It's time for a change.
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Thursday, September 1, 2011
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Happily Ever After: Epcot
I had planned a group event for Saturday - Celebrating Around the World. The goal was to get a drink or a snack from every country in Epcot's World Showcase. I sent out a newsletter to our guests before the wedding informing them of our various events, and indicated that we would meet up at 12:00 in the Mexico pavilion.
FAIL.
We were two hours late. Anyone who has been to Disney knows that you rely heavily on bus transportation and that oftentimes, it can take much longer than it should to get to your destination. I was a nervous wreck about people being late on the wedding day, so we hired outside transportation for that day. For all the other group events, I stressed to our guests to allow plenty of travel time in order to arrive on time. And who ended up being late to practically everything? Me.
Saturday's epic late-ness was not the fault of Disney transportation. It was completely, 100% our fault.
Let me explain:
We thought were were being smart when we decided to stay at a resort where none of our guests were staying. It was our "honeymoon" and we figured we would not want to be bothered once the wedding was over. This ended up being so not true. Our resort (Old Key West) was right next to where my parents, siblings, & John's best friend were staying (Saratoga Springs) and we were all connected through a boat line to Downtown Disney. Little did we know, it would take HOURS to go between our two resorts. This became a huge pain in the ass - Friday night after dinner it took 2 hours to get back to our hotel room. We also began to realize that we would not be spending that much time alone on this trip - we had our family and friends here with us in our favorite place in the world, and we wanted to take advantage of that.
So, staying by ourselves in a resort away from everyone else was starting to seem like a really bad idea.
We had to do some wedding errands with my parents that morning, so we got up early to bring some items to Port Orleans resort where all of our other guests were staying. Luckily, my parents had their van, so this took much less time than we'd anticipated. During the car ride over, John had suggested stopping at the concierge desk at Saratoga to see if there was any possibility they could transfer us to that resort.
Once back at Saratoga, we got in line in the lobby to talk to one of the check-in people. There just happened to be a cast member walking around the lobby trying to help guests with unusual requests. John and I went up to her and explained our predicament: we are in Disney for our wedding but we are spending all of our time on the buses going back and forth between our guest's resorts and it sucks - we were wondering if we could possibly transfer to a room at Saratoga so we could be close to our family.
This is when we realized for the first time that weekend that Disney was without a doubt a great decision for our wedding location. Not only did this cast member really care about our happiness, she was so excited for us and our wedding and wanted to make sure we had the best trip ever. She then spent the next TWO HOURS finding us a room that was not only at Saratoga, but a two-minute walk from my parents room. This was a huge feat when you consider how incredibly large and spread-out this resort is.
Now, some people might think we are weird for wanting to be so close to my parents on our honeymoon - but John's best friend was staying in my parents villa, along with both of my siblings and their two friends. Those are the people we knew we'd be spending a ton of time with once the rest of the wedding guests headed home, so it made a lot of sense. My only concern was that our rooms not be visible to each other - since I was staying with my parents the night before the wedding, I didn't want any chances that John could see us outside taking photos the morning of the wedding. This cast member achieved all of this and more.
By now, it is 12:00 and I have texted my sister and one of my bridesmaids letting them know we would be REALLY late to Epcot. Remember Epcot? That's what we were supposed to be doing today. There were 15 or so wedding guests in Epcot waiting for us to start our event. So, I put my sister in charge and told her we'd be there as soon as we could.
We still had to check OUT of Old Key West, check IN to Saratoga, and move all of our stuff over. John and I looked at each other - how the heck are we going to do all of this and still get to Epcot?!
Thank goodness my parents drove down! We used their van to book it over to Old Key West, where my mom, dad, John & his friend started packing up our villa. I was on the phone with concierge explaining that Saratoga had moved us over there and could we please check out ASAP? They were a little out of the loop so I had to stay on hold for a little bit while they called over to Saratoga to make sure I was not some crazy bridezilla. Finally, we loaded up my parents van and booked it back to Saratoga.
We went to go check in and had the nicest cast member ever (aside from Jill, the amazing wonder woman who was able to find us a room in a sold-out resort). He was so excited when he found out we were getting married in two days and gave us all sorts of cool "happily ever after" pins to wear. Then, the magic happened.
We always buy a dining plan when we go to Disney. It makes life so much simpler and it saves us a lot of money. They had to transfer our dining plan from one resort to another, no big deal. But this super-awesome-amazing cast member gave us a whole week's worth of the dining plan for FREE! Instead of having 2 snacks, 2 quick service meals, and 2 table service meals every day, we had 3 of each! This was almost $500 worth of free food. We were so excited about this because it meant we could get meals and snacks for some of our guests who had traveled so far for our day.
SO. We are finally checked in to Saratoga and decided we would just drop our luggage off and head strait to Epcot because at this point we are an hour and a half late for our event. Luckily we got on a bus right away and made it to Epcot by about 2pm. Two. Hours. Late.
By the time we walked into the park, made our way over to World Showcase, and found my siblings near the America pavilion, we realized just how hot it was - REALLY hot. My sister had been trying to contain all of our guests to one group, but people drifted off wanting to do their own thing, and she was exhausted after trying to keep up with everyone. We decided to go see a show inside the America Pavilion to give everyone a chance to cool off. At this point the "group event" died off and my siblings went to do their own thing. A couple aunts and uncles went to see some other stuff in the park. The eight of us that were left went in to see the show which was great as it always is, and it gave everyone a chance to calm down, sit down, and cool off.
After the show, my grandparents decided to find a shady spot to sit down for a while, and the rest of us went off in search of some slushie drinks. We found them in France, and paid $10 for each of the tiny slushies, but they were just what we needed at that point.
After our slushies, we split up even more. My parents went off to find my grandparents and siblings, and John & I went off with our friends to try to do a few more countries despite the heat. We walked through the shops and found a secluded air conditioned Japanese art gallery where we sat for a half hour waiting for our dinner reservations.
We had reservations for Via Napoli, a newer restaurant in the Italy pavilion. They specialize in pizza which is the meal John would pick if he had to pick one meal to eat for the rest of his life. Clearly, we had to eat here.
We each got individual pizzas that we could barely eat after the appetizer platter we'd ordered. On top of our drinks and the desserts that came with the dining plan. Needless to say, we were stuffed when we finally left (a trend that continued throughout the entire week). We were getting close to the time when the fireworks show Illuminations started, so we decided to head out of the parks. As we left, we passed by the venue for our VIP dessert party the night of the wedding, which was so much better than I'd been imagining in my head. It made me even more excited for our wedding day and the awesome ending we had planned for our guests.
Finally, we were back into our (new) villa and began unpacking for the second time in two days. We were both looking forward to the next day...our rehearsal, rehearsal brunch, and an afternoon by the pool with all of our guests. Little did John know, I had a sneaky surprise planned for him the next day...
FAIL.
We were two hours late. Anyone who has been to Disney knows that you rely heavily on bus transportation and that oftentimes, it can take much longer than it should to get to your destination. I was a nervous wreck about people being late on the wedding day, so we hired outside transportation for that day. For all the other group events, I stressed to our guests to allow plenty of travel time in order to arrive on time. And who ended up being late to practically everything? Me.
Saturday's epic late-ness was not the fault of Disney transportation. It was completely, 100% our fault.
Let me explain:
We thought were were being smart when we decided to stay at a resort where none of our guests were staying. It was our "honeymoon" and we figured we would not want to be bothered once the wedding was over. This ended up being so not true. Our resort (Old Key West) was right next to where my parents, siblings, & John's best friend were staying (Saratoga Springs) and we were all connected through a boat line to Downtown Disney. Little did we know, it would take HOURS to go between our two resorts. This became a huge pain in the ass - Friday night after dinner it took 2 hours to get back to our hotel room. We also began to realize that we would not be spending that much time alone on this trip - we had our family and friends here with us in our favorite place in the world, and we wanted to take advantage of that.
So, staying by ourselves in a resort away from everyone else was starting to seem like a really bad idea.
We had to do some wedding errands with my parents that morning, so we got up early to bring some items to Port Orleans resort where all of our other guests were staying. Luckily, my parents had their van, so this took much less time than we'd anticipated. During the car ride over, John had suggested stopping at the concierge desk at Saratoga to see if there was any possibility they could transfer us to that resort.
Once back at Saratoga, we got in line in the lobby to talk to one of the check-in people. There just happened to be a cast member walking around the lobby trying to help guests with unusual requests. John and I went up to her and explained our predicament: we are in Disney for our wedding but we are spending all of our time on the buses going back and forth between our guest's resorts and it sucks - we were wondering if we could possibly transfer to a room at Saratoga so we could be close to our family.
This is when we realized for the first time that weekend that Disney was without a doubt a great decision for our wedding location. Not only did this cast member really care about our happiness, she was so excited for us and our wedding and wanted to make sure we had the best trip ever. She then spent the next TWO HOURS finding us a room that was not only at Saratoga, but a two-minute walk from my parents room. This was a huge feat when you consider how incredibly large and spread-out this resort is.
Now, some people might think we are weird for wanting to be so close to my parents on our honeymoon - but John's best friend was staying in my parents villa, along with both of my siblings and their two friends. Those are the people we knew we'd be spending a ton of time with once the rest of the wedding guests headed home, so it made a lot of sense. My only concern was that our rooms not be visible to each other - since I was staying with my parents the night before the wedding, I didn't want any chances that John could see us outside taking photos the morning of the wedding. This cast member achieved all of this and more.
By now, it is 12:00 and I have texted my sister and one of my bridesmaids letting them know we would be REALLY late to Epcot. Remember Epcot? That's what we were supposed to be doing today. There were 15 or so wedding guests in Epcot waiting for us to start our event. So, I put my sister in charge and told her we'd be there as soon as we could.
We still had to check OUT of Old Key West, check IN to Saratoga, and move all of our stuff over. John and I looked at each other - how the heck are we going to do all of this and still get to Epcot?!
Thank goodness my parents drove down! We used their van to book it over to Old Key West, where my mom, dad, John & his friend started packing up our villa. I was on the phone with concierge explaining that Saratoga had moved us over there and could we please check out ASAP? They were a little out of the loop so I had to stay on hold for a little bit while they called over to Saratoga to make sure I was not some crazy bridezilla. Finally, we loaded up my parents van and booked it back to Saratoga.
We went to go check in and had the nicest cast member ever (aside from Jill, the amazing wonder woman who was able to find us a room in a sold-out resort). He was so excited when he found out we were getting married in two days and gave us all sorts of cool "happily ever after" pins to wear. Then, the magic happened.
We always buy a dining plan when we go to Disney. It makes life so much simpler and it saves us a lot of money. They had to transfer our dining plan from one resort to another, no big deal. But this super-awesome-amazing cast member gave us a whole week's worth of the dining plan for FREE! Instead of having 2 snacks, 2 quick service meals, and 2 table service meals every day, we had 3 of each! This was almost $500 worth of free food. We were so excited about this because it meant we could get meals and snacks for some of our guests who had traveled so far for our day.
SO. We are finally checked in to Saratoga and decided we would just drop our luggage off and head strait to Epcot because at this point we are an hour and a half late for our event. Luckily we got on a bus right away and made it to Epcot by about 2pm. Two. Hours. Late.
By the time we walked into the park, made our way over to World Showcase, and found my siblings near the America pavilion, we realized just how hot it was - REALLY hot. My sister had been trying to contain all of our guests to one group, but people drifted off wanting to do their own thing, and she was exhausted after trying to keep up with everyone. We decided to go see a show inside the America Pavilion to give everyone a chance to cool off. At this point the "group event" died off and my siblings went to do their own thing. A couple aunts and uncles went to see some other stuff in the park. The eight of us that were left went in to see the show which was great as it always is, and it gave everyone a chance to calm down, sit down, and cool off.
After the show, my grandparents decided to find a shady spot to sit down for a while, and the rest of us went off in search of some slushie drinks. We found them in France, and paid $10 for each of the tiny slushies, but they were just what we needed at that point.
After our slushies, we split up even more. My parents went off to find my grandparents and siblings, and John & I went off with our friends to try to do a few more countries despite the heat. We walked through the shops and found a secluded air conditioned Japanese art gallery where we sat for a half hour waiting for our dinner reservations.
We had reservations for Via Napoli, a newer restaurant in the Italy pavilion. They specialize in pizza which is the meal John would pick if he had to pick one meal to eat for the rest of his life. Clearly, we had to eat here.
We each got individual pizzas that we could barely eat after the appetizer platter we'd ordered. On top of our drinks and the desserts that came with the dining plan. Needless to say, we were stuffed when we finally left (a trend that continued throughout the entire week). We were getting close to the time when the fireworks show Illuminations started, so we decided to head out of the parks. As we left, we passed by the venue for our VIP dessert party the night of the wedding, which was so much better than I'd been imagining in my head. It made me even more excited for our wedding day and the awesome ending we had planned for our guests.
Finally, we were back into our (new) villa and began unpacking for the second time in two days. We were both looking forward to the next day...our rehearsal, rehearsal brunch, and an afternoon by the pool with all of our guests. Little did John know, I had a sneaky surprise planned for him the next day...
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Happily Ever After: We Arrive!
So here we are at the beginning of our wedding weekend. I was going to post about the trip down to Orlando, but my SD card is missing in action and I have no pictures until the first night in Disney, and that would make for a pretty boring post. So, we begin with our day in Disney.
We had arrived in Orlando right on time and made our way to our resorts with no trouble at all. John and I checked in and then headed to the resort where my grandparents were staying to get lunch. We visited with them and a couple other wedding guests before heading to Downtown Disney to do some shopping and get park tickets for the best man. Before we knew it, my parents had arrived after spending two days in a car with my sister and her best friend, so we went over there to check in with them and make sure all of our wedding goodies (read: my dress) had arrived safely and in one piece. Then the boys all came to our resort to try on their tuxes and of course, the only one that did not fit correctly was John's!
After we took care of the tuxes my family left and we started getting ready for our first wedding event. I had made reservations for all of our wedding guests who arrived on Friday at our favorite resort - Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa. We were eating around 7pm at the Turf Club Bar & Grill, which gave everyone plenty of time to settle into their respective resorts. We were fashionably late (a trend during the entire week, which is so unlike me) and barely had time to get a drink and play a game of pool before our table was ready.
John & best man Josh
Me with dad and sister / Maid of Honor
There were 13 of us which was a perfect number. We filled up 4 tables that the restaurant pushed together. The meal was fantastic - we ended up coming back to this restaurant two more times during the course of our stay. It was a great way to kick off our wedding weekend: good food, good drinks, and lots of laughs with some of the most important people in our lives. The night flew by and little did I know it would be an indication of how quickly the entire week would be. After dinner, John surprised my entire family with Disney resort mugs - refillable for free at any Disney resort.
It was so surreal to be in Disney with my family/friends. I am used to going with my immediate family and John, but to be there with people who would normally never go was such a weird feeling. It meant so much to me that they had all traveled there for John & me. It hadn't hit me yet that we were getting married in just a few days...it felt more like we were on a big family reunion vacation.
We headed back to our resort - I don't think we got to bed until around midnight. The next morning we had to get up bright and early for our first day in the parks and an unexpected glitch in our plans...
We had arrived in Orlando right on time and made our way to our resorts with no trouble at all. John and I checked in and then headed to the resort where my grandparents were staying to get lunch. We visited with them and a couple other wedding guests before heading to Downtown Disney to do some shopping and get park tickets for the best man. Before we knew it, my parents had arrived after spending two days in a car with my sister and her best friend, so we went over there to check in with them and make sure all of our wedding goodies (read: my dress) had arrived safely and in one piece. Then the boys all came to our resort to try on their tuxes and of course, the only one that did not fit correctly was John's!
After we took care of the tuxes my family left and we started getting ready for our first wedding event. I had made reservations for all of our wedding guests who arrived on Friday at our favorite resort - Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa. We were eating around 7pm at the Turf Club Bar & Grill, which gave everyone plenty of time to settle into their respective resorts. We were fashionably late (a trend during the entire week, which is so unlike me) and barely had time to get a drink and play a game of pool before our table was ready.
John & best man Josh
Me with dad and sister / Maid of HonorThere were 13 of us which was a perfect number. We filled up 4 tables that the restaurant pushed together. The meal was fantastic - we ended up coming back to this restaurant two more times during the course of our stay. It was a great way to kick off our wedding weekend: good food, good drinks, and lots of laughs with some of the most important people in our lives. The night flew by and little did I know it would be an indication of how quickly the entire week would be. After dinner, John surprised my entire family with Disney resort mugs - refillable for free at any Disney resort.
It was so surreal to be in Disney with my family/friends. I am used to going with my immediate family and John, but to be there with people who would normally never go was such a weird feeling. It meant so much to me that they had all traveled there for John & me. It hadn't hit me yet that we were getting married in just a few days...it felt more like we were on a big family reunion vacation.
We headed back to our resort - I don't think we got to bed until around midnight. The next morning we had to get up bright and early for our first day in the parks and an unexpected glitch in our plans...
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Happily Ever After
Professional photos are in! Get ready for a few weeks of non-stop wedding recaps.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
It's official!
Our professional photographs are on their way to us!
Hopefully within the next week I will be able to start the wedding day re-cap. I'd like to start with the few days leading up to the wedding, so maybe tonight I will get started on that. I am very excited to re-live the entire weekend!
Our home reception is next weekend so I have been busy getting ready for that. We need to finalize things with the caterer, pick out music for the DJ, figure out the rest of the decorations...it's like planning a second wedding! At least this event is much, MUCH more informal and laid back, so if I forget to do something? No one will notice.
Hopefully within the next week I will be able to start the wedding day re-cap. I'd like to start with the few days leading up to the wedding, so maybe tonight I will get started on that. I am very excited to re-live the entire weekend!
Our home reception is next weekend so I have been busy getting ready for that. We need to finalize things with the caterer, pick out music for the DJ, figure out the rest of the decorations...it's like planning a second wedding! At least this event is much, MUCH more informal and laid back, so if I forget to do something? No one will notice.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
a little early for this, don't you think?
Lately I've been reading a lot of new blogs and - gasp! - even commenting on some of them. I find it a little strange that the majority of them are mommy-blogs. Women who are pregnant. Women who just had a baby. Stay at home moms who write about their children. And, being the recently married person that I am, I have been fielding a lot of baby related questions. When are you going to have kids? How many do you want? Do you think you'll wait a long time? Do you and John both want kids? And on, and on, and on. This has led me to think a lot about babies and being pregnant. Pregnancy fascinates me and terrifies me at the same time. Is that normal?
I do want them. Definitely one, probably two, maybe three if we add on to the upstairs. The problem I am having is WHEN do I want them? Part of my screams "right now!" Another part of me wants to wait 2-3 years so I can establish myself more within my company, so we can save up some more for our "#$&@ happens" fund, so we can enjoy being married for a little while, enjoy the HOUSE we just bought, and so we can figure out how the heck we will pay for childcare or pay for insurance if I decide to drop down to part-time. Seriously, how the heck to people pay for kids? Childcare can be upwards of $900 a month in this area! Childcare! That doesn't include the extra cost of food, clothing, toys, medical bills, and all the other miscellaneous things you don't think about. With fuel costs as high as they are, and the price of groceries constantly rising, I get so nervous about having babies and then never again feeling comfortable financially the way we do now.
Oh, and don't let me forget about the actual childbirth part of things. I read some birth stories that hardly mention the pain, and then there are other stories that focus so much on how much contractions hurt, the 'ring of fire', and other ghastly things that I cannot even think about most of the time. Am I strong enough to go through that? I pass out all the time from pain! Can I really withstand an epidural? What about pregnancy fatigue, how will I deal with that? I am the crankiest person EVER when I am tired. Morning sickness? I have major issues with throwing up.
Is it really weird that I can't stop thinking about this?
I do want them. Definitely one, probably two, maybe three if we add on to the upstairs. The problem I am having is WHEN do I want them? Part of my screams "right now!" Another part of me wants to wait 2-3 years so I can establish myself more within my company, so we can save up some more for our "#$&@ happens" fund, so we can enjoy being married for a little while, enjoy the HOUSE we just bought, and so we can figure out how the heck we will pay for childcare or pay for insurance if I decide to drop down to part-time. Seriously, how the heck to people pay for kids? Childcare can be upwards of $900 a month in this area! Childcare! That doesn't include the extra cost of food, clothing, toys, medical bills, and all the other miscellaneous things you don't think about. With fuel costs as high as they are, and the price of groceries constantly rising, I get so nervous about having babies and then never again feeling comfortable financially the way we do now.
Oh, and don't let me forget about the actual childbirth part of things. I read some birth stories that hardly mention the pain, and then there are other stories that focus so much on how much contractions hurt, the 'ring of fire', and other ghastly things that I cannot even think about most of the time. Am I strong enough to go through that? I pass out all the time from pain! Can I really withstand an epidural? What about pregnancy fatigue, how will I deal with that? I am the crankiest person EVER when I am tired. Morning sickness? I have major issues with throwing up.
Is it really weird that I can't stop thinking about this?
Saturday, June 25, 2011
730 Days
I cannot believe that my sweet little boy is two years old today. We took this picture the day we brought Marley home - I put my cell phone beside him to show people just how tiny he was. He was such a ball of fire when he was a baby. Always climbing up whatever he could get his claws into, especially our legs at dinnertime. He played so hard for short periods of time and then promptly passed out to regain his kitty-energy for the next go round. He adored his big brother Milo from the very start and even tried nursing on him for the first few weeks! He captured my heart and I have been head-over-heels for my little orange boy every single day since we brought him home.
Marley's 1st birthday was the day before we moved into our second apartment. He loved all the boxes we had everywhere and was always trying to break into the ones that were already packed. He loved our new apartment - it had 17 windows for him to choose from when he wanted to catch some rays or stalk some birdies. He was pretty skittish for the first few months there, but when he was with his Momma hewas the biggest love in the whole entire world. He loved snuggling on Saturday mornings even if it meant staying in bed until after noon. This was the year we learned that Marley hated having his claws trimmed - he has razor sharp claws that he never used in a mean way, but they were just so long that oftentimes he inadvertently scratched us. One trip to the vet and some scary kitty noises later, we decided Marley could keep his claws rather than going through the torture of having them trimmed every month.
Ignore my super-sized arm in this photo, thanks!Happy Birthday, my sweet boy!
Monday, June 20, 2011
i say we put our best foot forward
I had something a little more heavy than this that I wanted to post today, but I am in a surprisingly chipper mood for a Monday, so this is what you get instead:
1. You wake up in the morning. What time is it probably?
My alarm goes off at 6:30, but 8 times out of 10 I snooze until 7:00. This week I have to get up on time with John because Marley is on antibiotics for pink eye (yes, my cat has pink eye) and it takes both of us to get the pills down his throat.
2. You get yourself some breakfast. What do you make?
Most of the time it's cereal with fruit. If I'm bored with that I'll make a bagel. Or, if I wake up really early, I'll take the time to scramble a couple eggs with toast. Oh, and always a cup of tea (of the caffeinated variety!)
3. Someone calls you on the phone. Who do you want it to be?
Hmm, I'm going to go with no one, because no one calls me that early. Unless it's work telling me to stay home during a snowstorm!
4. You turn on the TV for a bit. What channel do you put it on?
In the morning? Probably the news. But I hardly ever have time to do anything extra in the morning.
5. You have some time to kill before you leave. What do you do?
Geez, this is making me feel like the slowest person ever in the mornings! I am lucky if I get out of the door with any makeup on my face in the morning, let alone have time to kill!
6. You go and have a shower. How long does it take you?
If it's a morning shower it's quick - ten minutes tops. I usually try to take them at night though.
7. You decide to get yourself ready for your day. How long does it take?
Ten minutes? I don't do a lot during the week - mascara if I am lucky. Brush my teeth, put contacts in, that's about it on most days.
8. You put on some makeup. What do you put on?
Very little for work. Mascara, sometimes powder foundation and some blush.
9. You’re ready to leave. What do you take out with you?
My purse, sometimes a drink or a snack.
10. How long does it take you to get to work?
Depends, if I leave on time I take the scenic route by the river and it takes 10 minutes. If I leave late I go straight there and it takes 5.
11. What is the first thing you do when you get to work?
Turn my computer on, check my email, and get started on my to-do list.
12. Do you take part in office gossip/water cooler talk?
There are only 3 women in the office so we gossip about people around town, not each other.
13. Anything particularly annoying about each work day?
Some of the people that I work with - no one in my office though. Sometimes I am annoyed by the fact that every week is a repeat of the week before...same tasks, same emails, etc.
14. What’s the best part of the day?
Coming home from work. Especially if I see John's car in the driveway - I love it when he gets home before me!
15. Do you usually leave on time or stay late? Take any work home with you?
I hardly ever walk out the door exactly on time. Usually I'm there 10-15 minutes late, sometimes more. I don't really take work home because I don't get paid overtime.
16. The boss calls to tell you that don’t have to work, and you’re free for a whole day. What do you do?
Well, hopefully I got all of our household chores done over the weekend! I'd read a book, play with the cats, watch a girly movie, exercise, visit my sister.
17. With whom would you want to spend the day?
Myself! I hate being apart from John on the weekends (newlywed thing maybe?) so it'd be nice to have a day to myself during the week.
18. You go to the store to get some snackage, but it turns out you can only buy one thing there. What do you buy?
A Luna bar. I love them but never buy snacky stuff to keep in the house.
19. You’re walking down the street and you find a magic lamp that grants you 3 wishes. What do you wish for?
1.) Enough money to be a stay at home mom and still pay the bills. 2.) Health for my family. 3.) A longevity pill for my cats so they live as long as I do.
20. You meet a man who says he will give you your dream job, what is it?
I'd love to open a shelter for cats. I don't know the first thing about doing it, but I've always dreamed of being able to rescue the abandoned kitties of the world.
21. You can choose any concert of any singer/band in the world; whose do you go to?
Lifehouse. Front row. Duhh!
22. You get home & there’s a check for $50,000 in the mail for you. On what would you spend it?
Pay off my student loans and put the rest in the savings for our retirement.
23. You get to bring back anyone from the dead, famous or not. Who would it be?
I honestly do not know.
24. You get to interview your favorite celebrity. Who is it, and what would you ask him/her?
Hmmm. She is not my favorite but I think I would want to interview Rachel McAdams. I just think she is incredibly beautiful and talented. I have no idea what I'd ask her though.
25. You get to see into the future but you can only find out one thing about your future life. What would you want to find out?
Am I happy? Other than that, I think if I knew anything major, I'd spend my life waiting to get to it, and it wouldn't be nearly as fun as discovering things along the way.
26. At the end of your perfect day, you go on a perfect date; describe it.
1. You wake up in the morning. What time is it probably?
My alarm goes off at 6:30, but 8 times out of 10 I snooze until 7:00. This week I have to get up on time with John because Marley is on antibiotics for pink eye (yes, my cat has pink eye) and it takes both of us to get the pills down his throat.
2. You get yourself some breakfast. What do you make?
Most of the time it's cereal with fruit. If I'm bored with that I'll make a bagel. Or, if I wake up really early, I'll take the time to scramble a couple eggs with toast. Oh, and always a cup of tea (of the caffeinated variety!)
3. Someone calls you on the phone. Who do you want it to be?
Hmm, I'm going to go with no one, because no one calls me that early. Unless it's work telling me to stay home during a snowstorm!
4. You turn on the TV for a bit. What channel do you put it on?
In the morning? Probably the news. But I hardly ever have time to do anything extra in the morning.
5. You have some time to kill before you leave. What do you do?
Geez, this is making me feel like the slowest person ever in the mornings! I am lucky if I get out of the door with any makeup on my face in the morning, let alone have time to kill!
6. You go and have a shower. How long does it take you?
If it's a morning shower it's quick - ten minutes tops. I usually try to take them at night though.
7. You decide to get yourself ready for your day. How long does it take?
Ten minutes? I don't do a lot during the week - mascara if I am lucky. Brush my teeth, put contacts in, that's about it on most days.
8. You put on some makeup. What do you put on?
Very little for work. Mascara, sometimes powder foundation and some blush.
9. You’re ready to leave. What do you take out with you?
My purse, sometimes a drink or a snack.
10. How long does it take you to get to work?
Depends, if I leave on time I take the scenic route by the river and it takes 10 minutes. If I leave late I go straight there and it takes 5.
11. What is the first thing you do when you get to work?
Turn my computer on, check my email, and get started on my to-do list.
12. Do you take part in office gossip/water cooler talk?
There are only 3 women in the office so we gossip about people around town, not each other.
13. Anything particularly annoying about each work day?
Some of the people that I work with - no one in my office though. Sometimes I am annoyed by the fact that every week is a repeat of the week before...same tasks, same emails, etc.
14. What’s the best part of the day?
Coming home from work. Especially if I see John's car in the driveway - I love it when he gets home before me!
15. Do you usually leave on time or stay late? Take any work home with you?
I hardly ever walk out the door exactly on time. Usually I'm there 10-15 minutes late, sometimes more. I don't really take work home because I don't get paid overtime.
16. The boss calls to tell you that don’t have to work, and you’re free for a whole day. What do you do?
Well, hopefully I got all of our household chores done over the weekend! I'd read a book, play with the cats, watch a girly movie, exercise, visit my sister.
17. With whom would you want to spend the day?
Myself! I hate being apart from John on the weekends (newlywed thing maybe?) so it'd be nice to have a day to myself during the week.
18. You go to the store to get some snackage, but it turns out you can only buy one thing there. What do you buy?
A Luna bar. I love them but never buy snacky stuff to keep in the house.
19. You’re walking down the street and you find a magic lamp that grants you 3 wishes. What do you wish for?
1.) Enough money to be a stay at home mom and still pay the bills. 2.) Health for my family. 3.) A longevity pill for my cats so they live as long as I do.
20. You meet a man who says he will give you your dream job, what is it?
I'd love to open a shelter for cats. I don't know the first thing about doing it, but I've always dreamed of being able to rescue the abandoned kitties of the world.
21. You can choose any concert of any singer/band in the world; whose do you go to?
Lifehouse. Front row. Duhh!
22. You get home & there’s a check for $50,000 in the mail for you. On what would you spend it?
Pay off my student loans and put the rest in the savings for our retirement.
23. You get to bring back anyone from the dead, famous or not. Who would it be?
I honestly do not know.
24. You get to interview your favorite celebrity. Who is it, and what would you ask him/her?
Hmmm. She is not my favorite but I think I would want to interview Rachel McAdams. I just think she is incredibly beautiful and talented. I have no idea what I'd ask her though.
25. You get to see into the future but you can only find out one thing about your future life. What would you want to find out?
Am I happy? Other than that, I think if I knew anything major, I'd spend my life waiting to get to it, and it wouldn't be nearly as fun as discovering things along the way.
26. At the end of your perfect day, you go on a perfect date; describe it.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
my hero
It's Father's Day, which means everyone on Facebook is posting about how great their dads are, and making photos of their dads their profile pictures.
Not going to lie, I did it too.
But the thing is -- my dad is different. He really is the best father anyone could ask for. He was a stay-at-home dad when we were little and although money was sometimes tight living on one income, I would not trade it for anything.
He is the most hardworking person I know. He's overcome adversity more times than you can imagine. Without going into a lot of detail, he had a pretty rough childhood at times, and a lot of people would use that as an excuse to live the same way as an adult. Not my dad. He has always tried to be the best father, husband, and provider he could be. And you know what? He surpassed all of that. He's more than anyone could ever ask for.
I have the best memories of my childhood thanks to my dad. When we had snow days he would build us igloos and forts in the snow - complete with snow sofas and snow chairs and tunnels that wound through the backyard. When we had a rainy summer day, he made us Native American costumes out of left over paper grocery bags. Every day after lunch we would walk up to the market to get Junior Mints and to stop at the library to return our borrowed books.
He's also know as Mr. Fix It and can repair any house problem you can think of. He built our entire family room addition himself when I was ten years old. He's already helped John and me with countless little projects in our home since we bought it three months ago.
My dad, in one word, is amazing. I would not be the person I am today if it weren't for his support, love and constant encouragement. Happy Father's day, Dad. You are the best!
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Balance
I am still anxiously waiting for the photographer to send us the photos from the wedding - I am sure it will be at least another four weeks until we get them. Despite my desire to post about nothing other than our wedding day and how insanely happy I am to be married to my best friend, I am trying to keep this blog active, which means I have to post about something OTHER than our wedding day and how insanely happy I am to be married to my best friend until our photos are in. So. Here's another guest photo to hold you (mostly me) over until the wait is over:
Since we have returned from our wedding/honeymoon, I have felt like such a slug. We ate so much food in Disney which is fine - it was vacation, and Disney food is SO yummy. But, the week we got back was also the start of my monthly hormonal food-fest and I nearly ate my body weight in food for a week straight. Last week I tried to watch what I ate and I did cut back. I ate salad every day for lunch and did not snack as much after dinner. But, one of my co-workers brought in a huge bag of mini Hershey bars (dark chocolate, to be specific) and I had epic fails every afternoon. There was one afternoon where I think I ate 8 or 9 of them! So, while my meals were better, my mid-afternoon chocolate binges did not help my cause.
I weighed myself last Monday and despite my scale suddenly reading my weight in kilograms rather than pounds, I saw the highest weight I've ever seen. To be fair, there was a good stretch of time where I did not weigh myself due to my eating disorder, and it's very possible that I've weighed as much as 10 lbs more than I do now, but it is very eye-opening to see a number you've never seen on the scale before. People tell me all the time that I look great. I don't believe it. I think people say that to me a lot because of my history with eating disorders, as if telling me I look thin will keep those behaviors and tendencies at bay. Wrong.
Yes, I look thinner than I did when I was purging all the time because purging made my face very swollen and puffy. As soon as I went a month without purging, my face totally thinned out. I think the way I dress now really hides a lot of my imperfections compared to the way I dressed a few years ago. I know which styles flatter my body shape and wear those more than other styles. I loved my wedding dress for the fact that it laced up and helped "control" my biggest problem area. But, I am so self-conscious of nearly every part of my body.
I hate my arms. I hate how they look so floppy in a lot of our guest's wedding photos. I hate my scar. This was actually a big question for me on the wedding day - to cover it up or to leave it alone. I chose to leave it alone because it kind of brought John & me together. But, I am still embarrassed to have the Rocky Mountains engraved on my left arm. I hate my thighs. I hate how large they are and the fact that I have cellulite on them. I hate my belly. Sometimes I feel like I look like a pregnant person at the end of the day.
So, I need to do something about these insecurities. Only, it is hard for me to do that without reverting to my old ED habits. It's hard for me to count calories because I tend to get very obsessive about them and over time I cut back more, more, more and even more. It's hard for me to NOT count calories because I lost track of how much I've eaten. I forget that every little bite here and there adds up. I forget that liquids have calories. It's a hard balance to maintain - keeping track but not over-doing it. I love to exercise but I hate actually doing it. I procrastinate like there's no tomorrow. I find every reason to not start. Once I do, I love it. It's getting to that point that is hard for me. I need to just treat it like brushing my teeth or taking a shower - something that just gets done everyday without thinking.
So, here I go. Tomorrow is my first day of calorie-cutting and exercise (on our brand new and very expensive elliptical). If nothing else, I have to use it or else John will be really mad at me for spending so much money on it!
Since we have returned from our wedding/honeymoon, I have felt like such a slug. We ate so much food in Disney which is fine - it was vacation, and Disney food is SO yummy. But, the week we got back was also the start of my monthly hormonal food-fest and I nearly ate my body weight in food for a week straight. Last week I tried to watch what I ate and I did cut back. I ate salad every day for lunch and did not snack as much after dinner. But, one of my co-workers brought in a huge bag of mini Hershey bars (dark chocolate, to be specific) and I had epic fails every afternoon. There was one afternoon where I think I ate 8 or 9 of them! So, while my meals were better, my mid-afternoon chocolate binges did not help my cause.
I weighed myself last Monday and despite my scale suddenly reading my weight in kilograms rather than pounds, I saw the highest weight I've ever seen. To be fair, there was a good stretch of time where I did not weigh myself due to my eating disorder, and it's very possible that I've weighed as much as 10 lbs more than I do now, but it is very eye-opening to see a number you've never seen on the scale before. People tell me all the time that I look great. I don't believe it. I think people say that to me a lot because of my history with eating disorders, as if telling me I look thin will keep those behaviors and tendencies at bay. Wrong.
Yes, I look thinner than I did when I was purging all the time because purging made my face very swollen and puffy. As soon as I went a month without purging, my face totally thinned out. I think the way I dress now really hides a lot of my imperfections compared to the way I dressed a few years ago. I know which styles flatter my body shape and wear those more than other styles. I loved my wedding dress for the fact that it laced up and helped "control" my biggest problem area. But, I am so self-conscious of nearly every part of my body.
I hate my arms. I hate how they look so floppy in a lot of our guest's wedding photos. I hate my scar. This was actually a big question for me on the wedding day - to cover it up or to leave it alone. I chose to leave it alone because it kind of brought John & me together. But, I am still embarrassed to have the Rocky Mountains engraved on my left arm. I hate my thighs. I hate how large they are and the fact that I have cellulite on them. I hate my belly. Sometimes I feel like I look like a pregnant person at the end of the day.
So, I need to do something about these insecurities. Only, it is hard for me to do that without reverting to my old ED habits. It's hard for me to count calories because I tend to get very obsessive about them and over time I cut back more, more, more and even more. It's hard for me to NOT count calories because I lost track of how much I've eaten. I forget that every little bite here and there adds up. I forget that liquids have calories. It's a hard balance to maintain - keeping track but not over-doing it. I love to exercise but I hate actually doing it. I procrastinate like there's no tomorrow. I find every reason to not start. Once I do, I love it. It's getting to that point that is hard for me. I need to just treat it like brushing my teeth or taking a shower - something that just gets done everyday without thinking.
So, here I go. Tomorrow is my first day of calorie-cutting and exercise (on our brand new and very expensive elliptical). If nothing else, I have to use it or else John will be really mad at me for spending so much money on it!
Friday, June 10, 2011
end of the world
The weather this year has been pretty scary.
We got so much snow in January and February. More snow than I've ever seen in my 23 years living in CT. I'm talking foot after foot after foot piled up, some ice mixed in - snow banks so high that you had to literally creep into intersections because it was impossible to see what was coming. Roads were one lane wide in some places because there was simply no place to put the snow. Dump trucks were brought in to haul snow out of the intersections. I remember standing in front of my car ready to burst into tears because it was literally buried in a pile of snow. I wish I had thought to take pictures. We really felt like it would never melt.
Now, we are experiencing some really scary thunderstorms. Between the tornadoes that touched down in Springfield, MA last week (about 45 minutes away from us) and the horrific band of thunderstorms that ripped through yesterday, I've had my fair share of bad weather to last me for the rest of the year. We got sent home from work early when the sky started to turn black. Yes, black. I got home and the phone rang - it was John making sure I was home. He was driving through the storm and said it was intense. Later, he told me he could see the clouds swirling, which would have completely freaked me out. I had every light in the house on to make the lightning outside less visible. I had the cats in their carriers in case we had to go into the basement. I had every candle out on the kitchen counter ready to go.
We ended up being fine. Luckily, John beat the storm to our house so I wasn't alone when it was really bad here. We had the news on, which probably scared me even more, but I wanted to keep watching the doppler to see when the storm would be out of here. It last about an hour, but for those of us who are terrified of bad weather, it felt a lot longer. Thankfully no one was hurt (as far as I know), but over 120,000 people were without power. Ours flickered, but never went out. Thank goodness. I'm such a wimp when it comes to weather - I hate things that I can't control. I know a ton of people who love storms...not me!
So, Mother Nature, if you're reading this, can you please be nice to us for the rest of the year? We thought we had enough bad weather this winter to deserve being spared for the rest of the year.
We got so much snow in January and February. More snow than I've ever seen in my 23 years living in CT. I'm talking foot after foot after foot piled up, some ice mixed in - snow banks so high that you had to literally creep into intersections because it was impossible to see what was coming. Roads were one lane wide in some places because there was simply no place to put the snow. Dump trucks were brought in to haul snow out of the intersections. I remember standing in front of my car ready to burst into tears because it was literally buried in a pile of snow. I wish I had thought to take pictures. We really felt like it would never melt.
Now, we are experiencing some really scary thunderstorms. Between the tornadoes that touched down in Springfield, MA last week (about 45 minutes away from us) and the horrific band of thunderstorms that ripped through yesterday, I've had my fair share of bad weather to last me for the rest of the year. We got sent home from work early when the sky started to turn black. Yes, black. I got home and the phone rang - it was John making sure I was home. He was driving through the storm and said it was intense. Later, he told me he could see the clouds swirling, which would have completely freaked me out. I had every light in the house on to make the lightning outside less visible. I had the cats in their carriers in case we had to go into the basement. I had every candle out on the kitchen counter ready to go.
We ended up being fine. Luckily, John beat the storm to our house so I wasn't alone when it was really bad here. We had the news on, which probably scared me even more, but I wanted to keep watching the doppler to see when the storm would be out of here. It last about an hour, but for those of us who are terrified of bad weather, it felt a lot longer. Thankfully no one was hurt (as far as I know), but over 120,000 people were without power. Ours flickered, but never went out. Thank goodness. I'm such a wimp when it comes to weather - I hate things that I can't control. I know a ton of people who love storms...not me!
So, Mother Nature, if you're reading this, can you please be nice to us for the rest of the year? We thought we had enough bad weather this winter to deserve being spared for the rest of the year.
Monday, June 6, 2011
the story of right now
- I have never in my life enjoyed looking at photos of myself as much as I enjoy looking at our wedding photos. The cosmetology team I hired was worth every single penny. I truly felt pretty on our wedding day.
- John let me buy an elliptical! It's being delivered on Saturday. I can't wait, especially after getting on the scale this morning and seeing a number I've never seen. (PS - my scale all of a sudden changed to metric. Way to confuse me at 7:00 in the morning!)
- We also bought a patio set. We spent too much money this weekend. I love how our yard is coming together, though.
- Is it normal to want to snuggle my cats instead of go to work? It's a dilemma I face every day.
- Sometimes I still wake up in the morning and think, 'how many days until the wedding?' Then I realize it happened TWO WEEKS AGO and nearly faint. How did that happen?!
- Summer is already going by too quickly. I blame it on working 40 hours a week. Seriously, it is not cool being stuck in an office during prime beach hours.
Saturday, June 4, 2011
June: Goals
I can't believe it is June already. It really feels like 2011 just got here and now it's halfway over.
I want to try to slow my life down a little. I know that in 3, 4 or 5 years life could be totally hectic if we start for a family soon. We figure we've got about two years of just the two of us before we start trying, so in a way, I feel like I need to really appreciate that time together. As I get older, time seems to go by faster and faster, and before I know it a year has gone by and I can't even remember what I did with my time. Of course, if I sit down and really think, I can remember what happened. January - we were hermits due to the never-ending snow. February - same as January. March - we bought a house and were crazy moving in. April - wedding, wedding, wedding. May - even more wedding, wedding, wedding (as evidenced by my lack of posting!). June - clean slate?
I want to start and end each month with 1.) my goals for the month and b.) reflection on how the month went. Maybe that will help me to really think about how I choose to spend my time and hopefully, I will feel better when I look back each month.
So, without further adieu, my goals for June:
1.) Finish unpacking. Yes, we are still not completely unpacked from our move in MARCH. I want to tackle the two spare bedrooms. This includes putting all of our winter clothes into plastic bins and moving them into the attic for the summer, setting up my scrapbooking/photo area in the smaller bedroom, and putting up shelving so I can unpack all the boxes with my Disney snowglobes.
2.) Put up a clothesline. I have the clothespins, I just need to get the actual line. I know our electric bill is going to skyrocket with the air conditioners if it gets really hot again, so this will be a way to save a little money.
3.) Quit spending so much time on Facebook. Dedicate only one night to spend more than a half hour on there. If I'm going to be online, it needs to be for something more productive that creeping on people that I haven't seen in years.
4.) Be healthier. This month I want to focus on making better choices. 75% of the time I will choose something healthy on my own. When we go out, I tend to WAY overeat. When I snack, I tend to WAY overeat. When it's that time of the month, I just eat all the time, healthy stuff and bad stuff.
Also, I am in the process of talking John into buying a treadmill or elliptical. We have a sun porch in our house and all it does is collect junk, but it would be perfect for a piece of exercise equipment. I would put the machine upstairs, but then that means moving it downstairs when we have kids and the idea of moving big pieces of equipment like that scares me, so I want to put it somewhere where it can stay. Forever. Anyway, we just paid off our Sears card after buying a washer/dryer/oven. There are really good sales right now (as in $1000 off in some cases!). Also, I have to go over a really old bridge to get to the gym. Next week, they are starting construction on the bridge which is going to be a major pain in the butt. There are two lanes in each direction, and they are closing down one lane in each direction for A YEAR AND A HALF. I am used to the bridge because I've lived in this town my whole life and I have to go over it to get to civilization, but people on the other side of the river are afraid of it. It's going to suck. But back to my point: I won't be going to the gym once construction starts. So, I need something here. In my house. So I can't make excuses. But I won't make it a goal since it's a hefty purchase and those kinds of things need John's approval. I'd like it to happen this month, though!
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Mr. & Mrs.
I am still sorting through guest photos, waiting for professional photos, and organizing what I want to say about our wedding weekend (there will most likely be several posts), but here is a little sneak peek to hold you over:
It was an incredible ten days, and the wedding itself was just wonderful. It was the very best day of my life and I would not change a thing about it. We are pretty busy getting back into our little routines and cleaning up the house (hot weather + hardwood floors + four shedding kitties = tumbleweed-esque clumps of fur blowing through the entire first level of the house) and unpacking but I hope to set aside some time soon to start writing about our trip and our wedding.
You can watch the "sneak peek" from our videographer if you want a glimpse at our ceremony (it's really just our vows):
www.stvsweddings.com - click Sneak Peeks, then click our names.
username: blu-ray
password: magic
Enjoy!
It was an incredible ten days, and the wedding itself was just wonderful. It was the very best day of my life and I would not change a thing about it. We are pretty busy getting back into our little routines and cleaning up the house (hot weather + hardwood floors + four shedding kitties = tumbleweed-esque clumps of fur blowing through the entire first level of the house) and unpacking but I hope to set aside some time soon to start writing about our trip and our wedding.
You can watch the "sneak peek" from our videographer if you want a glimpse at our ceremony (it's really just our vows):
www.stvsweddings.com - click Sneak Peeks, then click our names.
username: blu-ray
password: magic
Enjoy!
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
spring has sprung
I finally feel like I can say Winter 2011 is OVER.
We took the babies outside on Easter because it was so beautiful out. I don't let them out of my hands, though. I'm a nervous kitty momma. Bubba didn't get to go out because he is NOT a fan of being held, unless it's by John. So he watched from the sunroom.
I am thoroughly enjoying the sunshine and warmer temperatures. It's exciting to see the various plants that are coming up in the yard. I especially love the tree with pink flowers, they are so pretty right now. I know next to nothing about gardening, but it seems like there are quite a few flowers that are coming up on their own so far. I have a lilac bush and a hydrangea plant in the front yard, and a dogwood tree in the back. There are lots of hosta plants coming up along the sides of the house and I know that they fill in really well. Maybe I won't have to do a ton of work to get some curb appeal!
We took the babies outside on Easter because it was so beautiful out. I don't let them out of my hands, though. I'm a nervous kitty momma. Bubba didn't get to go out because he is NOT a fan of being held, unless it's by John. So he watched from the sunroom.
I am thoroughly enjoying the sunshine and warmer temperatures. It's exciting to see the various plants that are coming up in the yard. I especially love the tree with pink flowers, they are so pretty right now. I know next to nothing about gardening, but it seems like there are quite a few flowers that are coming up on their own so far. I have a lilac bush and a hydrangea plant in the front yard, and a dogwood tree in the back. There are lots of hosta plants coming up along the sides of the house and I know that they fill in really well. Maybe I won't have to do a ton of work to get some curb appeal!
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Introducing...
Giving you guys a break from the incessant OMIGOD MY WEDDING IS NEXT MONTH posts with this lovely photo:
This is Bubba! He is a six year old tabby whose parents were being forced to move and could not take their pets with them. I got an email at work last Wednesday about the animals. (There was also an 11 year old border collie/german shephard mix that needed a home). Being the sucker that I am, I texted John and fibbed a little teensy-tiny bit that if he didn't find a home he would be euthanized and asked if we could meet him. Of course he said yes! Who can say no to an almost-dying kitty!?
Don't worry, I came clean to John that night after I'd already scheduled the meeting. (Muahahaha).
So anyway. Last Saturday around 2pm Bubba arrived at our house. He came right out of his carrier and started making himself at home. He tore into the buckets we keep the cat toys in (seriously, he hopped right in, like in the picture above, and started throwing out every toy he could find). Milo and Marley made a mad dash for the upstairs once they realized what was playing with their toys, and little Nala parked herself right under the rocking chair to keep an eye on the intruder.
We decided on the spot to take him. Not that there was any choice! How could either of us say no after meeting him? I was a little hesitant because he was not up to date on his shots and had not been to the vet in 3 years, but he was strictly an indoor kitty so the chances of him having anything were slim. And our cats are very laid back, so the chances of a cat-fight occurring were also slim.
After Bubba's parent's left, he got a little more uneasy with us. Before they left they had mentioned that they thought he was about 9 years old, which was older than we were expecting. He sure seemed it that first day - he was very cranky! He claimed the toy area as HIS spot and none of the other cats were allowed within a 2 ft radius of him. [Side Note: My next task is to actually post pictures of our new house because then you would understand what the "toy area" is. People walk into our house and are like "What is this, a cat farm?!" There are so many toys, ha]. He also hissed at our cats - which I totally expected. And our cats hissed right back. Even Milo! I have never seen Milo hiss. He is seriously the most laid back and easy going cat in the world. Anyway. Bubba did not really like me or John that day either. Which I completely understand - it's got to be awfully stressful to go on a 45 minute car ride and be dropped off in a strange house with three strange cats.
We gave Bubba his space for the next day or two. By the end of day two, the three male cats were able to walk by each other without freaking out. Nala was a different story. Maybe it was because she is the only female, or maybe because she is the youngest, or maybe just because she is SO SPOILED, I'm not sure. But she was NOT happy to have a new kitty in the house. She was seriously being a huge brat. If Bubba went somewhere that she was not happy with, she'd run right after him and pounce right in front of him, which terrified him. Nala has always been allowed on the counters in the kitchen for two reasons. 1.) I seriously can't yell at her. She's too cute. She's my baby. 2.) She doesn't listen. Mommy-fail. Milo and Marley really don't go on them much. So the counters are Nala's. When Bubba jumped up, oh man, cue the start of Kitty World War I. I am sure she felt threatened, like we were replacing her or something, so I tried to not get too mad at her. But I would say by Wednesday, she and Bubba could walk by each other with no growling, hissing, or swatting. They touched noses a couple times, and generally were getting along. They are still not BFFs, but that will come with time.
Yesterday Bubs had his first vet appointment and he did really well! The vet changed his age to 6 and said he was very healthy. He tested negative for FIV and handled his vaccinations beautifully. I cannot believe we now have four cats, or that I just wrote an entire post about my cats, but it makes me feel good to have rescued our third cat. And really, Marley was a rescue in my opinion because who wants to live in a pet store? Yes, we paid for him, but I just could not bear to leave him in that smelly, overcrowded store. And ohhhh, the cuteness! So, I tell myself I've rescued all four of them. And here are pictures of the other three, just so they don't feel left out:
Nala, Queen of the Counters:
Marley, always my little man:
And our gentle giant, Milo:
This is Bubba! He is a six year old tabby whose parents were being forced to move and could not take their pets with them. I got an email at work last Wednesday about the animals. (There was also an 11 year old border collie/german shephard mix that needed a home). Being the sucker that I am, I texted John and fibbed a little teensy-tiny bit that if he didn't find a home he would be euthanized and asked if we could meet him. Of course he said yes! Who can say no to an almost-dying kitty!?
Don't worry, I came clean to John that night after I'd already scheduled the meeting. (Muahahaha).
So anyway. Last Saturday around 2pm Bubba arrived at our house. He came right out of his carrier and started making himself at home. He tore into the buckets we keep the cat toys in (seriously, he hopped right in, like in the picture above, and started throwing out every toy he could find). Milo and Marley made a mad dash for the upstairs once they realized what was playing with their toys, and little Nala parked herself right under the rocking chair to keep an eye on the intruder.
We decided on the spot to take him. Not that there was any choice! How could either of us say no after meeting him? I was a little hesitant because he was not up to date on his shots and had not been to the vet in 3 years, but he was strictly an indoor kitty so the chances of him having anything were slim. And our cats are very laid back, so the chances of a cat-fight occurring were also slim.
After Bubba's parent's left, he got a little more uneasy with us. Before they left they had mentioned that they thought he was about 9 years old, which was older than we were expecting. He sure seemed it that first day - he was very cranky! He claimed the toy area as HIS spot and none of the other cats were allowed within a 2 ft radius of him. [Side Note: My next task is to actually post pictures of our new house because then you would understand what the "toy area" is. People walk into our house and are like "What is this, a cat farm?!" There are so many toys, ha]. He also hissed at our cats - which I totally expected. And our cats hissed right back. Even Milo! I have never seen Milo hiss. He is seriously the most laid back and easy going cat in the world. Anyway. Bubba did not really like me or John that day either. Which I completely understand - it's got to be awfully stressful to go on a 45 minute car ride and be dropped off in a strange house with three strange cats.
We gave Bubba his space for the next day or two. By the end of day two, the three male cats were able to walk by each other without freaking out. Nala was a different story. Maybe it was because she is the only female, or maybe because she is the youngest, or maybe just because she is SO SPOILED, I'm not sure. But she was NOT happy to have a new kitty in the house. She was seriously being a huge brat. If Bubba went somewhere that she was not happy with, she'd run right after him and pounce right in front of him, which terrified him. Nala has always been allowed on the counters in the kitchen for two reasons. 1.) I seriously can't yell at her. She's too cute. She's my baby. 2.) She doesn't listen. Mommy-fail. Milo and Marley really don't go on them much. So the counters are Nala's. When Bubba jumped up, oh man, cue the start of Kitty World War I. I am sure she felt threatened, like we were replacing her or something, so I tried to not get too mad at her. But I would say by Wednesday, she and Bubba could walk by each other with no growling, hissing, or swatting. They touched noses a couple times, and generally were getting along. They are still not BFFs, but that will come with time.
Yesterday Bubs had his first vet appointment and he did really well! The vet changed his age to 6 and said he was very healthy. He tested negative for FIV and handled his vaccinations beautifully. I cannot believe we now have four cats, or that I just wrote an entire post about my cats, but it makes me feel good to have rescued our third cat. And really, Marley was a rescue in my opinion because who wants to live in a pet store? Yes, we paid for him, but I just could not bear to leave him in that smelly, overcrowded store. And ohhhh, the cuteness! So, I tell myself I've rescued all four of them. And here are pictures of the other three, just so they don't feel left out:
Nala, Queen of the Counters:
Marley, always my little man:
And our gentle giant, Milo:
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
it's flying by
When we got engaged nearly 2 years ago, I had grand plans to really savor each moment of our wedding planning process. My mom bought me a journal for all my wedding plans and ideas. I've used it, that's for sure, but have I used it to write really descriptive entries about what I'm thinking, feeling, wishing and hoping for? No. I've jotted down music ideas, floral ideas, little thoughts here and there. I have a huge excel spreadsheet on my computer at work full of my plans: guest list, budgets, seating charts, group events, vendors, and more. It's my wedding-planning bible.
Planning a destination wedding has been a really neat experience - one that I would not trade for anything. I know our wedding will be incredibly fun and unique. I feel a little sad that I haven't chronicled it the way I'd imagined. Now that we are 33 days away from our I Do's (!!!) I want to somehow capture it all so that I will remember it in 5, 10, 15, 20 years. I know that is not an attainable goal right now - with so many other items that need to be crossed off my to-do list. Not to mention my last-ditch effort to lose a few pounds before the big day! I definitely have a full plate for the next four and a half weeks.
So. I am making a commitment to capture as many details of our wedding week as possible. I want to recount it all on this blog - from the day we arrive in Disney until the day we leave. Here is a quick snapshot of what that week should go:
Friday: Arrive in Orlando around 10:00AM, head to our resort to check-in, pick up our tuxes from Bell Services and make sure they all fit, get together all of our wedding items and deliver them to Franck's (the wedding studio by the Wedding Pavilion), and maaaybe if we aren't too exhausted, hop on the monorail and head into the Magic Kingdom. That night we have our first group event - dinner reservations at my parent's resort with 14 of our guests.
Saturday: sleep in! We are heading to Epcot around noon to kick off our second group event: Celebrating Around the World. We are planning to hit as many of the countries in World Showcase as we can to sample food and drinks. Yum! That night John and I have reservations with his best man and one of my bridesmaids at an Italian restaurant.
Sunday: Our rehearsal is at 9:30 in the morning and from there we go straight to our rehearsal brunch with our wedding party. After that we are inviting everyone back to our resort for an afternoon of lounging around the pool. Hoping to keep it low-key and relaxed...I know I will be a bundle of nerves with the wedding the next day!
Monday: WEDDING DAY! Cosmetology will arrive around 6:30 in the morning, the photographer & videographer arrive around 9:00, and we head over to the Grand Floridian Resort around 10:30 for bridal party photos. Wedding is at 12:00, cocktail hour at 1:00, reception at 2:00, and our Epcot dessert party is at 8:00. It will be a long day but I think it's going to be incredibly amazing.
Tuesday: sleep in! We have breakfast reservations around 10am, and then we'll see where the day takes us. We have our farewell dinner at the Polynesian that night with 26 guests.
Wednesday-Sunday: Other than our dining reservations, we have no concrete plans. We'll probably go with the flow and try to hang out with as many of our guests as we can before everyone heads back home. After all, how many chances will we ever get to be in the happiest place in the world with the people we love the most? Nada!
So that's my goal: when we get back, I am going to bore you with all the little details of our wedding events! While I am sad that I have not chronicled my planning thus far, I really want to make sure I write it all down afterwards. Plus, I am sure it will help with the post-wedding blues - I won't know what to do with all my free time!
BTW - we have a new addition to our family. Coming up in my next post!
Planning a destination wedding has been a really neat experience - one that I would not trade for anything. I know our wedding will be incredibly fun and unique. I feel a little sad that I haven't chronicled it the way I'd imagined. Now that we are 33 days away from our I Do's (!!!) I want to somehow capture it all so that I will remember it in 5, 10, 15, 20 years. I know that is not an attainable goal right now - with so many other items that need to be crossed off my to-do list. Not to mention my last-ditch effort to lose a few pounds before the big day! I definitely have a full plate for the next four and a half weeks.
So. I am making a commitment to capture as many details of our wedding week as possible. I want to recount it all on this blog - from the day we arrive in Disney until the day we leave. Here is a quick snapshot of what that week should go:
Friday: Arrive in Orlando around 10:00AM, head to our resort to check-in, pick up our tuxes from Bell Services and make sure they all fit, get together all of our wedding items and deliver them to Franck's (the wedding studio by the Wedding Pavilion), and maaaybe if we aren't too exhausted, hop on the monorail and head into the Magic Kingdom. That night we have our first group event - dinner reservations at my parent's resort with 14 of our guests.
Saturday: sleep in! We are heading to Epcot around noon to kick off our second group event: Celebrating Around the World. We are planning to hit as many of the countries in World Showcase as we can to sample food and drinks. Yum! That night John and I have reservations with his best man and one of my bridesmaids at an Italian restaurant.
Sunday: Our rehearsal is at 9:30 in the morning and from there we go straight to our rehearsal brunch with our wedding party. After that we are inviting everyone back to our resort for an afternoon of lounging around the pool. Hoping to keep it low-key and relaxed...I know I will be a bundle of nerves with the wedding the next day!
Monday: WEDDING DAY! Cosmetology will arrive around 6:30 in the morning, the photographer & videographer arrive around 9:00, and we head over to the Grand Floridian Resort around 10:30 for bridal party photos. Wedding is at 12:00, cocktail hour at 1:00, reception at 2:00, and our Epcot dessert party is at 8:00. It will be a long day but I think it's going to be incredibly amazing.
Tuesday: sleep in! We have breakfast reservations around 10am, and then we'll see where the day takes us. We have our farewell dinner at the Polynesian that night with 26 guests.
Wednesday-Sunday: Other than our dining reservations, we have no concrete plans. We'll probably go with the flow and try to hang out with as many of our guests as we can before everyone heads back home. After all, how many chances will we ever get to be in the happiest place in the world with the people we love the most? Nada!
So that's my goal: when we get back, I am going to bore you with all the little details of our wedding events! While I am sad that I have not chronicled my planning thus far, I really want to make sure I write it all down afterwards. Plus, I am sure it will help with the post-wedding blues - I won't know what to do with all my free time!
BTW - we have a new addition to our family. Coming up in my next post!
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Fifty.
50 is not really that big of a number.
When I was little, I thought $50 made me rich. Ha! $50 barely gets me enough gasoline for the week... but I digress.
When we set our wedding date, we had 500-something days to wait. I looked forward to every "milestone" number as we counted down the days. 450 days, 400 days, 350 days, 300 days, and so on. I was really excited a few months ago when we hit 100 days, and then 99 the day after. Double digits!
Now we have 50 days left. FIFTY DAYS. And we have only 47 days until we leave.
This number is pretty much freaking me out right now. I really don't want it to be over. I remember my very first trip to Disney in 1997 - riding on the monorail past the Wedding Pavilion and thinking "That's where I want to get married someday." Someday is here - in a mere fifty days. How did that happen so quickly?!
When I was little, I thought $50 made me rich. Ha! $50 barely gets me enough gasoline for the week... but I digress.
When we set our wedding date, we had 500-something days to wait. I looked forward to every "milestone" number as we counted down the days. 450 days, 400 days, 350 days, 300 days, and so on. I was really excited a few months ago when we hit 100 days, and then 99 the day after. Double digits!
Now we have 50 days left. FIFTY DAYS. And we have only 47 days until we leave.
This number is pretty much freaking me out right now. I really don't want it to be over. I remember my very first trip to Disney in 1997 - riding on the monorail past the Wedding Pavilion and thinking "That's where I want to get married someday." Someday is here - in a mere fifty days. How did that happen so quickly?!
Sunday, March 27, 2011
give a little heart and soul
Bullets, because I have not updated in forever and this is easier than writing full paragraphs about everything that has been going on:
-We are moved into our house! We found out we were closing an hour and a half ahead of time, and then spent the following four days painting, cleaning, moving, painting, cleaning, moving...
-I posted some photos on facebook but I need to get outside today and get some photos of the actual house. I want to wait on inside photos a bit longer because as soon as we get one room unpacked, we start a new project and it gets messy again.
-My bridal shower was last weekend and I feel like the luckiest girl in the world to have so many incredible family and friends. My mom pulled off an incredible afternoon with lots of tea and cupcakes. People were VERY generous and I felt like we moved again last weekend with the amount of stuff I brought home!
-The wedding is in 57 days (FIFTY SEVEN!!). I have so much to do. You don't even want to see my to-do list, it will make you sick.
-I had intended to make one of the spare bedrooms into "wedding central" but that room has not even been unpacked yet. Not to mention I need a table to assemble all of my DIY crafts. I have no table.
-Milo is terrified of ceiling fans. We have three of them now, and at first he would not even go into those rooms because they freaked him out so much. Now he just gets freaked out about them when they are on. I hope he comes around because I fully intend on using them a lot this summer.
-My aunt asked me if Marley was pregnant yesterday. I replied that Marley is a boy. I guess I need to cut down on his food consumption? He really doesn't eat a ton but he is L-A-Z-Y. I keep telling him to exercise but he just rolls over and goes back to sleep.
-Nala has adjusted perfectly and was Queen of the house within minutes. So much so, that she feels it's within her rights to sprawl out on the kitchen counters. We've started spray-bottle training her this weekend and when she sees it, her eyes get all scrunched up and she slowly makes her way off the counters.
-John's family is no longer coming to our wedding. It's been a really long, stressful six weeks, but they have shown their true colors not only to us, but to my whole family, and I am relieved that we don't have to worry about them on the wedding day anymore. John is beyond hurt that his family could treat him this way, but he is also relieved that he doesn't have to worry about them anymore. It's a blessing in disguise, I think. I could write a whole book about the drama that's been going on but I'll save it for another time.
-I had my fitting for my dress two weeks ago and O-M-G I LOVE IT. I have my second fitting this Saturday and my hair trial right after - Squee!
-I am desperate for warmer weather. Even if it's just 60's! I am so sick of cold weather. It's almost April, weather gods! Give me some warmth!
-I cannot wait to go on vacation for 10 days. In the warm Florida sun! With my most favorite people in the world!
-I am going to miss my fur babies like crazy, though. I'll probably be a nervous wreck for the week leading up to the wedding.
-We are moved into our house! We found out we were closing an hour and a half ahead of time, and then spent the following four days painting, cleaning, moving, painting, cleaning, moving...
-I posted some photos on facebook but I need to get outside today and get some photos of the actual house. I want to wait on inside photos a bit longer because as soon as we get one room unpacked, we start a new project and it gets messy again.
-My bridal shower was last weekend and I feel like the luckiest girl in the world to have so many incredible family and friends. My mom pulled off an incredible afternoon with lots of tea and cupcakes. People were VERY generous and I felt like we moved again last weekend with the amount of stuff I brought home!
-The wedding is in 57 days (FIFTY SEVEN!!). I have so much to do. You don't even want to see my to-do list, it will make you sick.
-I had intended to make one of the spare bedrooms into "wedding central" but that room has not even been unpacked yet. Not to mention I need a table to assemble all of my DIY crafts. I have no table.
-Milo is terrified of ceiling fans. We have three of them now, and at first he would not even go into those rooms because they freaked him out so much. Now he just gets freaked out about them when they are on. I hope he comes around because I fully intend on using them a lot this summer.
-My aunt asked me if Marley was pregnant yesterday. I replied that Marley is a boy. I guess I need to cut down on his food consumption? He really doesn't eat a ton but he is L-A-Z-Y. I keep telling him to exercise but he just rolls over and goes back to sleep.
-Nala has adjusted perfectly and was Queen of the house within minutes. So much so, that she feels it's within her rights to sprawl out on the kitchen counters. We've started spray-bottle training her this weekend and when she sees it, her eyes get all scrunched up and she slowly makes her way off the counters.
-John's family is no longer coming to our wedding. It's been a really long, stressful six weeks, but they have shown their true colors not only to us, but to my whole family, and I am relieved that we don't have to worry about them on the wedding day anymore. John is beyond hurt that his family could treat him this way, but he is also relieved that he doesn't have to worry about them anymore. It's a blessing in disguise, I think. I could write a whole book about the drama that's been going on but I'll save it for another time.
-I had my fitting for my dress two weeks ago and O-M-G I LOVE IT. I have my second fitting this Saturday and my hair trial right after - Squee!
-I am desperate for warmer weather. Even if it's just 60's! I am so sick of cold weather. It's almost April, weather gods! Give me some warmth!
-I cannot wait to go on vacation for 10 days. In the warm Florida sun! With my most favorite people in the world!
-I am going to miss my fur babies like crazy, though. I'll probably be a nervous wreck for the week leading up to the wedding.
Friday, March 4, 2011
remember the time I said I was buying a house?
We have been so busy lately. I've had wedding questions from my planner to answer, decisions to make, INVITATIONS TO MAIL OUT [this took FOREVER], and the list goes on. It's been an especially stressful couple of weeks on the house front, though. It seems like the seller is the slowest person on Earth. There have been lots of bits and pieces that need to be sorted out - papers to be signed & permits to be shown, and of course we've been dealing with the ever-difficult VA.
We are getting a VA home loan that John is eligible for after serving in the Army for 8 years. They are pretty picky about some things, but they are also SO SLOW at getting anything done. But there was one thing that ticked me off - John had to sign a piece of paper stating that he was not going to be deploying in the next 12 months, because if he was, the VA considered it "bad faith." REALLY!? If he were to deploy [which he won't; his time was up almost 2 years ago] the bank would say we reneged on the loan. I just couldn't believe that. How can you tell service men and women that they cannot buy a house if they are to deploy within 12 months? How awful is that?!
Anyway. Rant aside, things are moving along, albeit a bit slowly and stressfully. [Stressfully is not a word but I just made it up. Don't judge]. We should be closing next week! Hopefully the move will go smoothly because by the end of March, we will be in full-force Wedding Mode. Please bear with me through the sporadic posts until June - I cannot even believe it's March already. I don't know where the last 2 months have gone.
PS - our 4583745 feet of snow is finally melting. Please, weather gods, please melt it all away before we move next weekend!? Please?!
PPS - my first wedding dress fitting is next weekend also. -freaking out about fitting into it-
We are getting a VA home loan that John is eligible for after serving in the Army for 8 years. They are pretty picky about some things, but they are also SO SLOW at getting anything done. But there was one thing that ticked me off - John had to sign a piece of paper stating that he was not going to be deploying in the next 12 months, because if he was, the VA considered it "bad faith." REALLY!? If he were to deploy [which he won't; his time was up almost 2 years ago] the bank would say we reneged on the loan. I just couldn't believe that. How can you tell service men and women that they cannot buy a house if they are to deploy within 12 months? How awful is that?!
Anyway. Rant aside, things are moving along, albeit a bit slowly and stressfully. [Stressfully is not a word but I just made it up. Don't judge]. We should be closing next week! Hopefully the move will go smoothly because by the end of March, we will be in full-force Wedding Mode. Please bear with me through the sporadic posts until June - I cannot even believe it's March already. I don't know where the last 2 months have gone.
PS - our 4583745 feet of snow is finally melting. Please, weather gods, please melt it all away before we move next weekend!? Please?!
PPS - my first wedding dress fitting is next weekend also. -freaking out about fitting into it-
Sunday, February 13, 2011
one big announcement coming up...
Bullets because it's been forever...
-- Winter 2011... I will never forget you. One of the major reasons why I have not posted in forever is because of the weather. We have not been on Mother Nature's good side since Christmas. We broke the record for amount of snowfall in January with storm after storm. We got one storm that dropped 30 inches, another that dropped 18, a few that dropped 5-6, oh and let's not forget the ice storms that came by too. We lost power completely a few times, and we lost our cable service (phone, TV, internet) for over a week. Not to mention, the snowbanks at intersections are SO HIGH because there is nowhere to put the snow. It was pretty bad for a while, but luckily we have had over a week with no snow so it has started to melt a little.
-- Wedding is in 99 days! I'm almost finished with the invitations and then it's on to the favors. Then the table names, escort cards, programs...am I forgetting anything?? My dress finally arrived so I have my first fitting on March 12th. I'm so excited for that. I need to purchase my shoes by then (aka flip flops) and any undergarments I plan on wearing. My shower is on March 19th and I finally finished our registries at Bed Bath & Beyond and Target. Those were painful! I feel so awkward picking out all these gifts for people to buy me.
-- **BIG ANNOUNCEMENT** We bought a house! This is another reason why I have avoided the interwebs lately. I have been so excited about this, but we wanted to keep quiet until we were sure that it was a done deal. It's an old farm house that was built in 1869. It's a flip, so it's all renovated and move-in-ready. We are tentatively set to close in about a month, so it's going to be a really hectic and stressful couple of months coming up. Not only are we finishing up a million little things for the wedding, we are also picking out paint colors and new furniture and Oh Em Gee! The excitement!
So, there we have it. My life over the last several weeks summed up in a couple bullets. With everything we've got going on, I still want to make it a priority to fit in exercise and healthy eating so I feel beautiful on the big day. I'm looking into buying some Zumba dvd's - does anyone have any suggestions?
-- Winter 2011... I will never forget you. One of the major reasons why I have not posted in forever is because of the weather. We have not been on Mother Nature's good side since Christmas. We broke the record for amount of snowfall in January with storm after storm. We got one storm that dropped 30 inches, another that dropped 18, a few that dropped 5-6, oh and let's not forget the ice storms that came by too. We lost power completely a few times, and we lost our cable service (phone, TV, internet) for over a week. Not to mention, the snowbanks at intersections are SO HIGH because there is nowhere to put the snow. It was pretty bad for a while, but luckily we have had over a week with no snow so it has started to melt a little.
-- Wedding is in 99 days! I'm almost finished with the invitations and then it's on to the favors. Then the table names, escort cards, programs...am I forgetting anything?? My dress finally arrived so I have my first fitting on March 12th. I'm so excited for that. I need to purchase my shoes by then (aka flip flops) and any undergarments I plan on wearing. My shower is on March 19th and I finally finished our registries at Bed Bath & Beyond and Target. Those were painful! I feel so awkward picking out all these gifts for people to buy me.
-- **BIG ANNOUNCEMENT** We bought a house! This is another reason why I have avoided the interwebs lately. I have been so excited about this, but we wanted to keep quiet until we were sure that it was a done deal. It's an old farm house that was built in 1869. It's a flip, so it's all renovated and move-in-ready. We are tentatively set to close in about a month, so it's going to be a really hectic and stressful couple of months coming up. Not only are we finishing up a million little things for the wedding, we are also picking out paint colors and new furniture and Oh Em Gee! The excitement!
So, there we have it. My life over the last several weeks summed up in a couple bullets. With everything we've got going on, I still want to make it a priority to fit in exercise and healthy eating so I feel beautiful on the big day. I'm looking into buying some Zumba dvd's - does anyone have any suggestions?
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Only kindness matters
There was a story in the news this week about a man who committed suicide and published a seven page suicide note on the Internet explaining why he took his own life. He was from my area, and actually went to school with John. It has made national headlines because he was a grad student at Princeton, but it has shaken up quite a few people locally who knew him, his family, or bits and pieces of information surrounding the story.
I read the article, the suicide note and the comments that were posted beneath the article. It's been on my mind all day - I've never read a suicide note before, nor do I personally know anyone who has taken their own life. If you take a few minutes to read the article and/or his note, you'll see that he was raped as a young child, but never received help for what he went through. His parents are Christian Fundamentalists that kicked him out of their home when he was 19 years old because he did not follow their beliefs. [Side note: His parents actually belong to the same church that a family very close to me belongs to. I do not agree with the church, and I have had my own opinions that this church is very much like an occult ever since meeting This Family, and this story 150% confirms those opinions]. The suicide note and some of the comments under the article imply that the church is partially responsible for the suicide - particularly the pastor of the church and the children's minister (who is also the principal of the school that this man attended as a young child). I am not saying that either of these men are responsible for the child molestation that led to this suicide, but I do not think it is out of the realm of possibility. I also think that the brainwashing that goes on in this church is responsible for the parent's disowning their son because his beliefs did not agree with theirs.
I thought that a church was supposed to be a safe haven, a place you can go to for love and forgiveness. I do not believe church should be places where you are judged, condemned, and made to feel worthless. I believe that "Christians" can be some of the most hateful and judgmental people on this earth. It makes me so sad that this man was exposed to such a cult-like group and was not able to lean on his family or his church for support during his difficult times. It makes me so angry that this church is trying to put this in the past so quickly. This Family I know attended church this past Wednesday night, and the pastor brought up this suicide towards the end of the service. He explained to his congregation that this event has brought the church a bad image and it would be best to put it in the past. If that does not scream "guilty" then I don't know what does. What does it teach other children and young adults that belong to this church? Does it teach them that the church will be there to support them in their time of need, or does it teach them that the church will only be there if it does not create a poor image of the church? I asked the mom in This Family how she would feel if this were her son, and she said it would make her want to leave the church. Okay. But how is this any different? It may not be her son that committed suicide this time, but what about next time? Is it really safe to continue to be a member of this church and expose her children to this kind of hatred and judgment? Is it right to expose them to an institution that tells that life is black and white with no room for gray? I believe we should treat other people with kindness, compassion, and understanding. I believe parents need to be responsible and take care of their children. In this case, the parents of this man did not do what they should have after their son was raped as a young child, all because of this church.
It's hard for me to articulate everything I want to say about this issue. Knowing This Family attends the same church is difficult because I've long suspected something was not right with this church. Reading the suicide note has confirmed my beliefs and it makes me sad and scared at the same time that This Family will most likely continue to go to this church and fall into the brainwashed trap that is being laid out for them. I know everyone has freedom of religion, but at what point do we say "this has gone too far?"
I read the article, the suicide note and the comments that were posted beneath the article. It's been on my mind all day - I've never read a suicide note before, nor do I personally know anyone who has taken their own life. If you take a few minutes to read the article and/or his note, you'll see that he was raped as a young child, but never received help for what he went through. His parents are Christian Fundamentalists that kicked him out of their home when he was 19 years old because he did not follow their beliefs. [Side note: His parents actually belong to the same church that a family very close to me belongs to. I do not agree with the church, and I have had my own opinions that this church is very much like an occult ever since meeting This Family, and this story 150% confirms those opinions]. The suicide note and some of the comments under the article imply that the church is partially responsible for the suicide - particularly the pastor of the church and the children's minister (who is also the principal of the school that this man attended as a young child). I am not saying that either of these men are responsible for the child molestation that led to this suicide, but I do not think it is out of the realm of possibility. I also think that the brainwashing that goes on in this church is responsible for the parent's disowning their son because his beliefs did not agree with theirs.
I thought that a church was supposed to be a safe haven, a place you can go to for love and forgiveness. I do not believe church should be places where you are judged, condemned, and made to feel worthless. I believe that "Christians" can be some of the most hateful and judgmental people on this earth. It makes me so sad that this man was exposed to such a cult-like group and was not able to lean on his family or his church for support during his difficult times. It makes me so angry that this church is trying to put this in the past so quickly. This Family I know attended church this past Wednesday night, and the pastor brought up this suicide towards the end of the service. He explained to his congregation that this event has brought the church a bad image and it would be best to put it in the past. If that does not scream "guilty" then I don't know what does. What does it teach other children and young adults that belong to this church? Does it teach them that the church will be there to support them in their time of need, or does it teach them that the church will only be there if it does not create a poor image of the church? I asked the mom in This Family how she would feel if this were her son, and she said it would make her want to leave the church. Okay. But how is this any different? It may not be her son that committed suicide this time, but what about next time? Is it really safe to continue to be a member of this church and expose her children to this kind of hatred and judgment? Is it right to expose them to an institution that tells that life is black and white with no room for gray? I believe we should treat other people with kindness, compassion, and understanding. I believe parents need to be responsible and take care of their children. In this case, the parents of this man did not do what they should have after their son was raped as a young child, all because of this church.
It's hard for me to articulate everything I want to say about this issue. Knowing This Family attends the same church is difficult because I've long suspected something was not right with this church. Reading the suicide note has confirmed my beliefs and it makes me sad and scared at the same time that This Family will most likely continue to go to this church and fall into the brainwashed trap that is being laid out for them. I know everyone has freedom of religion, but at what point do we say "this has gone too far?"
Thursday, January 6, 2011
making an effort.
I am tired, my eyes feel heavy, and all I want to do is curl up on the couch with a bowl of ice cream and watch TV. (Maybe not the TV part. There is a hockey game on tonight so that's what will be on our TV. Hockey on TV = boring!)
Instead, I am going to get my butt into my gym clothes and head out into the freezing cold air and drag myself into the gym.
I've done awesome this week as far as eating goes. I've been to the gym twice. I made it a goal to go at least four times a week. It's going to snow tomorrow night. If I have any chance at meeting my goal, I have to go tonight and Saturday.
Soooo, to the gym I go.
Post Edit: Really glad I went!
Instead, I am going to get my butt into my gym clothes and head out into the freezing cold air and drag myself into the gym.
I've done awesome this week as far as eating goes. I've been to the gym twice. I made it a goal to go at least four times a week. It's going to snow tomorrow night. If I have any chance at meeting my goal, I have to go tonight and Saturday.
Soooo, to the gym I go.
Post Edit: Really glad I went!
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Ever, Ever After
There are so many aspects of our upcoming wedding that are important to me. Photography, videography, the ceremony, invitations, programs, etc. Just about the only thing that I completely left in John's hands was the cake. I am not a huge fan of cake - it all tastes the same to me. Picking out our cake was something John could actually get excited about because he was able to taste all the different cake flavors and their prospective fillings. He chose marble cake with amaretto filling for our bottom tier (the bigger one) and almond cake with raspberry filling for our top tier. Moving on...
Music is really important to me in my non-wedding planning life. My mom always had the radio on or a CD playing when I was growing up. One of my favorite childhood memories is of the day my mom was standing on the kitchen table singing into a wooden soup ladle when the neighbors spotted her - and stopped dead in their tracks. She brought me to my first concert when I was five years old and that is when my love for live music was born. I love all different genres of music, but my heart belongs to Country music. It has been really difficult for me to choose various songs for different parts of our day - I could leave most of them up to the DJ but it makes me really sad that he could potentially pick songs that mean nothing to me. That's the biggest thing - songs have so much meaning to me. I don't want my wedding to be generic wedding songs, but at the same time I don't want to play songs that are so obscure my guests don't recognize them. I need to choose songs for:
Prelude - I'm thinking I will let the organist play a compilation of Disney songs. This is the easy route, otherwise I need to come up with a few songs to play, but I won't actually be around to hear any of them so does it really matter?
Parent/Grandparent Processional - I'm leaving this decision in my mom's hands. She has a couple songs picked out, but as long as she is happy then I am happy.
Groom/Groomsmen Processional - I'm leaning towards Yellowcard's Three Flights Up. I feel funny using modern songs with words during the ceremony so I've been hunting for instrumental-only versions of songs that mean something to us, but I haven't had much luck. I found this about a year ago and fell in love.
Bridesmaid Processional - I'm 95% sure that we're going to use the Vitamin String Quartet version of Taylor Swift's Love Story. It's fun and playful, it's an instrumental version of a song I love, and I get teary when I listen to it. Good sign, right?
Bride's Processional - Canon in D Major on the organ. I don't want any traditional "here comes the bride" music - but at the same time I want something that really screams "here comes the bride!" Does that make sense??
Unity Candle - For The Beauty of the Earth on the organ. This song is in my favorite movie of all time, Little Women. It's during the scene where Meg gets married and I've loved it since I was a little girl. It sticks with my theme of non-word songs during the ceremony and I just think it's beautiful.
Recessional - here is where I have some fun! I want an upbeat, happy song to leave the chapel as husband and wife. I thought about using Welcome by Phil Collins (it's in the Disney movie Brother Bear). I thought about using What I Like About You by The Romantics, Beautiful Day by Lee DeWyze, Forever by Chris Brown, This Will Be an Everlasting Love by Natalie Cole, and so many others. But, I was watching a commercial for the Disney movie Enchanted over the weekend and was inspired by Carrie Underwood's Ever Ever After. It is perfect because our theme is Happily Ever After! I don't care how cheesy it is, I love it.
Moving onto the reception...
Entrance into reception - I'm thinking about Michael Franti's Say Hey I Love You. It's fun and upbeat and the lyrics are pretty cute. Also in the running are Beautiful Day and Forever, leftover from the Recessional slot. Any other ideas??
First Dance - AHHHH! I can't find one to save my life. We were going to use Lifehouse. We both love them. I thought about You Can Shake the Mountains, but I am having some doubts. John wants You and Me, but I think that is such an overplayed song that I'd feel like a teenybopper using it. Everything is too long. I like this one song that came out on Country radio last spring - Whatever It Is by Zac Brown Band. I really love it. When I first heard it I immediately thought it would be a great first dance song. John is okay with it and prefers it over some of my more girly suggestions. My problem here is that I want us both to LOVE the song we pick. Help??
Cake Cutting - Sugar Sugar by the Archies. Done deal! From another favorite movie of mine, Now and Then, and I think it's is perfect for the amount of sugar we will be ingesting ;)
The Father/Daughter song is in my dad's hands, and Mother/Son is in John's mom's hands. I'm working on finding a song for our last dance and I've been toying with Taylor Swift's Today Was a Fairytale just because, well, I'm hoping that the day IS a fairytale!
I know some of them probably seem cheesy, but I'm also kind of a cheesy person. I cry during ASPCA & Disney commercials and I love chic lit. Some of my favorite music is either inappropriate for the ceremony or too country for John. I'd love any suggestions I can get!
Music is really important to me in my non-wedding planning life. My mom always had the radio on or a CD playing when I was growing up. One of my favorite childhood memories is of the day my mom was standing on the kitchen table singing into a wooden soup ladle when the neighbors spotted her - and stopped dead in their tracks. She brought me to my first concert when I was five years old and that is when my love for live music was born. I love all different genres of music, but my heart belongs to Country music. It has been really difficult for me to choose various songs for different parts of our day - I could leave most of them up to the DJ but it makes me really sad that he could potentially pick songs that mean nothing to me. That's the biggest thing - songs have so much meaning to me. I don't want my wedding to be generic wedding songs, but at the same time I don't want to play songs that are so obscure my guests don't recognize them. I need to choose songs for:
Prelude - I'm thinking I will let the organist play a compilation of Disney songs. This is the easy route, otherwise I need to come up with a few songs to play, but I won't actually be around to hear any of them so does it really matter?
Parent/Grandparent Processional - I'm leaving this decision in my mom's hands. She has a couple songs picked out, but as long as she is happy then I am happy.
Groom/Groomsmen Processional - I'm leaning towards Yellowcard's Three Flights Up. I feel funny using modern songs with words during the ceremony so I've been hunting for instrumental-only versions of songs that mean something to us, but I haven't had much luck. I found this about a year ago and fell in love.
Bridesmaid Processional - I'm 95% sure that we're going to use the Vitamin String Quartet version of Taylor Swift's Love Story. It's fun and playful, it's an instrumental version of a song I love, and I get teary when I listen to it. Good sign, right?
Bride's Processional - Canon in D Major on the organ. I don't want any traditional "here comes the bride" music - but at the same time I want something that really screams "here comes the bride!" Does that make sense??
Unity Candle - For The Beauty of the Earth on the organ. This song is in my favorite movie of all time, Little Women. It's during the scene where Meg gets married and I've loved it since I was a little girl. It sticks with my theme of non-word songs during the ceremony and I just think it's beautiful.
Recessional - here is where I have some fun! I want an upbeat, happy song to leave the chapel as husband and wife. I thought about using Welcome by Phil Collins (it's in the Disney movie Brother Bear). I thought about using What I Like About You by The Romantics, Beautiful Day by Lee DeWyze, Forever by Chris Brown, This Will Be an Everlasting Love by Natalie Cole, and so many others. But, I was watching a commercial for the Disney movie Enchanted over the weekend and was inspired by Carrie Underwood's Ever Ever After. It is perfect because our theme is Happily Ever After! I don't care how cheesy it is, I love it.
Moving onto the reception...
Entrance into reception - I'm thinking about Michael Franti's Say Hey I Love You. It's fun and upbeat and the lyrics are pretty cute. Also in the running are Beautiful Day and Forever, leftover from the Recessional slot. Any other ideas??
First Dance - AHHHH! I can't find one to save my life. We were going to use Lifehouse. We both love them. I thought about You Can Shake the Mountains, but I am having some doubts. John wants You and Me, but I think that is such an overplayed song that I'd feel like a teenybopper using it. Everything is too long. I like this one song that came out on Country radio last spring - Whatever It Is by Zac Brown Band. I really love it. When I first heard it I immediately thought it would be a great first dance song. John is okay with it and prefers it over some of my more girly suggestions. My problem here is that I want us both to LOVE the song we pick. Help??
Cake Cutting - Sugar Sugar by the Archies. Done deal! From another favorite movie of mine, Now and Then, and I think it's is perfect for the amount of sugar we will be ingesting ;)
The Father/Daughter song is in my dad's hands, and Mother/Son is in John's mom's hands. I'm working on finding a song for our last dance and I've been toying with Taylor Swift's Today Was a Fairytale just because, well, I'm hoping that the day IS a fairytale!
I know some of them probably seem cheesy, but I'm also kind of a cheesy person. I cry during ASPCA & Disney commercials and I love chic lit. Some of my favorite music is either inappropriate for the ceremony or too country for John. I'd love any suggestions I can get!
Sunday, January 2, 2011
2011
I am getting married this year!!!
Okay, now that we've gotten that out of the way...
Hello 2011, where did you come from? 2010 flew by so fast. I say that every year but this year it really flew by. When we got engaged in the summer of 2009 so many people told us that our engagement would go by very quickly and I remember thinking "yeah, right." It's amazing how right they were. I was going to do a re-cap of 2010, but I didn't really blog enough during the year. Instead, I think I'll post my resolutions for 2011. Maybe putting them out there will help me stick to them??
1. Focus on my health. This has always been a resolution of mine and it's gotten me in trouble before. I am not overweight but I am at the top of my healthy weight range and I'd like to be more in the middle...so part of this goal is to lose between 10 and 15 pounds. I struggled with an eating disorder for several years during high school and college and even though I no longer severely restrict my calorie intake or throw up everything I do eat, it's really difficult for me to "go on a diet." When I was hospitalized in 2006 I gained a lot of weight and I have not been able to lose it in a healthy way since then. Part of the reason is due to the eating disorder... I have several problems with my digestive system as a result of all the purging. Erosions in my esophagus and stomach make it really difficult to eat certain foods. I have gastroparesis - my stomach muscles don't work to push food out the way they should, so food sits in my stomach a lot longer than it's supposed to. I've also developed lactose intolerance and soy intolerance. And obviously there are still the emotional reasons to deal with - restricting my food intake is really difficult because it's very easy for me to go back to counting every single calorie, which leads to restricting them even more, which leads to behaviors that I worked so hard to avoid. I can't just see food as something that I consume to give me energy, it is so much more than that to me. It symbolizes every failure, every mistake, every wrong decision. It is something to control. In all reality, it controls me and that it why I have to work so hard to be aware of my behaviors when I "diet." My goal for 2011 is to make healthy choices, to see food as something to fuel my beautiful life, to respect my body, to move my body, to cook more dinners at home, and to continue to work on keeping those dangerous ED behaviors at bay.
2. Be more open minded. I am very stubborn. I see things in black and white - either something is good or it is bad. There's no middle ground. I really want to try to see the gray in life. There have been so many times where someone says something and I have an immediate reaction without really thinking about the situation. I want to learn to see things from other perspectives.
3. Keep my house cleaner. My lack of organization around the house drives John up a wall. I leave dirty clothes in a pile in the bathroom or bedroom when I should just throw them in the laundry basket. I leave mail and wedding papers all over the dining room. Empty glasses on the coffee table. Pieces of paper and wrappers on the sofa. Clean laundry sits in the basket it was folded in. It drives him crazy - me, not so much. I'm not sure if I am just absentminded or lazy, but I want to try to keep things neater for him. I think it will be easier when we own a house and everything has it's own place but for now we have to make do with what we've got.
4. Blog more. I slacked on blogging this year. Big time. My goal is 10 posts each month, except for May since we'll be away for almost 2 weeks. I don't care what I write about, I just want to chronicle my life. This year is a huge year for us and I really want to remember the little things.
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