Yesterday was just a bad sports day. My Redskins were awful. No, I don't wanna talk about it. Eagles lost, too. Cowboys won. Need I really say more??
My Mom mentioned to me on Friday that she wondered when my bridal shower is going to be. I wasn't really too concerned about it before then, because I figured, if it's supposed to be a surprise or something, I should just stay out of it. But when my Mom mentioned something, I thought, well goodness, if she doesn't know anything about it, something's up! So, I talked to Em, who played all coy and innocent on the topic, and basically told me nothing. Haha. I told my Mom that it's apparently going to be a surprise, and she got all sneaky-like, too. Even Ryan seems to know something and won't tell me. Too funny.
The membership seminar this weekend was awesome, even though it was very time consuming. (Roughly 8 hours were spent at the church over the weekend.) All that's left is an interview with an elder next Sunday, and then we'll be presented to the congregation the Sunday after that. We made friends with a few couples over the weekend--even inviting one couple to the wedding! They got married last December--the week before we're getting married! How cool is that? We're going to get together probably within the next two weeks or so, and we're going to look through her wedding pictures! Good times. And they've invited us to come to their small group sometime. Most members of the church are involved in small groups, but we thought it was going to be a challenge finding a group of younger couples. Apparently not! God is good.
Oh, and Happy Halloween! Honestly, I don't understand getting real excited about Halloween. I mean, don't get me wrong, there are some perks! I've always enjoyed dressing up and eating, I mean, passing out candy... And of course I enjoy carving the pumpkin every year! But those are really the only fun aspects for me. Otherwise, it seems like a pretty dark holiday. I love seeing all the kids' costumes, though--especially the babies all dressed up as pumpkins and cute things.
We don't have a pumpkin carving kit this year, so I have no idea what I'm carving on our pumpkin this year. What are you guys doing?? The two times I've ever "free handed" it, I've done a howling wolf and a cartoon horse. I need ideas!
Mmm, homemade honey wheat bread and a mug of apple cider! A more perfect fall breakfast I cannot imagine. The weather has been following suit--quite chilly, and I love it! As I was leaving Ryan's last night, I walked back to the door and insisted that it smells like snow. I love this time of year.
I picked up my wedding ring last night. I was getting rather worried as they flipped through drawers of recent orders, furrowing their brows, and asking such things as, "and you say someone called you?" Finally, the manager asked me, "was it custom ordered?" Why yes, yes it was. (It typically comes in yellow gold, so they had to special order it in white gold) Ta-da, it was in the "custom orders" drawer. Whew!
My Mom stayed up last night till I got home so she could see it. She says it is the "perfect compliment" to my engagement ring. :)
Blogger has been having issues lately. For one, it will not let me upload any pictures today. I'm sorry. :( Not to mention that lately a page will pop up saying that my page is "Forbidden" and I am denied access. What?? Have any of you gotten that page while trying to view my site? If so, I apologize, because no one is "forbidden" from viewing this. It happens every now and then, and I really don't know why. Hmm.
It has been one week since I got my stitches out. It's looking a lot better! Maybe it will scar, maybe it won't. I'm really not worrying about it. Lately, we've heard about health issues some of my relatives have been dealing with, and it really puts everything into perspective. My worries, typically, are so trivial. I'm a little worried about my thumb, because I still don't have feeling on one side, near where I sliced it. Ryan thinks the nerves will regenerate, but then with the next breath he'll say, "but then, maybe they won't." Thanks, sweetie. ;-) Regardless, I'll live--no big deal.
Well, it's Friday! We have quite a busy weekend lined up. The majority of our weekend, starting tonight at 7, will be spent at the church going through the 3 day membership seminar. I need to talk to Em about possibly taking our engagement pics in Upperville later on Saturday. Initially, we were thinking we'd be driving down to Waynesboro after our morning class, but that's not going to work out, which means we'll have some free time to take pics. (If you're able to, Em!) :)
Oops, accidently pressed the "Publish Post" button before I was ready. Guess I'll end this then. :) Hope you all have a great Friday, and a wonderful weekend!
Since I couldn't contain myself, Ryan already knows what his wedding gift is. Traditionally, a bride gets her groom a watch, or cufflinks, or some such thing, and gives them to him on their wedding day. While I'm very traditional, that won't be the case for this bride! Since Ryan already is getting a nicer watch than I could possibly afford from his company for his sales performance, and since I doubt he would've been too terribly thrilled with cufflinks, I stopped and asked myself: What would Ryan really enjoy?
Knowing Ryan, this wasn't a terribly difficult decision. So!
On November 6th, we are going to see...
VS.
Lower level, 20th row! My coworker has season tickets, so I snatched them up immediately! (Face value--can't get any better unless they're given to you)
Ryan was absolutely shocked! Neither of us have ever been to a pro football game, so it's really exciting! Of course, we'll be rooting for different teams... But I think it will be great to be able to look back on the experience, and be glad that we were able to share it together. Yes, it's a month and four days before the wedding, but I think that this is one area that we didn't have to be truly traditional in. I've already gotten two little gifts that he will be given on our wedding day, but as for the BIG gift, I wanted it to be something he'd truly love. Because I love him.
Ryan has concluded that I am pretty much the best fiance, ever. I couldn't be happier!
So, that's next weekend, and I am so excited. It should be a lot of fun! And, given the fact that my Redskins have had a really good season so far, it should be a good game! Be sure to look for us on ESPN!
Well, after our counseling session last night, (which was amazing) we were both STARVING, so we didn't stop to get my wedding band. So, I'm going to pick it up today after work! I can't wait to see how it looks. Yesterday was great when it came to wedding stuff, though. Our new boxes for our centerpieces came, (because our caterer told us that the old boxes needed to be about 2" smaller) and they look great! Ryan has offered to assemble them, and then I'll wrap them. I want to do a mock-up of our table arrangement to see how it will all look together. Also, our guest signature mat/frame was delivered last night! It is absolutely beautiful. Way prettier in person!
Well, I need to get back to work. Hope you all have a great Thursday!
My wedding ring is ready to be picked up! They called me last night and left a voicemail saying my "special order" had arrived. Aww. Hopefully Ryan and I can go pick it up tonight after counseling!
I finally figured out how I want to wear my hair for the wedding. After work yesterday, I spent about half an hour messing with my hair, and putting the veil on, and all of that good stuff. I've heard good things about Eclips Salon in McLean, so I'm going to call and see about their prices. Pleeeeease do not be too pricey..
I'm exhausted. I didn't sleep well at all last night. But half the week is practically gone already; how did that happen? It seems like we've got plans for every single weekend leading up to the wedding. I was told this would happen eventually...haha. And to think, I thought time would crawl leading up to the wedding! This weekend we finish the entire church membership process--Friday evening, part of Saturday, and twice Sunday. Busy, much? Next Saturday we're meeting the caterer to reserve linens, and then Sunday evening is a wedding-related surprise for Ryan. Sort of. I had to let him know that he shouldn't make plans for Monday morning. Which then led me to telling him what the surprise is. Lets face it, I can't keep secrets from him to save my life. :)
Work kept me away yesterday, work has kept me from posting this until over an hour and a half after I started typing it. Work, work, work. :) Good stuff.
My weekend was really nice, and really pretty productive. We drove down to see Ryan's parents on Saturday, and our parents were able to meet for the first time. I think it went pretty well. Ryan's Mom had a delicious lunch made for us, as well as a pot of hot apple cider...mmm. Ryan's sister took Ryan and I over to see her new townhome, and we chatted for a bit. She's going to play a few songs on the piano leading up to the ceremony, as well as a hymn that we're going to have at some point during the ceremony. (which we have yet to decide on..) It's amazing to me how involved our families are in our wedding, and I'm so, so thankful for it. It makes it so much more special.
After church on Sunday, my Mom and I talked about and planned out more wedding details. We ordered the guest signature mat and frame from Pottery Barn.
I know I've posted a picture of it before, but it has been a while. It's something like 32" by 34", so it will definitely be large enough to hold all of our guest's signatures.
Also, a huge thing that we decided on is the flowers! I feel that florists charge an insane amount of money, but I checked on several florists that have done weddings at our church before. Basically, for them to do one bridal bouquet, the way I see it in my head, it would cost $130. Dollars. Then add on about $75 for each of the four bridesmaid bouquets, $15-20 per corsage for our mothers, and $8 per bout for the groomsmen/dads/grandfathers. Basically? A ton of money.
So, I had been looking at several wholesale flower websites. I heard great things about the Grower's Box, (www.growersbox.com) and most recently about Rose Source. (www.rosesource.com) (I know some people have chosen silk flowers over real flowers, but I adore roses, and the silk roses don't look real enough.) What won me over were all of the different options on Rose Source. We wanted both red and ivory roses--specific shades, and very specific amounts. Well, Rose Source lets you choose each color for each bundle of 25. (and they have over 100 rose colors to choose from!)
Here's what we decided on!
My bouquet will be red, while the bridesmaid bouquets will be cream. All the guys will have red bouts. (Our mothers/grandmothers can choose between the two colors, depending on the color of their outfits) We'll have some leftover to make an arrangement or two with, also. So, in all, there will be 150 roses, and the total, with shipping, came out to $173.00. (We've already ordered them) That's a really awesome price for all that we're getting!
They'll arrive Thursday morning, and I'll snip all the stems, and stick them in water with plant food. They suggest waiting 24 hours before doing anything with them, so we will wait until Friday morning to make the bouquets, corsages, and bouts. I've already researched and printed out instructions on how to make the exact bouquets I envision. So, needless to say, it's a huge relief to have that all squared away! I still need to find ribbon to wrap the bouquets with, but that's pretty much it.
I didn't get a whole bunch of sleep last night, maybe 6 hours. Not smart, considering I have a meeting with the company president today. I feel fine, though..not sleepy in the least. But I should get back to work! Hope you all have a great Monday!
I was MIA yesterday, though it really doesn't seem like I was missed that much. That's okay, though. I've been insanely busy at work lately. Sorting through three years of expenses from our company's president, (and owner) while keeping up with my normal responsibilities, which kept me busy enough to begin with.
Our reception planning at the church on Wednesday evening was wonderful. It was great to finally meet our caterer, (a real take-charge kind of woman!) and I know she's going to do a great job. She offered a lot of ideas, and has a real eye for where things should go.
Plus, our reception hostess was a lot of help when it came to figuring out all the little details. She told me that I'm way ahead of the game, which was really surprising to me, considering how little time we have left!
In the newest Michaels ad, they had these pre-lit 4-foot trees on the cover, which are on sale. My Mom is going to wait until they go back to their normal price, and use a 40% coupon that we get every week, and get two of them. (can't use coupons on sale items, and the coupon will make it cheaper than the sale price. Yes, my Mom is brilliant.)
So, we'll have two at the entryway into the Banquet hall! I think they're gorgeous, and festive. Then, after the wedding is said and done, they will go on my parent's front porch.
Oh my goodness! If you don't live near DC, you might not know about the newest little member at the National Zoo.
How cute is he? Even though he was born back in July, they just recently named him. (even after a giant panda cub is born, they have trouble living past a few weeks, so the zoo waits a while before they name them) Since the two giant pandas we have, the parents, are "on loan" from China, they named the new cub Tai Shan, which means "peaceful mountain."
Visitors at the zoo won't be able to see him until sometime in December, since his momma is still too protective. I asked Ryan if one of the first things we do as a married couple could include a visit to the zoo. He agreed! I haven't been in forever, but I really want to see the cub. We will only have him in the US for two years, then he'll be sent back to China. What I don't understand is, why can't we just buy them?
So, this weekend should be a lot of fun! Tomorrow, Ryan and I, and my parents, are driving down to see Ryan's family. Our parents haven't met before, so I'm really hoping it goes well. Anyway, I think we're having a cookout. Yum!
Well, I need to get back to work. Hope you all have a great weekend!
Yep, I took the picture that I posted yesterday. I was on my way to work, and the sunrise was just WOW. I take my camera pretty much everywhere with me... just in case. I tried to crop it above the traffic, since the cars kind of kill the beauty of it.
Last night was really nice. Lately, we've been spending the majority of our evenings over with my family, but last night we just hung out at the apartment by ourselves. I cooked dinner--marinated thin-cut steak, with a side medley of green beans, peas, and roasted red potatoes. It turned out quite deliciously, if I may say so. After dinner, we walked the half mile or so over to the plaza for some frozen custard. Mmm! It was Ryan's idea, and man, was it good!
After work today, I'm heading over to the church for our official "reception planning" thing to iron out some details. It will be a relatively large group: our caterer, our reception hostess, my Mom, my cousin Shelley, who is doing the majority of our decorating, and Em, my maid of honor. 6 people, including myself. Hopefully we'll get a lot of things sorted out!
I think I've found our "Our First Christmas" ornament. I've been looking for a while now. I've been looking for something classy and elegant.
It's so exciting to think that this will be our first Christmas together as a married couple...and that I'll have a new name by 2006. In 51 days, I'll be his wife!
Okay, back to work--hope you all have a great day!
I ended up in the emergency room on Friday night. Not exactly the place I had in mind for a Friday night, but, you know, things happen.
As we were walking into the emergency room, I'm saying things like, "I wish I had a better story to tell them," and, "I can't believe I was so stupid." Things like that.
But, what really happened? I had just gotten to Ryan's apartment to let Kylie out. When we came back inside, I remembered to look at her collar, which has a metal tag bolted to it, because I wanted to see what kind of screwdriver I'd need to get it off. Well, it wasn't held in by screws--they were more like folded-over prongs. I thought, hmm, I can get these off, and I headed to the block of knives that Ryan has in his kitchen. Bad move, I know. I know!
But I thought, I'll go easy, and as gently as possible. Sure enough, I got one side off. The other side, however, was bolted much tighter. Of course, I thought I knew what I was doing by then, and pop! There goes the knife. It sliced my thumb, below the knuckle, right over the joint below the knuckle. It immediately is bleeding profusely. I run to the sink, and grab paper towels. I find out that paper towels are utterly useless--they don't last long enough. (trying not to use the words "blood" and what not--I'm really not trying to create a mental image--I don't even want to remember the mental image!) So, I grab the towel hanging on the refrigerator, run a little bit of water over it, and apply pressure to the cut. I've never had to do any of this before, because I've never done anything this stupid before. I'm just going by what I think I'm supposed to do.
So, I'm really freaking out at this point. It's not necessarily the pain, but just the sight of all the blood (oops, used that word) that is really making my heart race. So, I have the thought that, since I am losing a ton of blood, I should probably sit down, because if I faint, no one knows what just happened. So, I sit down, and call Ryan. Poor Ryan. I am freaking out, hysterical, crying--yep, I'm a basket case. He tells me not to move a muscle while he calls my Mom at home. He calls me back, and amazingly, both of my parents are home and are on their way. (they're closer to the apartment than Ryan is from his office)
My wonderful parents take me to the emergency room, all while I'm repeating, "that was so stupid," and, "I can't believe I did that!" My parents all the while reassuring me that this happens to everyone at some point, and that it's going to be alright. Once we arrived at the hospital, they had a bed for me in under 15 minutes, which was pretty amazing. They gave me a tetanus shot, (it had been just about 10 years, which is when you're supposed to get another one) which has hurt me these last couple days more than my injured thumb! But anyway, they numbed up my thumb (worst.pain.ever.) and the ER doctor stitched it up. 5 stitches later, I'm good to go.
See? I'm okay. I get the stitches removed next Monday, and the doctor was very careful when she did the stitches, so I probably won't even have a scar. Call me superficial, but I'm glad my hand will look okay on my wedding day.
That was basically the most eventful part of my weekend. I wanted to try Ryan's Mom's pizza recipe that she mailed me, so we did that Sunday night. Of course, all I could really do was read the instructions and "supervise", because I only have one working hand. Anyway, Ryan gave his stamp of approval! I don't think it taste the same as his Mom's, though. I'm pretty sure the cheese is what makes it taste different. So, I will be experimenting with that.
If it wasn't apparent before, I am officially a full-blown, sappy, Bride-to-be. Just what exactly put me over the edge? My cell phone now plays the Wedding March each and every time the phone rings. Even those blasted you've-been-approved-for-a-mortgage calls are welcomed, because my new ringer makes me giddy. Ryan got a kick out of it. Really, though, I only get to enjoy this for a little while longer!
December 10th. That's really, really soon. I'm not stressing one bit, though. Most everything is under control, and if you know me, that's all I ask for. I just want to be on top of things, rather than underneath them. When it comes down to it, I'd rather be the one in control of things, rather than letting things control me. If that made any sense whatsoever. I think that's why checklists are key for me. People say, "you're so organized!" Well, honestly, it's the only way I can sleep at night.
My Dad is the sweetest, and I mean the sweetest. He's very sentimental, see. (hmm, wonder where I get it?) My Mom and I have been itching to watch Father of the Bride, given my impending nuptials, but my Dad has declined over and over, saying that he doesn't want to bawl in front of us. Well, he came home the other night and mentioned to me that he looked for the Father of the Bride DVD while he was at Target. Awww. I just adore my Dad.
Lots of things came in yesterday! My new shoes, (gorgeous!) and the boxes for our centerpieces came. Now we need to find some pretty, opal-esque paper to wrap them in. Also, my honeymoon things arrived! I didn't want to wait till a week before the wedding to buy things like that, so I figured I'd go ahead and get that out of the way. There are some things that my parents obviously aren't paying for...honeymoon, wedding party gifts, a small portion of the photographer's fee, ($300 for the high-resolution CD of ALL of our 600-700 wedding photos) not to mention our wedding bands, which were the biggest expense. Anyway, I didn't want to leave it all for right before the wedding. That'd be a lot of money all at once!
Even though this week flew by, I'm really ready for a weekend. I've been so busy, I feel like I've barely been able to breathe. I'm hoping that it will be a productive weekend, though.
Hope it's a great weekend for you all! Love you guys.
Oh my goodness, so much to talk about today! :) First off, I want to wish a very, very Happy Birthday to my closest girlfriend in the entire world, Emily! She and I have been the closest of friends since we were 8 years old. As the story goes, my parents brought my brother and I over to our new house, which was still under construction. I decided to wander, and ran into two girls who were riding their bikes. "What's your name?" the shorter one asked me. "Emily," I said. "No, it's not," she replied. "I'm Emily." From then on, we've been known as Emily 1 and Emily 2. (or Em B. and Em D. depending on who you ask!)
Now we're older--I'm getting married, and she's studying to become a Nurse. Of course, she's going to be my Maid of Honor--I didn't even have to ask, for goodness sake! She was itching to try on dresses before I had officially asked her. :) But best friends already know these things. Happy Birthday, Emily 2! (and, for the record...someday, you'll be glad you're a few months younger than I am, I'm sure. That day will come!)
Yesterday was insane, but it seems that the crisis at work is now under control. I didn't get home till close to 9:30 last night. After counseling, (which was wonderful) Ryan took me out to Sweetwater for some great food. (even though they ran out of their 'soup of the day'--lobster bisque! My favorite) My cousin Shannon made it to our home last night. We all took pictures, and caught up on what's been going on. It ended up being a pretty late night, considering the fact that I have to be up at 6 am. I slept on the couch while she took over my room. It really wasn't so bad, aside from the fact that the clock in the family room chimes every hour.
And! Great news. :) When we initially talked about having a "sweets bar" at the reception, I thought it would be a neat idea to have a chocolate fountain. Unfortunately, they're not only expensive to rent, but along with the goodies you have to provide for dipping, not to mention the pricey Belgian chocolate they use--it was a very expensive item on my wedding "wish list." Well...my Mom called the caterer yesterday to confirm that she can meet us at the Banquet Hall next Wednesday. The caterer mentioned, because she knows that we're having a "sweets bar" and all, that they just bought a chocolate fountain, and wanted to see if we wanted to use it. For FREE! See, it would be their first time using it, so they wouldn't charge us for it. How perfect is that?! God gave me a chocolate fountain. :)
Well, I should get back to work. It's crazy that it's Thursday already. This week has been a complete blur. I'll be spending most of the evening with the birthday girl, so it will definitely be a great evening! :) Hope you all have a wonderful day!
This morning has been...interesting. :) Ryan called me, as I was getting ready, at 6:30 this morning, saying he woke up late, and didn't have time to take the dog out. He is in a meeting as we speak up in Beltsville, MD, and absolutely could not be late for it. The guy who hired him, S., called him yesterday, noon-ish, to tell him that he will need to give a presentation, with the Regional Vice President in attendance, in today's meeting. Just lovely that S. gave him so much time to prepare! :-P
Poor Ryan. I told him that S. must have a lot of faith in him, to know that he will do well even with so little preparation. I've been praying for him about every 5 minutes this morning. Words of wisdom, give him peace, calm his nerves, etc etc.
Speaking of nerves, I sat behind quite possibly the world's worst driver this morning, who I will refer to from now on as "genius." Since I had to run by Ryan's apartment, I had to take a different way to work. You know those merge lanes that merge into lanes where cars are going normal speed, say, 55 or over? Well, genius decides to wait until the very last possible second, and darts in front of me, where she promptly slams on her brakes. Nice. Then I notice the single bumper sticker on her car, which reads : Drive Now, Talk Later, and depicts a woman with a cell phone. Let me tell you, I drive better when I'm on my phone, searching through my purse, and changing the radio station, all at one time, then genius does, ever. Every 5 seconds she was slamming on her brakes, despite the fact that the car in front of her was several car-lengths ahead of her, and not on their brakes. It was drizzling rain, a teeny tiny bit, and she's got her wipers on full-blast. Genius.
I've lived here all my life, and I've discovered that if you don't develop an extremely high tolerance for incompetent drivers, you will die before you reach 35. Because you will come across them every single day, numerous times. But every now and then, I just have to shake my head. Did I mention that I'm all for moving?? Okay, thanks. End rant. :)
Wedding stuff! I'm feeling much better today about wedding planning. It's funny, because I have all of these checklists--a 3-page checklist from the Reception Hostess, a 7-page checklist from the Reception Hostess, not to mention the checklists that I already turned in to the Events Coordinator, and to our pastor. I think they are just as much of a help to ME as they will be to them, as it is really quite helpful to have nearly every single, possible detail written down. Plus, they asked things that I hadn't even thought of yet, so I feel much better now.
I ordered the boxes for the centerpieces yesterday. I also noticed the big, cut-glass hurricane candle holder on my Mom's dining room table last night that would be perfect in the middle of the head table. I had been looking all over for one just like that. Our centerpieces, if you don't recall, are basically going to be like this:
Except we will have rose petals and votive candles surrounding it. The head table, I'm thinking, will have the big hurricane holder in the very middle, two smaller hurricane holders on either side, tons of rose petals, and more votives. Lots of rose petals, lots of candelight. That's the idea. :)
I also am working on our Reception playlist...Em is helping me out with getting mp3s for all of them, and then Ryan will need to give me his thumbs up/thumbs down for my song ideas. We still need to come up with a first dance song!
We have another session of premarital counseling tonight! Last session was on "the first submission", which dealt with what God calls husbands to do. This week is on what God calls wives to do. Did I mention how much of an amazing blessing counseling has turned out to be? Because, really, it's amazing.
Super busy at work today...sorry, not much time to update!
My uncle Richard and Aunt Nancy, who are from Florida, will be staying with us today through Thursday. Then, my cousin Shannon, who is a missionary to Vanuatu, is staying Wednesday through Thursday. I have no idea where she's sleeping! :-P Should be interesting.
I started stressing last night about wedding planning. I guess the reality of it all--only having 60 days left--hit me all at once. I feel better after talking through a lot of things with Ryan and my Mom, and now I'm just looking forward to meeting everyone at the church next Wednesday to finalize more details. It will be my Mom, the caterer, the church-assigned reception hostess, my cousin Shelley, (who is doing a fair majority of our decorating) and me--all meeting in the same place. :) It should be very productive!
...because I'd have the day off. And I'd get paid for it. :)
I really don't mind so much, though. Traffic? There wasn't any traffic. My typical 35-minute or so commute was cut down to 20. Very nice!
Besides, I'm in a really great mood, and I can't even really put my finger on the reason for it. (though the yummy coffee could have something to do with it!)
This weekend was rather crummy. I was sick with some sort of stomach bug, which are the worst, in my humble opinion. It seems like everyone has had it, though. So, stomach bug = no crab feast for me. :( Instead, I watched college football with Ryan, (go Penn State!) while he was being sweet, and trying to take care of me. (fetching me saltines and Coke to settle my tummy) Isn't he sweet?
I was feeling pretty good by the time Sunday morning rolled around. Hard to believe it, but our Discovering Christ classes at the church are almost over already! It seems like we just started them. Anyway, we only have one more Sunday class, then the membership seminar is October 28th-30th. Then we have the interview with an elder from the church on November 6th. Then we're official members. :) Which is a good thing, given we'll be getting married there only a month and change after that.
Speaking of the wedding...my shoes have been ordered! I shopped around at local stores, and just wasn't finding anything I liked. The one and only pair that I sort of liked at one store was all sold-out in my size, too. So, I found these through BrideSave.com, which is where my veil was ordered from. They should be here in less than two weeks. (at the very latest) I think they're so cute.
It still feels like we have a lot left to do for the wedding, for some reason. Maybe because the wedding is exactly 2 months away from today?! :) Yes, I just realized that.
Oh! And, I forgot to mention, I picked up Ryan's wedding band on Friday evening! :) He called to let me know that they told him it was ready to be picked up. It looks great. I absolutely love his band. He tried it on, and the size is perfect. It's going to be so funny getting used to seeing a ring on his finger. :) Now we're just waiting for mine to get here, but it won't be ready till November 7th...patience, patience.
Hmm. Well, it's nearly 8:30, and practically no one is here. R. and H., who work in accounting with me, are usually here by now. Everyone did say we're open today, and I know they can't be late because of traffic, because..well, there isn't any. I think it's going to be pretty quiet here today.
Yesterday could not possibly have been any better.
For one? I got to put on my wedding dress. After my Mom and Em helped me get into it, (who knew it takes that many hands to put the thing on?!) I was shocked to see that it couldn't be more perfect. "What do you need me for anyway?" my seamstress, Angie, joked. She's going to do my bustle, and steam the dress--a grand total of $50, rather than the expected $100+. I've e-mailed the pictures to several of you guys already--if I forgot to send them to you, please let me know! I most likely just don't have your e-mail address. :)
After leaving Angie's, we went out to eat at Outback for an early birthday celebration for Em, whose birthday is next Thursday. Gooooood food. I wandered around the restaurant under the "I need to find the restroom" disguise, and got a group of waiters/waitresses to come out and sing Happy Birthday to Em. :) "What a sneak!" Em said, as they plunked down a bowl of vanilla ice cream with hot fudge topping in front of her. So much fun!
After climbing into bed, I got on the phone with Ryan. We proceeded to talk, and talk, and talk...for just under 2 hours. It felt like the early part of our relationship, when we were "long distance", all over again, when our phones might as well have been glued to our ears. We've come a long way. I didn't get much sleep, but oh how it was worth it. I can't wait to marry him.
Happy Friday! :)
** Just posted a new layout I whipped up, given that it is October and all. :) I'm not typically a huge orange-y fan, but the orange-hued pictures called for a matching orange-y theme. Mmm, fall! **
So, we may be ending Ryan's lease early, and.....be moving into a house!
Now, none of this is 100% certain yet, but here's the story.
My Mom is at the grocery store last night, where she runs into a lady that she knew from the years she worked for a Christian school. My Mom happened to mention that her daughter is getting married. The lady proceeds to tell her about how she's trying to rent out her home so she can move to Africa for a year. (several of her children are missionaries in Africa, and they want her to come stay with them) She wants to rent out the house from January till December.
This home has 3 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms, a 6-foot fenced-in yard, and is fully furnished.
She's only asking for $600 a month! Ryan currently pays practically double that for a one bedroom apartment.
We drove over to see it last night, and it's a very cute house, in a really nice neighborhood. It's only a block away from the bike trail. It's convenient to everything, but not in a hectic part of the town.
This is all God. I'm trying not to get my hopes up, as this would save us 6 THOUSAND dollars over the course of a year. But I'm praying that this does indeed work out, because it would be amazing. Kylie would have a fenced-in yard to romp around in while we're at work. We could have guests stay over.
My Mom told this lady that she knew we would definitely be interested.The lady told her that she knew there must've been a reason that God wanted her to tell my Mom about the house, even though it seemed so random at the time. It almost seems way too good to be true. Please, please pray that this will work out. If it doesn't, okay...I'll be sad, but I'll get over it. Everything happens for a reason. My Mom is going to call the lady today, and hopefully we can tour the house over the weekend.
In other news..haha. My first fitting is tonight! My Mom, Em, and I will be leaving once I get home from work. I've got everything set and ready to go! There will be pictures of me in the dress, but I'll either have to do a protected post, or just e-mail you guys with the pics, just to be safe. :) I am oh-so excited!
Thaaaat's right! Invitations go out today!! Exciting, exciting, exciting! I'm skipping over to the post office with the remaining 75% or so of invitations (shown above) to hand-cancel them, and off they go! Would you guess they took me (and Em!) about 4 1/2 hours to do? I'm trying not to think about the fact that they will eventually wind up in the trash. They're too pretty for that!
I seriously need to write out a list of everything we have left to do or buy for the wedding, because my sleeping schedule has been completely screwed up lately. I just lay there thinking about everything I have to do, figure out, organize, and order. On top of the fact that I just plain hate asking to use money, but can't afford to buy wedding things myself while I'm trying to set myself up to be financially steady before we get married. What can ya do? I'm trying here.
I went over and took care of Kylie after work yesterday. She's a total momma's girl. (probably because I do 99% of the loving on her, talking sweet to her, playing with her, etc) Though she does like Ryan an awful lot; he feeds her every morning. ;-) But she loves when I love on her.
Isn't she the sweetest?
I worked out, (despite really, really, really not wanting to...awful headache!) and will be working out again tonight. 66 Days to Go!
I was able to see the draft copy of our new brochure from the marketing department yesterday. Guess who's in it? :) Yep, they're using one of the gas pump pictures. I'll take a picture once they start distributing them. Crazy, crazy.
Last night, after searching high and low, through three different stores, I couldn't find anything that I liked. Even VS was a complete let-down, surprisingly. But at long last, I finally found something. Now I can rest easy, knowing I won't have to reschedule my fitting after all. :)
I'm really looking forward to this Saturday, when we drive up for the annual crab feast with my family. My Aunt Rita has it at her house in Maryland, where a whole bunch of us gather for all the crab legs, shrimp, barbequed chicken, grilled corn on the cob, and other goodies that you could possibly want. Mmm. Plus, I'll get to see her new puppy--a little beagle named Callie.
Then I remember that it's only Tuesday, and that's really rather depressing. :) I'll be working out tonight after work, then again tomorrow after work, because the fitting is on Thursday at 6. It's like cramming time before final exams. I'm so excited! I'll be sure to take pictures. :)
So, here I sit, munching on a banana, with absolutely nothing to say. :) My weekend was nice...honestly didn't do very much, which is exactly what I wanted to do.
I definitely got my fill of football over the weekend--the Redskins won! the Eagles won! You can't get much better than that. The Redskins are 3-0, which hasn't happened since 1991. (the year they won the Super Bowl) So, of course, we're enjoying the winning streak while we can. ;-) Not that I don't love my Redskins, I'm just realistic about the whole thing. I'm not going to set myself up for disappointment!
I've got my first dress fitting on Thursday, so I'm pretty excited about that. I've started to consider hair styles, make-up options, even what color to paint my nails. I'm going shopping after work to try and find new under-things to go under my dress before Thursday. I'm thinking actually trying them on is a better bet than ordering online again. Besides the fact that I just don't have the time to wait for it. :)
I was browsing theknot.com last night, (which, I confess, I do often!) and was absolutely floored by a video montage that redheadbride2b had in her profile. Click here to watch it. I nearly cried! I've never heard that song before, either. Anyway, if we had about 2k left over in our budget, I'd love to have a professional videographer. Really, though, when it gets down to it... it's just fluff. Hopefully we'll have it videotaped, but professionally done is really just out of the question. Too expensive! Plus, we're going to have really, really pretty pictures. :) I'm very happy about that.
So, short post today, but I hope you all had a wonderful weekend, and I hope it's a great Monday for you all!
