Happy New Year!

As we move from 2010 to 2011 we want to wish peace and happiness to all our family, friends, and loved ones.

2010 was a busy and eventful year for us, obviously, and while 2011 will surely see some challenges (including at least one move for us) we are looking for a year that is much more peaceful by far.

Post-Wedding Post: Rehearsal thru Ceremony

The weekend of our wedding began with Stella's arrival from Panama on Thursday. Stella and Kimberly have been friends since there time together at Purdue more than a decade ago. Kimberly and Stella spent most of the day finding shoes to go with Stella's dress for the wedding and taking care of last minute preparations for the favors. That day also saw the arrival of Dr. L. Anne Browne, a family friend of Philip's who drove out from the east coast. Philip had a nice chat and a cup of tea with her that evening.

Last Post before the Big Day

Philip has this morning likened planning a DIY Wedding to the planning of the battle of Normandy. I'm not sure i completely understand the connection he's making but i do know i feel like i've had to fight to keep all of the final details from falling apart this week. Four days out and there is no where to sit in our small apartment. Every surface, every chair is piled high with wedding decorations, reception food, dress-related sewing paraphernalia, and totes full of favors. The last two weeks have seen a stomach flu, sleepless nights, stressful workdays (job stress for Philip, a bustle that has been anything but cooperative for me), and wedding vendors throwing us last minute curve-balls. But they have also been filled with friends who have stepped up and helped us stay (or regain) calm, let us vent, got us out of the wedding-stuff-packed apartment for much-needed relaxation, and brought us into a joyful celebration of life as a sweet little girl turned one.

So this is it, the last pre-wedding post. In 4 days i will be a wife. In 4 days Philip and i will be married and if everything else falls apart on the day, we will still have the part that matters. He is my hero, he is my friend, he is my love, and soon he will be my husband. It doesn't get better than that.

600 Hours!

I can't believe it's already almost here! We are getting married in 25 days... that's just 600 hours!!!! Most things are, at this point, set or nearly so. With the help of some good friends (thank you Chris, Crystal, and Kirsten!!) I'm managing to bring my stress/ anxiety level back down to a reasonably dull roar.

Long Overdue Update

With 57 days to go till our wedding, the time feels very short. My cousin told me months ago that at some point everything would feel like it was 'falling into place.' I was highly skeptical of this. The thing is, as soon as the invitations went out, it really did start to feel that way... finally. ^_^

A week ago, I was mugged. Out in front of our apartment. It's not exactly a wedding topic, but her response really had been a marriage one. Before I could fully explain she was already ready to chase after the muggers with a baseball bat. Once I warned her they were armed, she was helping me cancel my phone and credit cards and was helping me call 911. She helped me pack up to spend the night elsewhere and she found the information for victim assistance.

Meanwhile I was pretty much reacting the way people do when they get held up by gunpoint by two men who physically detain them... I was coasting around dumbfounded and wishing I had on drier socks.

This has meant we are a day behind on invites and working on them now instead of mailing them today. But she has only made comment about how they made life harder. Never me.

For better or for worse.

Most people don't really know if they are in for better or for worse.
I know that even if it gets really bad, I have someone who will drag me by the collar to the high ground.

As we head into August, I felt it was a good time for me to actually add something to the blog.

In general, I don't usually enjoy blogging. I once had a livejournal which died for my lack of logging in and posting anything, and somewhere on blogger there is a blog of mine as well. It's been several months since I posted there.

But this is the blog for my wedding and I do feel like I should add something to this blog and have been struggling for a small while to figure out what.

150 Days!!!

Today it is 150 days till our wedding!!!

that is all

we now return you to your regularly scheduled websurfing...

^_^

Serenity, Silk, and Stress

I know I'm pretty late posting this month's wedding blog update. I was hoping to have more progress to be able to brag about and so i kept putting it off. Unfortunately, life doesn't often hand out things like 'progress' in nice, neat, regularly distributed packages... or stress either for that matter.

We've had a rollercoaster of changes in our home the last couple of months, mostly related to jobs. By the time i left my last job (which was only ever supposed to be a short-term commitment anyway) i had stress pouring out my ears. The final straw was a maintenance issue at our apartment and it sent me tumbling over the edge of cope-ability into a sea of GAH! It also drove us out of our home temporarily.

That turned out to be the best thing that could have happened for me. P-mom took us in for the night, gave us much-needed hugs, made us dinner, and tried to help us not feel so out of sorts. She was really wonderful. I had the next day off and she suggested (nay, insisted) i stay and have a nice relaxing soak in her tub and do whatever i needed to unwind.

Planning Update with 216 Days to Go

I feel bad that we didn't updated this blog last month, but it's been busy and we didn't have a whole lot of progress to report anyway.

Ketubah Trial

We decided that we wanted to make our own ketubah and came up with a design we liked a while back. P had the great idea to make it on cloth. Today i did a tiny-sized trial just to see how the paints etc. acted on the cloth.

Here it is!

266 Days to go!!

After some delay due to massive quantities of snow, P and my mom and i finally made it down to our Wedding/reception venue this morning to hash out the details and sign the contract. Soooooo happy and relieved that is finally behind us. Pictures posted here (including a short 360 view video with P being silly at the end)

300 Days Until Our Wedding

RAWR!!yes, we're a bit twisted...

Besides the fact that we've both suddenly started FREAKING OUT about getting everything done before wedding time is here, here is what we have accomplished: