterday. Apparently, instead of playing the Penn State game this Saturday, they're playing the Syracuse/Florida State game. I agree with him--there has to be more PSU fans in this area than Syracuse/Florida State fans combined. So, he called to complain. Not that it will change who plays this Saturday, but it's the principle of the matter. :)
We had our third session of premarital counseling last night. We're going to be studying Ephesians 5 for three whole sessions, and let me just say--what an amazing part of scripture it is. We both had many realizations last night, so much so that we looked at each other at one point, and both had tears in our eyes. Good tears. I absolutely cannot wait to marry him.
Did anyone else watch the first episode last night? It's the family edition, and I particularly enjoyed it because it started out in NYC, and ended...and I'm not joking....in Lancaster, PA. :) One of their stops was a farm in Mount Joy, too. They were "awwww"-ing at the Amish, and the horse and buggies.
I have a feeling I'd be kicked off the very first episode of the Amazing Race. During a commercial break, Ryan nudged me and said, "You should go online and see what we'd need to do to apply. We could take your brother, and..." I interrupted him, saying, "Uh, usually they only have teams of 2, not 4. This season is the family edition." The oh...nevermind then look on his face was hilarious. "Glad to see how much faith you have in me!" I joked. But seriously, I don't blame him. This is the same girl who couldn't tell you how to get to the nearest 7-Eleven when I got my learner's permit, because I didn't know street names.
Sure, I'm a million times better with directions now, but trekking all over God's creation is a different story. What's sad is, here I've lived in this area my entire life, yet Ryan knows the area better because of his job. Still, if anyone is the perfect candidate for a GPS system, it's me.
Anyway, I was rooting for the Black family, because they're from nearby Woodbridge, Virginia! Gotta support a local family. And wouldn't you know it..they were the first to be eliminated. Now I don't know who I'm rooting for. Maybe the dad with the three sons-in-law? (Bless his heart)
I woke up this morning feeling rather sore and physically exhausted. I was already feeling sore before I went to the gym last night, but I reminded myself that the wedding is only 73 days away. This, my friends, is all the motivation I need.
On another note...Why I love mornings :
(I love how it turns the house behind me a lovely shade of pink.)
With the daylight schedule changing, the sun is just barely coming up when I leave for work. Actually, this is when I know that I'm leaving late. Oops.
Hopefully, I will have some pictures of the banquet hall tomorrow. :) Love you guys--have a wonderful Wednesday!
I replaced the background music with the live version of "Creed" by Third Day. It's the only song I've ever listened to that describes who I am, and what I believe, in 6 minutes or less. For lyrics, go here. Love it, love it. **Edit - Removed music--8.29 MB was making the page load so. slowly. If you want to hear it, let me know and I'll e-mail you the mp3. **
What a gorgeous Tuesday it is! That is, after we got some much needed rain last night. But let me tell you, there are few things quite so miserable as walking the dog in the rain, in a pair of slippery shoes, whilst the dog is going nuts about getting rained on, thus darting around every which way. And naturally, the rain can't come down...no, no, it has to come sideways, thus drenching both dog and dog-walker. Lovely!
Anyway, enough of that. :) Came home, finished off the invitations for all the addresses we have so far. I need to call several couples from church to get their addresses, and Ryan needs a couple others--then we'll be set to send them out early next week!
Also, Ryan has picked out the tux and accessories for himself as well as his groomsmen. This area was completely up to him! I don't know the first thing about tuxes. Below is a picture of what the groomsmen will be wearing.
"'Cos Every Girl Crazy 'Bout a Sharp Dressed Man" - ZZ Top
That's the exact suit, but the vest and tie are different. They're going to be the same color, which matches the bridesmaid dresses, but they won't have that pattern. The vests are plain satin. Then, Ryan's vest and tie will be silver.
In other news, my Mom is going to meet me at the church tomorrow before Ryan and I meet with the pastor for counseling, so she can see what the banquet hall looks like, and so we can count the pews before we start making the pew decorations.
It already looks like work is going to be busy today, which is nice. I'm heading to the gym after work, even though I'm still kinda sore. I've resolved to go today, Thursday, Saturday, next Monday, and Tuesday...then I have my first dress fitting on Thursday. I kinda wish I had more time.
I was sitting behind a purple Taurus in traffic this morning, and was amused by the bumper stickers she had all over her car. Including: "No vehicle is complete without a few horse hairs!", "Anyone can ride a horse, it just takes talent to stay on," and my favorite, "Born to Ride, Forced to Go to Work!" :)
Not that I'd choose to plaster my car with these things, but it reminded me of myself when I was younger, and horse-obsessed. This weekend, while going through my things in the basement, I stumbled upon a framed 8x10" of me with Slew from the first day I brought him home, as well as pictures of Scatch around the time I was trying to sell him before I went off to college. Some days I really miss riding, and having a horse. My parents gave me riding lessons as a Christmas present when I was 10, and I was hooked from there on. I worked for free boarding for my first horse when I was 15--anything to have a horse of my own. The horse "phase" hasn't ended yet, I just had to grow up. $500+ a month is what I wound up paying for Slew--I could've had a BMW for that. Land up here is at a premium, so farms know that they can charge an arm and a leg, and people will pay it. In fact, the farm I had Slew boarded at had a waiting list. No joke.
But anyway. :) My weekend was wonderful. We bought my wedding band! The store only had it in yellow gold, so they placed an order for one in white gold, size 5 1/2--so I won't have to get it resized once it comes. It won't arrive until November 7th! It's a good thing we got it taken care of earlier rather than later. Sheesh.
We also looked into getting our passports taken care of for our trip to Cabo, San Lucas at the end of February--our "second honeymoon." :) We looked into what materials we'll need to bring with us to acquire one, and how the process works. Looks like I'll need to wait until I have my name changed after the wedding before I should get one, but we'll ask what they suggest while we're there to get Ryan's.
My Mom started addressing our invitations! It's feeling so real as we check off more things on our wedding to-do list. We still need to find several more addresses for people we want to invite, but the total count of guests invited, as it stands right now, is 167. Now, we know not all of them will be able to make it--due to being out-of-state, and so on, but wow! That's a lot of people. :) Of course, my family alone is, like, 100 people right there. Then Ryan's side, plus friends..
Less than 2 weeks before my first fitting...it's crunch time! I worked out like a crazy person yesterday afternoon--the Eagles game helped pump me up, too. I had the gym to myself, so I was free to yell and cheer at the TV as I pleased. :) Ryan would've been so proud, had he been there. Anyway, I'm glad they won!
It's my Dad's birthday today, but we celebrated yesterday. This is his busy season at work, and he gets home pretty late, so we decided to celebrate a day early. :)
Well, I finally have some of the shots in my possession. Marketing hasn't had time to make us individual CDs yet, so they instead sent a link to a Snapfish page. They are not high-res images, so the quality is very poor, but you get the idea. :) Also, they're copyrighted, so don't touch. Not that you would, but I'll say it anyway.
**Edited to explain 'what's up with the fingers' -- the company I work for is a biometrics company, and our main product allows customers to pay with their fingerprint rather than credit card or check. I think it'll make better sense now. :)
Okay, first are the ones at the gas pump. It was so windy that the stylist ran up and pulled all my hair back so you can't tell that we're getting gale-force winds. Honestly, I hate having my hair back, but it turned out that they're the shots everyone seems to like...who knew? :-P
Then to Giant grocery store! Aisle #8. I don't like these.
At A Deli. :) One of my friends thought it was funny to see me reaching for beer. Eww. I just do what I'm told!
And one of J. and C., just cause I loved 'em. :)
I can't post all of them, cause I think you all would get sick of me. But that's that. My one and only modeling day. At least you know I wasn't making up stories or something. :)
Last night was pretty uneventful. I went to the gym, then Ryan and I had dinner with my Mom. It was Survivor night, so you know I was all about that. And...that was it. :)
Tomorrow, Ryan and I are going to pick out tuxes for the wedding...before the Penn State game comes on, of course. Then after that..maybe going to buy my wedding band? :) I really hope so!
So, what are you all doing this weekend? Anything fun? Happy Friday!
I decided to put up new background music. It's Third Day's, "The Everlasting." I adore it. It gets stuck in my head constantly. If you want to see the lyrics for it, click here.
Ryan surprised me by coming over for lunch at my office yesterday. :) He called out of the blue to say he was coming over--he just wanted to see me. He is the sweetest.
I'll be honest--at first, the thought of all we had to do for premarital counseling seemed a little...intense. Three books, three books on tape (15 tapes) and 8, one and a half hour sessions with the pastor. Not to mention the nine pages of questions he had us fill out! (Which took me, oh, roughly two hours to do) But I can't even tell you how much of a blessing it has turned out to be. It's wonderful. Sure, it's a lot of work--but of all things to invest hard work into, I think this is definitely worth it.
Our session last night dealt with compatibility, and communication. First off, let me just say--I love our pastor. He is so animated, and full of life and passion. He's about 70 years old, but he's like a much younger man trapped in an older body! He is so full of energy. You can really tell that he is passionate about what he is saying. The thing I also love about our sessions is that they're private--not with a bunch of other couples. This allows it to be completely interactive.
After our pastor talked specifically about how important clarification is when you're dealing with two different people that are trying to understand each other, Ryan laughed and brought up our experience in that area. He talked about how his background in a reformed church differed from mine. (I knew about Calvin, but thought TULIP was a flower) Anyway, when we first started dating and would talk about our beliefs, he had to keep in mind that I had no idea what he was trying to get across, so he had to really expound on what he viewed as simple, commonplace views. He grew up with reformed teaching, while I didn't. Yes, I grew up in the church, but how it was taught to us varied.
I went on to tell our pastor how it was so funny trying to get over that communication barrier. At first, we got frustrated, thinking that we were actually in disagreement over this view or that view, but once we talked through it, we realized that we were simply trying to get across the same view, but we were just saying it in two different ways! Once we talked through it, we realized that we actually agreed, but had two entirely different ways of expressing our beliefs. It was so exciting when we realized that we actually were in agreement, and our relationship deepened.
Anyway, yes, it was a productive session. :) It really didn't seem like it lasted an hour and a half...I loved it! I turned in my questions, too. I enjoyed it, but it was definitely very thorough.
So..it's Thursday! Where did the week go?
Oh my goodness, I just realized that I marry Ryan in 79 days. Wow! :) Time is really flying, that's for sure. Things are coming along...we're mailing out a few of our invitations next week, and the remainder will go out the following week. Also, my Mom ordered her dress for the wedding. :) It's beautiful! She's going to look so great.
Oh, before the invitations go out, I need to completely move our wedding website to a different address. I can't forget about doing that! If I forget, all of our guests that try to go to the address listed will be very confused about why they were directed there. (because there's nothing there at the present time...you know, minor details) Ah, technology.
It's Wednesday--do you know what this means? It means I have exactly 2 weeks and one day until my first wedding dress fitting! I was oh-so excited to find out that my under-things for under my dress had arrived yesterday, and was giddy to try said under-things on. That is, until I found out...they are too big. Argh!
This wouldn't be such a big deal except for the fact that it was backordered in the first place, and took nearly a month to get here. I don't have another month to wait for a smaller size. Now what do I do? Reschedule my fitting? Reschedule with the same amazing seamstress that everyone on the DC board on theknot.com has raved about, and apparently everyone is using, who I originally booked, uh, the week after I got engaged?? Long sentence..sorry. Anyway, you can see my predicament.
Unfortunately, we weren't able to meet up with Ryan's parents last night. They wanted to go out for a really nice dinner, because I think his Dad's company is paying for their meals. Quite frankly, we really can't afford $150+ for dinner right now. Shoot, we don't ever go out to dinner, much less somewhere really, really nice. Plus, we have expenses like..oh..wedding bands, which take precedence right now.
On top of that, I hadn't been feeling well yesterday or the day before. I was dealing with some sort of stomach bug or something, and nothing had been sitting well. No fun. :(
We have a premarital counseling session today at 4:30, which goes until 6, so we might be able to catch up with his parents afterwards. I'm not sure what time they were planning on heading home, so that may or may not work out. We shall see.
Aside from that, life is beautiful. I fixed Ryan some dinner last night, and we settled down to start listening to one of our books on tape, Christian Marriage by R.C. Sproul, required for premarital counseling. We wound up listening to the tapes for two hours, and I can't even tell you how great it was. I'd recommend it to anyone.
It's not like your typical books on tape...they were recorded while he was teaching a seminar on Christian Marriage, and it is just awesome. After we'd finish each side of the tapes, we'd talk about our thoughts on it, and really take time to listen to each other. I can't even express how wonderful it was. We always talk, and we've talked about a lot of these issues, but it was just so much deeper. We expressed our thoughts, concerns, and our desires for an exciting, wonderful, fulfilling, Christ-centered marriage. There is nothing like truly connecting with your best friend, and feeling 100% understood and loved.
So, now I'm off to get some work done. :) I have so much to do! Hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday. We're almost on the downward slope towards the weekend!
Last night, I stated, "as much as I'd love to stay up to watch the Redskins stomp the Cowboys, I have to get some sleep!" While I was being rather facetious, what do you know? We won! And it's not that the Cowboys are even a good team...we just can never seem to beat them. There isn't a team that I dislike more. (though the Raiders are pretty close in second! Their fans are scary, too..) Did you hear that the Cowboys are upset that everyone, in light of Katrina, is calling the Saints "America's Team?" Completely disregard the fact that the Cowboys are the self-proclaimed "America's Team"....puh-lease. Get over yourselves.
Well, it is indeed a beautiful morning. :) The weather is amazing, though I think they're calling for a storm later on today. We really could use the rain.
I'm listening to an awesome CD here at work that Em made for me. No one gets in till 9, so I get to enjoy it without interruption. It's my current favorite. :) I should put up one of the songs as my background music.
Ryan's parents are going to be in town later today through sometime tomorrow. We have premarital counseling tomorrow, so I wonder if we're going to meet with them later today? I have no idea when they're getting here, though. We might go out for dinner or something.
Our custom napkins came last night! :) My under-things didn't arrive like I was told they would...and the tracking information is confusing, as it's coming via USPS, not UPS or FedEx. Anyway, the napkins are really cute. I really love the font! I'm keeping a sample to go in our "wedding planning" scrapbook, which I really haven't started, but I've gathered pictures and things together that I want to put in it.
And....we're going to buy my wedding band probably at the end of the week or over the weekend! :) I'll have to post a picture of that soon. It's beautiful, and it matches my engagement ring to the T. I tried on a million different bands at four different places, but they all looked funny matched with my engagement ring. Like Christmas tree shopping, I'm a tough customer. ;-) My Mom and Em can vouch for me on that.
Okay, I have a million things to do at work today. Hope you all have a fantastic Tuesday!
I rushed around after work on Friday--got some groceries, straightened up the apartment, packed my things, took care of the dog. I couldn't wait for Ryan to get home. I had the bright idea to stick dinner in the oven before I left for the airport. It needed to be in there for an hour and 15 minutes, and I only planned on being gone 45 minutes at the absolute most. I thought, hey, it'll give Ryan enough time to start unpacking and get settled before we have dinner.
Wrong. I ended up circling the airport for an hour, because his plane idled on the runway for at least half an hour. The weather wasn't the greatest, so I guess it caused some additional delays. I was freaking out, thinking that dinner would be severely ruined. Ryan tried to calm me down, and told me, "Honestly, I really don't care about dinner right now. I'm just glad to be home." Love him.
As it turned out, dinner was fine. It was a little more brown on top than usual, but smelled delish. But by the time we got back, it was about 9:30, and neither of us were hungry, so into the fridge it went. Instead, Ryan started to unpack, and showed me what he got me--a pink and white baseball jersey from the Indians game he went to that reads "OuttaYour League" on the front. It's very cute! Is he funny, or what?
So! On Saturday, we took a break from the football games, and went to buy his wedding band! :) Very, very exciting! They took down his ring size, and placed the order. They should be calling today with an estimated arrival time. (They said, at the most, it'll be 3-4 weeks) It's a really gorgeous ring. And..while we were there, the lady helping us offered to clean my ring for me. It sparkled like crazy, and looked exactly like it did when Ryan gave it to me. :) Also found out that anytime I need to have it rhodium plated, it's free! Apparently, Ryan got the lifetime coverage deal when he bought it from them, so if I have it plated even 2 times in my entire lifetime, it pays for itself.
On Sunday, we had our second Discovering Christ class. Very interesting. At the beginning of the class, they had us go around and talk briefly about our 'earliest spiritual moment.' The majority of the class told us how they became saved, or some memory from their childhood: going to church or having devotions with their parents---that sort of thing. I talked about how my earliest memory was when my brother and I had gone to our very first vacation Bible school together, when we were really little, and they had us memorize a really short verse from the Bible. We came home so excited about it, and my parents have us on videotape running around the kitchen table, saying, "Jesus is the son of God, Jesus is the son of God!" :)
Then..it got strange. The lady next to Ryan talked about how in the house she grew up in, she and her sister used to see a little girl. Her parents thought it was just their imagination, but she said that they really did see her, and that she was a "good presence." She told us how she read a book later on about her old house, and how other people have talked about how there's a presence in the house. Um, okay? Ryan and I whispered to each other, "oh dear.." Really, really bizarre...
Also, found out that our reception hostess is in our class with us! :) Her name is Jennifer, and she's going to be working alongside our caterer, making sure every aspect of the reception runs smoothly. She e-mailed me a reception checklist, with all sorts of questions that will help her with organizing all the details. So exciting! :)
Anyway, for the next class, we're supposed to essentially write down our testimony of when/how we became saved, and how we've grown as believers since then. Next Sunday, we'll break into small groups and share it with one or two people. I have a feeling that we're really going to become close to our group within the next 5 weeks! We're going to know so much about each other by then.
After church, Em came over, and we worked on invitations! She's an invitation-cranking machine! :) All in all, we completed 50 invitations. Wow!
Me & Em assembling invitations! :)
Em (aka- my fabulous MOH!) & me, again :)
In other news...our custom napkins are coming today! So are my under-things that I'll be wearing under my dress. Everything is coming together. :) Next up...finish the assignment for our premarital counseling session on Wednesday, order our centerpieces, and figure out how we're doing flowers.
Hmm. Basically, it seems like hardly anyone stops by over here anymore. :) I definitely miss the 'subscriptions' option of xanga...but I still update every day, without fail. Just so you know.
I had an issue with the dishwasher last night. Ryan ran out of dishwasher detergent a while ago, and decided to use the liquid detergent. Disaster. Can't say I haven't done that before, though. :) Well, there was standing water at the bottom of the dishwasher, which did not magically disappear. I didn't look before starting the dishwasher (I got new detergent) and bubbles began to overflow. Lots, and lots of bubbles. Dang. So I had to use a cup to remove all the water/liquid soap left over in the bottom, and start it all over again. Took a good half hour to empty all the water/soap. Good times. :)
I went over to the house last night to see my Mom, and also got to see my lovely wedding jewelry. It's very dainty and pretty. I love it!
Ryan might be flying in early tonight. He called me this morning and mentioned he might be able to get an earlier flight. I was seriously missing him last night...awful. I hate business trips. At least once we're married, I'll have the option of going with him!
Well, I started the reception playlist. 44 songs picked out thus far. We're paying for a 4 hour reception, so we'll still need to decide on some more. It's fun, though. :) And easier than I thought it'd be.
Okay, looking over this post, I realize it's not the most exciting update. No wonder everyone has stopped coming by! ;-) Kidding, kidding. Love you guys. Have a great weekend!
Wedding planning has been lovely lately. My wedding day jewelry came in, (which I haven't been able to see yet, since I can't go *home* home till Friday night) our custom napkins have been shipped, (will arrive Monday) I received Ryan's family's side of the guest list from his Mom via e-mail, my under-things have been shipped, and last, but not least, I've started purchasing things for my bridesmaid gift bags. :) Of course, I can't actually say on here what I'm putting in them, as Jess, Alyssa, Em, and possibly Steph, all read this. If you are not J, A, E, or S, I can tell you elsewhere what I'm getting them. :)
I worked out for over an hour last night, then proceeded to take Kylie for a good, long walk in the muggy, warm weather. Thank you, Ophelia--the humidity is suffocating. I came back to the apartment, turned on the TV to So You Think You Can Dance, and proceeded to work on my abs. Exhausted does not even begin to describe it, but it was wonderful. October 6th is quickly approaching.
I've come to the conclusion that something is seriously wrong with me. I couldn't for the life of me stay in bed till my alarm was to go off at 5:45. Yes, in the AM. Who am I?! Who have I become?! After waking up about 5 times after 5 AM, I finally gave up and got out of bed at 5:35. I've never been able to keep this sort of schedule. Then again, I usually have a life. Having a life is typically not conducive with a 10 PM bedtime. Oh, I've tried before.
Ceremony music is pretty much all figured out, but I still have yet to tackle the reception music. I want classy music--Sinatra, Harry Connick Jr., Jim Brickman, and the like. Any other similar ideas? I bet Jess and Em could definitely help me on this one. I'll need to figure out specific songs, and start writing up a list. We still need to figure out our "first dance" song, too.
Wedding band shopping did not go as planned. The band I saw on a particular store's website was shown in yellow gold, but I thought, surely they can order it in white gold. The guy at the store said no, they indeed cannot. I'm going to call the one in Tyson's to make sure that it's really not possible. If that's the case, I need to keep looking.
Ryan comes home tomorrow night, and let me say, it's not a day too soon! I miss him like you wouldn't believe. I hate not having my best friend here to share everything with. :( I'm making progress with the communication book required for premarital counseling. I typically will finish a good book within two days, but I've been leaving it for bedtime, and I've just been exhausted the past two nights. I'm only on page 50 or so. So sad.
It's nearly Friday! Hope you all have a wonderful Thursday. :)
Ryan called me last night from Cleveland, and asked, "if I wanted to buy you a shirt, what size would I get?" How sweet is he? He actually called me a grand total of 5 times yesterday--once his flight landed, right before he started his meeting, on his break, to ask that shirt question, and then right before I went to bed. He was invited to the Indians game, so he was there. I miss him terribly.
Yesterday was crazy busy. I had a million and one things to do at work, plus I had to stay an hour late because I had to take off at lunch to go take care of Kylie. I packed after work, then headed over to the apartment, where I'll be for the rest of the week. I chatted with Em on the phone for at least an hour, then dove into my first book required for premarital counseling. We have three books to read, and three books on tape to listen to. We'll start listening to the first book on tape once Ryan gets back. :)
I was up at 5:45 this morning. Not too bad considering I was easily asleep by 10. :) Mmm, sleep. I kinda like being up that early, while most normal people are still sleeping. I feel like I'm being productive.
Sorry that yesterday's post was so long. :) I'm assuming that most of you didn't read to the end. Just had a lot going on that I wanted to write about. And I'm a picture fanatic, which I'm sure goes without saying.
In any event, I'm going to look at wedding bands tonight. I've done a little bit of researching, since I've only found one place with a band that I like. I'd really like to find a similar band somewhere else, so I can compare prices. We're also going to go to Jared's over the weekend to buy Ryan's band. :) His will take a while to come in, so the sooner we can order it, the better. He also mentioned possibly going to look at tuxes over the weekend, too. Fun, fun!
Back to work. :) Hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday!
Wow. Thank you guys for all the love! I know the whole "anonymous" versus "other" is kinda strange, but..it does mean that anyone can comment now, not just registered users. :) Also, just 'cause I moved over here doesn't mean I won't visit (and comment!) anymore.
I got a grand total of roughly four and a half hours of sleep last night. I drove Ryan to the airport at 5:15 this morning, and have been running about since. He's going to be in Cleveland until Friday. :( I'm really, really going to miss him. Went over and fed / walked Kylie, got ready, got some coffee, (Starbucks!) and I'm already at the office. Driving in was amazing! I know Ryan and I live in the same city and all, but our different locations mean we take different routes to work. Lets just say...once we're married, my commute will be awesome. Though I saw the most bizarre thing this morning. Here I am driving along Rt 7, sky is clear and a light pink color, and I see this huge thing up ahead of me. It's like a cloud just sitting on the ground. Sky is clear. Clear, clear, clear, and bam, I'm in a cloud of fog. Very strange.
In any event, here's my recap of the weekend events. :) (and pictures!)
Friday -
After work, I raced home to see my dress, which was scheduled for delivery, if you recall. I got home at 4:00, and it wasn't there yet. Lame. To pass the time, I started assembling our invitations. They take roughly 5 minutes each. Go ahead, do the math. Yes, they will take forever and a day to complete. Anyone want to help me do invitations? :-) Anyway, that wasn't my point. So, I hear the UPS truck go by, so I race outside, and wait on the porch.
The UPS guy laughed when he saw me waiting, and said, "You'd think you're waiting for this." I told him, "well, that's only my wedding dress." He said he knew what it was because they only require signatures for important things, and it states "Bridal" on the package. He gave me his congratulations, and I rushed inside to see my dress.
It's perfect. Absolutely perfect. Correct size, correct color, correct dress. (hey, nothing is a given!) I couldn't try it on right then, because a) Ryan was on his way, and nearly there already, and b) I didn't want to risk the chance of getting make-up or other oils on it.
But I did take pictures later on than night, after Ryan had left. :-)
This is the only one I'm going to post, since you can barely see it. (and if Ryan somehow happens upon it, (which I doubt, but you never know) he really can't tell a thing from the picture) If you want to see my close-up pictures, let me know, and I'll e-mail them to you. :-) Okay? Okay.
I told Em that there was no way I was going to get to sleep that night. More than likely, I was going to do my best impersonation of Tom Hanks in Cast Away with the flashlight and the pocket watch. Having it in my room with me was just too much.
I'm never going to get to sleep!
Saturday -
I got up and showered, then decided that I needed to try on my dress. So, Mom helped me with getting it on, and I got to wear my dress for the first time. I wasn't wearing anything underneath, so I don't know exactly how much it will need to be altered. My under-things have been ordered, but won't arrive till a little bit before my first appointment with Angie, so I'll have a better idea about it then. The waist will need to be taken in a bit, but I think the chest area is just perfect. Anyway, after prancing around in it for a bit, I called my Dad up to see. I asked him what he thought, and he said I looked "beauty." (Grandmom's term for "beautiful") He said that I'm going to be a beautiful bride. Aww. "Now if you'll excuse me, I think I'm going to go bawl," he said, half-jokingly. No pictures of me in the dress--it was just a special moment between me and my parents.
Anyway, after that excitement, Ryan and I went off to play some tennis. It was a pretty warm day, so we only played for an hour or so. The rest of the day, of course, was spent watching college football.
Us right before we left to play some tennis!
Sunday -
We had our first Discovering Christ class at church, which was way bigger than I thought it would be. Apparently, the classes usually only have around 10-12 people...ours has well over 30. In any event, it went really, really well, and I'm looking forward to learning more over the next 6 weeks. I was worried that it would be designed more for newer believers, but I was happy to hear that the class was intended for older and newer believers alike.
Agassi lost. Ugh! Have I mentioned that I really don't care for Federer? I loved how the presentation ceremony afterward noted that Agassi is perhaps the best tennis player of all time, and they went on and on about how wonderful he is. Then, oh yeah, Federer, you won--here's your trophy. I think they completely downplayed his win, and, as heartless as it may sound, I thought it was awesome.
Us on Sunday afternoon
Honestly didn't do too much for the rest of the day. Ryan shampooed the carpet at the apartment, while I watched him. He wanted to do it, so there was not much more I could do! I told him afterward that he couldn't be more perfect--he can build things, fix things, and clean. Is there a more perfect man? I don't think so. ;-) The apartment smelled wonderful afterward. Nothing like a clean apartment!
Not exactly the most thrilling game I've ever watched, but the Redskins won nonetheless! I really, truly missed football. I have a sneaky suspicion that this season might be like the last, though. Our defense is awesome, but they're going to get worn out by the end of the game and frustrated with the offense for not scoring despite their best efforts to make it possible. Though Chicago's defense was pretty good, too. I hope my prediction is wrong.
Monday -
Busy, busy day. Work was insane, but the day flew by. After work, I took care of Kylie, and spent some time with her. She has really started to mellow out as she's nearing her first birthday. She used to be a total spaz, but now she really has her sweet, cute moments.
Then! I came home to find that my slip had arrived! This is really silly, but I wanted a picture of it, so...
Yes, I'm standing on my tub to get a picture of the whole thing. Don't act like you've never done that before. ;-)
Well, there you have it. Now that you all know entirely too much about my weekend, I'm off to get started on some work.
If you've noticed over at my xanga, things look a bit funny. That's because my Premium subscription ran out, and quite frankly, I'm tired of paying for it just so I'm able to design my site as I please.
So, if you'd kindly update your bookmarks, I think I'll be over here for a while. :) I'm going to miss the subscriptions options from Xanga, but hey, this is free. I also wanted the address sweetestdream.blogspot.com, but it appears to have already been taken. (by someone who speaks Spanish, no less. Odd.) Hopefully this address won't be too terribly hard to remember, but if so, there will be a link over at my Xanga to help you find your way back. :)
And yes, a real post (with pictures!) still to come tomorrow. :)
Love you guys.
P.S.- Please leave some comments so I can, a) make sure they work, and b) make sure you guys have found your way over here. :)
(I love how it turns the house behind me a lovely shade of pink.) 
Saturday -
Then! I came home to find that my slip had arrived! This is really silly, but I wanted a picture of it, so...
Yes, I'm standing on my tub to get a picture of the whole thing. Don't act like you've never done that before. ;-) 
