It started with the turkey...

46 DAYS AND COUNTING…

I made it through Thanksgiving!  Nathan had to set everyone straight about dinner etiquette, but we made it though without any fighting or bickering.  I was even complemented on my turkey!  Not bad for the first one!! 

So, we were given the gift of silence, but only for one night.  I don’t understand why we have very little support behind us with the wedding.  It seems like some people have just turned up the stress and drama towards us since we announced the engagement.  This should be the happiest time of our lives to date.  Instead, we are pulling our hair out trying to satisfy everyone and no matter what, no one is happy.   It should be all about us and our wishes right now, but it seems like some people think it should be the other way around!  Now I understand why couples elope!  We are so sick of this!  IT HAS TO STOP!  We are not taking anymore crap from anyone!  Starting now, if you don’t like it, you aren’t coming!  We still have a month and a half to go and we are not going to continue this way.  It may be harsh but we shouldn’t have to bend over backwards for anyone on our day!  I want to share this moment with people that are happy for us, love and care for us…

Besides all of that crap…  Things are starting to settle down with the planning.  Thank goodness, because with Christmas and New Year’s coming our time is running thin.  Mandy must be hugely relieved.  I know I was calling her almost every day freaking out about something there for a while.  I am still stressing over little details like timing and things like that but I think it’s mostly my need to have control of everything.  LOL!  I am picking up my dress from alterations on Friday.  Hopefully it fits perfectly and we are done with that.  Also, I am going to order the cake on Friday as well.  The only thing I can think of that still needs to be done is Nathan’s ring and sizing.  He is having a hard time choosing a ring he likes a lot. 

Overtime at work starts this week and continues until the wedding.  I am hoping to not totally kill myself with the extra work and planning that still remains.  I can sure use the extra money though! 

I always try to add something about Nathan in all my blogs and so this one is from a while ago when we were deciding a date and time for the wedding.  I just have been thinking about it a lot lately and realizing exactly how lucky I am.  So anyway….  When we were deciding on a time for the wedding, I told Nathan that it was recommended to have the ceremony start on a half hour so that the minute hand on the clock is moving upward, as a signal of good luck.  He told me that it was silly because we did not need any kind of LUCK because we love each other so much.  Marriage should never be based on luck anyway.  Nathan, you always know exactly what to say!  <3

Progress!

54 days and counting…

Makeup consultation for THE LOOK was Friday.  I thought it was going ok.  I was, of course, not comfortable with any of the looks because I am not much of a makeup wear-er anyways.  But my girls assured me that if I don’t wear enough I will be washed out in the photos.  So, I went along with it…  So, I walk in the door at home to Nathan, he freaks out on me and says “You look like a drag queen!  No, I take that back, cuz you will blog about it!!”  J  Gotta love my Nathan!  I guess we are back to the drawing board on the final look…

I can’t believe how much I got accomplished this weekend!  I got the photographer I wanted!  I got my veil, centerpieces completed, and guest “book” done!  Tuxes picked out and another cake tasting under our belt.  I took Riley shopping for a flower girl dress.  She tried to sneak in a few other things on our shopping trip.  She took me she would have to have a place to put her flowers.  She said “Aunt Cindy, you have to buy me this purse so I can carry the flowers!”  She is so cute, and SMART.  LOL  Anyway, huge amount of the load taken care of!  We still need to make a final decision on the cake, honeymoon and DJ.

I feel we are in a much better place with everything now.  We might actually pull this thing off! LOL 

In other news, we are hosting Thanksgiving dinner at our house.  No one has any faith I can pull it off.  Nathan says it’s hard for a person that knows how to cook to make a turkey.  He says Thanksgiving does not turn you into a good cook…  He will be sleeping on the couch for that one. LOL (Just kidding baby!)  So we will be making a 20 lb turkey, cheesy potatoes, corn casserole, stuffing, greens, and fruit pizza.  All are welcome, but come at your own risk!  We are cannot be held responsible for bad or burned food, family feuds, or possible injury resulting from your visit. 

If you do not hear from me after Thanksgiving, you know they slaughtered me at dinner…

Spinning...

60 days and counting....

Time is flying by!  I feel like I am standing in one spot and everything is spinning so fast around me.  I feel like I am going to lose my mind trying to remember everything.  Still need a cake, a photographer, a officiate, Nathan needs a ring and a tux as well as all the groomsmen.  We need to book the honeymoon, get a marriage license, and I know I am forgetting something!  Not to mention the stress of my father's illness and the dreadful holiday season!  All 3 holidays right before the wedding, am I crazy!!  We literally have only 4 weekends left that are not monopolized by a holiday!  What am I going to do!?!?!? I feel like I have taken on too many do-it-yourself projects by myself.  Yet I would never trust them to someone else.  LOL  And Amanda even warned me about the craft stuff getting out of hand, but it is my nature and I am a cheap ass...  Why buy something I can make???  *SIGH*

Nathan is sick of wedding talk.  I can tell by the look he gives me every time he knows I am about to ask him about something.  I try to talk about other stuff but truth be told, the wedding is all that I can think about.  I want him to be involved and especially would love it if he would help with SOMETHING!!!  I am super stressed that it is going to crash and burn.  I keep having these dreams that I wake up late and someone booked the wedding for the wrong day and no one shows up....

I must sound like I am mental to all you bloggers!

Hoping to get everything in order, in time...  Can someone whisper in Santa's ear I would enjoy a time stop watch for Christmas?!?!?

Can't Wait

Another busy weekend of wedding planning gone.  We had tons planned for this past weekend!  Friday, I finished all the invitations and mailed them out.  Also, went shopping for wedding decor and came home empty handed.  I did make it home in enough time to catch an unexpected, much needed, nap!  It felt good to be able to catch up on some rest for sure!

Saturday was an early morning meet up with the maid of honor, Amanda.  We met up at Panara and had some breakfast and chatted about flowers and centerpieces.  She liked the samples I had made and thought I did really well picking out the flowers.  It was nice to get a second opinion on things.  We then headed towards Castleton.  We stopped a few places to look at shoes.  I picked out a sweet pair of cowboy boots to wear for the wedding!  We went and ordered the toasting glasses and tried to pick the design for the tuxes.  I am surely decisioned out!  I told them to just let the groomsmen and Nathan pick what they want! Maybe I'll regret that later!!! LOL!  After the tux place, Amanda tried on a few bridesmaids dresses and found one I really liked.  We also headed back to the Poise Patch to get fitted for my dress for alterations.  It was really a good time.  I got to put on my dress again, only this time, add all the things to it to make it feel real.  I brought the bouquet, tried on different veils, took pictures and just imaged what the real night would be like. 
After the alterations, we went to pick up a sample cake from Taylor's Bakery.  Me and Nathan tried the cake and it was good, but just didn't 'feel' like a wedding cake, more like the birthdays you buy from the grocery store.  So I guess we are still on the hunt for a cake baker!
I decided that I wanted to see Natalie, my other bridesmaid, it the dress I liked, so, I called her up to meet me at the mall.  The store only had one size, but had her try it on to see how I liked it.  I did like the dress, and te store said another had a size that would work.  Natalie, however, hated this dress so made all excuses not to buy it.  But, it is my wedding, and the color and price was right.  I told the store to hold it and we would pick up the next day after she would have a change to try it on.
Saturday night, I met up with Nathan and we went together, to try to make peace with my mother.  I felt the talk went ok and maybe we can make it through the wedding.

Sunday, we needed to meet the caterer again and go over the set up and things at the venue.  Amanda again met us.  She is defiantly my built in wedding planner and I don't know what I would do without her.  The meeting with the caterer defiantly put me in an excellent mood!  He explained EVERYTHING to me and said that they would take care of EVERYTHING for me!  We did a walk through of how the room  would be set up, taken down, turned over to the reception, and everything in between.  He gave us some excellent ideas for where to put what.  He showed us a sample table setting and we tried out all the food and sampled several kinds of Champaign for the toast.  It really put my mind at ease and really helped to put a picture in my mind of the big day.  I AM SUPER EXCITED NOW!!!!  We also checked out the grounds again for cool pictures and what not.  Maybe it was the Champaign but I was sooo giddy when we left!
Afterwards, we all needed to meet up to have Natalie and Amanda try on  the dresses again and to make a final decision.  I love them!  Natalie still hates it and definitely resisted against it.  It certainly stressed me out, but in the long run, it's not about her. 

So with all that was accomplished, I was feeling really good this morning.  I felt like for the first time we were in a good spot with everything and that we were going actually pull this off! 
Damn that Murphy and his stupid law!!!!!
From the top of the mountain pushed off and fall to the jagged rocks below!  Must everything and everyone have an opinion and drama!  This is my day to marry the man I have loved for seven years!  This is about starting our life’s together as husband and wife.  This is about our happiness and sharing our love for each other with family and friend that love and care for us.  JUST SO YOU KNOW, IT IS NOT ABOUT YOU OR ANYTHING ELSE!  DONT BE JELOUS AND TRY TO SOUR THIS MOST HAPPY TIME!

As in the words of Nathan, "Out of everything else going on, all the decisions and plans, I JUST WANT YOU! THAT'S IT!"  I love you so much Nathan! You are my rock!

Wedding Duties

Wedding planning is CONSUMING my life!  My brain is wedding mush!  I took care of the flowers this past weekend.  Went and bought ALL that we will need.  I got a great deal on the real touch silk flowers.  You can not even tell they are fake!  Pretty sweet if you ask me.  I thought I was going to have to settle on something I didn't want since it is a winter wedding and flowers are usually pretty expensive.  I did buy pre-made wedding bouquets for me and the bridesmaids but I am going to make a few adjustments to make it 'me'.  All in all, I think I did very well for picking it all out myself!

After I got home with all the flowers I tried out several verisons of the centerpeices.  I asked Nathan, but he doesn't really care about any of that stuff.  He says, "whatever you want, I say we spend no money and get married anyway..."  :) Gotta love him for being cheap!  Gonna run the samples by Amanda and see what she thinks.

Nathan annouced one his groomsman this weekend, finally.  Gary abliged to the roll, but did give Nathan some shit for not making him Best Man.  His Best Man has not yet realized that Nathan has asked him.  Weird story, more to come on that one...  We are also waiting to find out if our choice of officant will work out, more to come on that as well.

We also registered this weekend.  Literally took ALL DAY!  We started at Kohl's and I went and got the scanner.  So, we are looking at stuff and I am like, ok let's hurry this up.  If you see something, I'll scan it.  Easy, right?  No, No!  Nathan had to throughly check and inspect everything we looked at to make sure that it was something he wanted.  I mean, don't get me wrong, I like nice things, but does it really matter which measuring cup is superior to the rest?  LOL. Again, gotta love him.  We have been living together almost as long as we have be together, so as you may suspect, we have most everything for a home.  We just looked at things that needed upgraded or replaced.  So, anyway, after hours and hours in Kohl's, we head to Walmart.  Our friends are major procrastinator so this only made sense for those people that remember at 11pm the night before the wedding... You know who you are... wink ,wink!!  Maybe Walmart was not such a genius idea though, I just know that Nathan scanned a big screen somewhere along the way. :)

After this long, long day, I thought to myself as we are walking out, should've just put in a registation for the photographer. :)

OK, here is the run down of scheduled events.  Friday, I am hoping to get Nathan to get fitted for his tux.  Saturday is my fitting for my dress alterations.  I need to still pick out a veil or at least the style I like.  Sunday is the venue taste test and run though of possible set ups for the event.  Hoping to book some cake tastings ASAP and also bridesmaid dress shopping.  Us girls have a make up consultation next Wednesday.  Still feel like there is TONS to do!!!!!

T minus 74 days and counting....