The End of Fear is Where We Begin

You know you're getting old when....

2012-01-10T17:05:00.000-05:00

...an EXCELLENT weekend goes something like this:

Saturday:
- Sleep in and wake up next to your hubster and then enjoy morning coffee and a slice of toast (from homemade bread)
- Tidy up the kitchen from the week's built-up mess with the hubby's help
- Box up and put away all of the Christmas decorations...again with the help of the hubs along with other house clean up/organization
- Hang pictures you've had stacked in a corner
- Rotate, fold and put away 3 loads of laundry
- Try a new recipe for dinner that utilizes garden veggies
- Attend a high school basketball game with your husband
- Wind down with a glass of wine on the couch rewatching an episode of Battlestar Galactica before heading to bed

Chicken, black beans & rice recipe from Better Homes & Garden.
Could have afforded to use more cayenne pepper...next time!

Sunday
- Attend church with the hubster and see family and friends
- Make a quick stop at the grocery (with the man)
- Heat up leftovers for lunch while the hubs preps soup to stew all day for dinner
- Make a batch (3 loaves) of homemade bread
- Visit with family who is visiting the Valley
- Make a batch of sugar cookies from scratch
- Vacuum, dust and other house chores
- Enjoy dinner with the hubs and head to bed early

Final step of the bread-baking process!

Look Both Ways

2012-01-06T11:50:00.000-05:00

What kind of blogger would I be if I didn't make a post about my outlook on 2012 and all of my goals and aspirations? I mean, this tends to be the one post I get in most years!

So a quick look-back on 2011 and I think we know what it'll always be remembered for: THE WEDDING. Funny, though, that kicking off the year I had no clue that would be the case. If anything, I probably would have told you it might include an engagement. However, let's not forget some other major highlights:

My move back home to The Valley
Running my first mini-marathon
Moving out of the GLI offices at work and having our own space
Jon moving to Casey County and getting a job at Tarter
Our massive garden project, learning to can and make bread
Nic & Michelle buying their first house
Seth graduating from Bellarmine

My first batch of bread (there was a 3rd loaf
but we'd already demolished it!)

Survived my first mini with my sis!

And I wouldn't exactly consider it a highlight, but the passing of Walter definitely put a damper on the year. Jon's best friend and a dog no one disliked and most actually loved upon their first meeting. Life without The Pig is not the same. I'm just grateful that Jon had him for the time that he did and while he got deathly sick in May, he held out until the fall when Jon was safely mine.

Little Man Bear Pig, Walter, Piglet, Waldo, Walt...
April 2008-Nov. 2011

On to 2012! Jon asked me what my resolutions or goals were and I can't say I have a big resolution. (Lose weight... run a marathon...travel...) I simply want to put our savings plan into action for our future house. Jon and I are very fortunate to have the nice (and cheap) living quarters that we do through the use of The Blue Bank Loft but the sooner we can be in a home, the better. We've laid out a pretty solid savings plan for 2012 and are setting up a new savings account strictly for the purpose of the house.

It's so easy to have one thing after another pop up and take a hit on the checking account, but in a year, we want to see we've taken a major stride forwarding in this big adventure we are on. In addition to the savings, there are 2 other big steps for our house we've made.

Thanks to my cousin Als who hooked us up with a friend who JUST SO HAPPENED to buy a house in Shelbyville that had a woodburning stove included that they have no desire to use. It doesn't stop there... It's the Jotul older Jotul 118 model (moose) that has been replaced by the Black Bear version. This is the same stove I grew up with in my home...and that everyone else in the family uses. After calling 2 Jotul suppliers, they run approximately $1600 on average. (I believe one guy told us suggested retail is just over $1700). That of course wouldn't include taxes. So this young couple sold us theirs for a great price and with the way those things hold up it might as well be new! We aren't really in need of it right now, but...

It is a step towards the house we want and we can better design the layout knowing what stove we have.
That's a big investment out of the way for much less than buying one new (not to mention the version we preferred over that available brand new.)

The second step we have well underway is designing. Now, I don't mean we nearly have it done--it's quite the opposite. But we have started regularly sketching out floor plans in a book I created to keep it all documented in. It's fun to see what we each come up with and prefer and feed off of those ideas. At the same time, it's sometimes fun to throw out everything and start with a blank canvas and see what new nifty ideas you come up with if you don't go with a particular idea you previously thought was a "must". Being that we won't be breaking ground in 2012 (that I can feasibly foresee), we have some time for multiple sketches and drafts!

Pinterest, I must add, is a great resource and tool for archiving thoughts, ideas and advice on the house-planning process!

Have a blessed 2012, everyone!

Lotsa Love in 2011

2011-12-27T21:00:00.000-05:00

On top of having a wonderful first Christmas with my Hubster, love was booming for some of my nearest and dearest friends. I'm so excited for the news of a wedding in the future for three people who mean so much to me. Congratulations to them and their Christmas surprise engagements!

Emma & Andy

A long-time running buddy from Bellarmine (although she was more of a pole vaulter I suppose...), I'm so excited for Emma! I've only met Andy a couple of times but he must be a stellar feller to keep up with the likes of Emma. She's the busiest person I know but never seems to miss out on anything from her work to organizing and managing Louisville's Girls on the Run program to simply hanging out with friends. She's an incredible person.

Russell & Krista

A dear friend since the glory days of high school, Roose (as I like to call him) is one of the best guy friends I've ever had--always bringing a smile to my face. I think we once had a "Friends" promise to marry by age 35 (or something) if we were both single. Looks like we both "lucked" out of that one! :) I've not met Krista but no doubt she's found a guy to treat and love her like a princess.

Becky & Sam

Yes! Yes! And more YES! After nearly six years they're making it happen! Becky is one of my best friends from BU--my snuggle buddy for track meets and a roommate for 5 years. Through their undergrad to her PT doctorate and his med school, they've not wavered and now he's off to an unknown location to begin his residency and, just like the rest of his life, he doesn't want to go it alone so he asked Becky to be by his side for anything and everything!

While I'm at it... I might as well shout out to two other big engagements this year that made me oh-so-happy...

Joe & Annamarie

#2 in The Man Clan to get hitched: Joe and Annamarie got engaged Thanksgiving weekend after over four years together...!!

Jo & MJ

And, of course, my cousin, roommate, childhood playmate and best friend Holly Jo got engaged this summer so we actually got to be engaged at the same time for a period. What special times in our lives we are getting to share!

Congratulations to all others who were blessed with wonderful love-filled events in 2011! Engagements, marriages and even just finding love! All you need is love......!

Christmas Doesn't Require Money

2011-12-15T14:41:00.000-05:00

I'm sure it has always been this way (well, not always) but I have felt overwhelmed and very turned-off by so much of the lingo dealing with "holiday shopping," "the perfect gift." Now, as long as I have the money to do so, I love to give gifts. I'm not coming down on that. (I do think media and consumerism makes us feel like we should be shopping from Nov. 1 through Dec. 24 at midnight for every last deal and gift out there.) I just think it's important to remember all of the wonderful things to do during this time of year that don't require your checkbook and that this season has nothing to do with blowing your budget.

Here's my list of things to do to keep Christmas festive, yet simplified.

1. Decorate!

You don't have to buy extra fancy decorations, all new ones or any at all. There are plenty of ways to decorate or recycle old decorations in new ways. Just always keep your old decorations from year to year and over time you will get quite the collection!


I had extra blank stockings from a Christmas party in 2009 so I made stockings for all of our animals!

2. Send Christmas cards!

Sure, there is some cost but send a few. It's an easy way to reach out to people and brighten their holiday. I'm still working on wedding thank yous so those are kind of my Christmas cards this year. (Luckily I did find some actual thank you cards that were holiday festive (at the Peddler's Mall of course!) but I definitely should have gotten more...

3. Enjoy FREE town events!

Every town has Christmas events that are free. Bizaars, parades, Christmas tree lightings, plays, recitals...and so on! Even little old Liberty has a Christmas kick-off celebrations.

Windows in downtown Liberty were decorated on Dec. 1.

Tree lighting at the Court House.

Free popcorn from the Casey Bank!

Parade!

4. Shop...for FUN.

Go on a shopping trip not because you NEED to, not because you're in a panic, but to just spend time with someone. I love being out in the hustle and bustle of the holidays because there is always music playing and everything is decorated so well! Often times you'll also get to enjoy wonderful smells, Christmas lights--maybe even see Santa out and about! For Jon and I, we have enjoyed time strolling about the Peddler's Malls together.


Jon and I got our angel at the Peddler's Mall for $7 this year and we plan to use it for the rest ofour lives!

5. Create and keep tradition!

It is often the little things that MAKE each individual's Christmas season special. Sure, presents are fun but we get presents for our birthday yet we don't think of our entire birth month as a celebratory time. Little traditions can make more than just Dec. 25 special during Christmas time.


Dec. 6 is St. Nicholas Day! As kids we always left out our letters to Santa and usually had a small surprise in the morning. Jon gave me a small surprise this year which made the day fun!

6. Presents under the tree... :)

For me, there is just something about seeing pretty packages with bows and ribbons under the tree. We have quite a few presents under the tree for just the two of us...but that's because I find a reason to wrap up anything and everything...even if it's something Jon and I need and we bought together. I am making everything a Christmas present!

7. Listen to music & watch movies!

We all know the music and we all know the movies... And as long as you have a radio and a TV you can enjoy them all! Listen to the music in the car and let the movies play in the background during your day-to-day chores.

8. Make Cookies!

Sugar cookies, chocolate chip cookies, sprinkles, icing... And maybe your thing isn't cookies. There are so many holiday sweets and treats: puppy chow, reindeer food, peanut brittle, pound cakes, pies, fudge... Homemade goodies is what it boils down to. In my house we made and decorated sugar cookies. Getting to join the Sweeneys and do it with kids makes it that much better!

9. Do something for someone else.

The nature of the season is doing for others. It's why we give presents really: a kind something we can do for others. However, there is something even more special about doing for others that you don't even know and that have never done anything special for you specifically. I hear great stories about wonderful things people do for those in need at this time of year. I hope one day I can be one of those people. For now, though, our family always volunteers a day to ring the Red Kettle Bells for the Salvation Army, which Jon and I did together this year.

10. Make yourself FEEL festive 100% of the time!

I wear my hat everywhere... As long as I have a clean pair I wear my candy cane striped socks... I play Christmas music til I've made everyone sick of it... I burn Christmassy smelling candles.... I keep all of our lights plugged in... It sounds silly but it keeps me in the spirit and while people sort of shake their head at me, a part of them enjoys seeing someone my age THIS excited about Christmas!

Jon laughed at me for feeling the need to put on my socks,
hat and red sweats before beginning our tree decorating!

Enjoyed a girls' day out at Equus Run Winery in Midway, Ky and, yes, I wore
my red and white and Santa hat!

10 more days of joyous remembrance of this blessed time of year!

Ask and You Shall Receive...!!!!

2011-12-07T12:14:00.001-05:00

I love coffee, but maybe even more than coffee itself, I love coffee shops!

Some people will laugh and say this springs from my true love of the movie Meet Joe Black and the beloved "coffee shop scene". And maybe it does, but that's beside the point. To me, there is something so comforting about a coffee shop, thus the reason it was important for me to acknowledge their importance in my life. And lo and behold, what do I get out of that? A cozy little coffee shop opened up the week after Thanksgiving in the one and only Casey County!

sweetbeansnthings.com

I can't tell you how excited I was when I found out. Sweet Beans 'n' Things is located in downtown, just across from City Hall. Not only do they serve coffee drinks (as well as other hot drinks), but ice cream is on the menu too. So clever, as that will help them to not have a slow season! Burke's Bakery in Danville also delivers to them each morning around 7 or 7:30, so if you are a Burke's fan (and who isn't) you have double the reason to stop in and show your local support. Their prices are excellent as their coffee is only $1 and their specialty drinks rival the prices at McD's. So, honestly, why would you want to throw your money at the golden arches when you can support someone doing something great for our little community for the same price? (Sure there is no drive, through, but I like to think that one of the pleasures of a small town is that people are in less of a rush)

Packed with people on Day 2 during the Downtown Christmas kickoff.

It's always exciting to see something new come to the little land of Liberty. I have already tried several holiday drinks. I've heard the coffee is good as well. I haven't dipped into the ice cream--too chilly for that right now, but I'd imagine kiddos are up for ice cream despite that. (Or there is always hot chocolate!) They might as well add some tea options to the menu for those non-coffee drinkers, though.

Holiday window display.

Unfortunately, most of us know that it seems these little eateries have a hard time lasting too long. This place is definitely doing everything right and I plan to get all my hot drinks there this winter and maybe even more than I would typically... support local right??

Behind the times, as usual

2011-12-01T10:59:00.000-05:00

I'm always behind the times.

I didn't start school until I was 6.
I didn't have my first period until I was 14. (TMI...I know, sorry!)
I didn't have my first kiss until I was 15.
I didn't shave my legs until I was 17.
I didn't get my first haircut (something more than a "trim") until I was 19.
I didn't attempt dating until I was 20.
I didn't really learn how to put on makeup until I was 21.
I didn't pierce my ears until I was almost 25.

That's not to mention that I'm always behind the fashion trends by at least a year or two and I was in seven weddings (who's to say how many I attended) before I started planning my own. However, none of this ever bothers me. I have come to each of these things in my life just at the time I decided I was ready for them. (Well... I had no choice on the period thing but I'm pretty sure we'd all put that off if given the choice.) There was a time just after my Bellarmine graduation when it seemed it was wedding after wedding after wedding. Not me, though. I still couldn't find it in myself to even get into a serious relationship.

Over three years later I'm on the married bandwagon. (The right guy can turn things around quickly!) But of course that means all those "old married" folks are on to baby-makin'. Valerie, married in 2009, popped out little man #1 this past July: Samuel Jonathan and my closest high school friends (that are married) are ALL preggo right now. Beth is due for her first in only a matter of weeks. Meagan is brewing #2 and due in May. And, while she told me shortly after the wedding, Kelli has just gone public with the news of her first bun in the oven!

Brandon & Kelli with their pup Sophie in 2009.
I think Sophie will be playing second fiddle soon.

Me with Megs at my shower in Sept with her only little one,
Bella, for NOW. Bella will be a big sis soon!

Beth & Trey are due soon and very soon!
Tell me how CUTE is their little guy gonna be??

Jon & I with Brett, Valerie and Sam-Man for his Baptism!

I'm SO excited for them all, particular Kelli whom I know has had a baby on the brain for awhile. Does this make me feel behind the times? No.

Because no matter how, "behind the times" I am, I am happy and I know I'm never truly alone. Besides Jerusha (who celebrated her 10 year anniversary this year), none of my cousins have children. (Not that it couldn't happen at any moment!) And besides Valerie, none of my college-year friends have children or babes. What I think this really means is, just like the Wave of Weddings that began in 2008, the Baby Boom in my life is well underway. There are (hopefully) plenty of weddings to come and most definitely plenty of chitlins.

And if all goes as planned, the Mingus Man and I will have some solid time [years] to ourselves to figure out this marriage-in-the-middle-of-nowhere thing and save for a cozy cottage of our own design. What this Baby Boom does help with is that if our "plan" isn't on beat with the Big Man Upstairs' plan... it won't be all bad. How can babies ever be bad, right?

I really hope this post doesn't jinx me.

Wait a minute... How did this happen?

2011-11-26T10:26:00.000-05:00

Black Friday Shopping? Us?

I know, I know...we expected better of ourselves too. It just kind of happened by accident. We spent the Thanksgiving holiday in Indiana with Jon's family. Thursday evening we were putzing about when we thought we'd drop in Wal-Mart again, because we've been talking about using our Wally World gift cards from the wedding towards a new TV. We don't care about anything fancy or a having a screen as big as our bed. We'd be fine with the GINORMOUS dinosaur, boulder of a TV, Gill, but in his old age he's begun to let out an obnoxious squeal at random when playing. It really makes movies quite intolerable.

My version of the Target Lady (and yes I sat in the cart while we waited...)

So, again we stopped by the dreaded Wal-Mart and were checking TVs that were in our price range... but then we started talking... It was 8:30... At midnight sales began... At midnight we could get the 32" we were looking at for $100 less. Was 3 1/2 hours really that bad? So we walked to McD's for a cup of coffee (LARGE cup) and discussed...and what the heck! We're both down for adventures. Besides, the store wasn't too out of control yet.....yet...

Jon's reaction to Wal-Mart Black Friday Shopping.

I've been Black Friday shopping before. It was always with Jerusha for her kids and our main stop was always Toys R Us. (of course!) We'd wake up at about 2 am and drive an hour and a half to Lexington to stand outside in the cold, cold, cold. It's right next to Best Buy...now TALK about ridiculous. I understand a good deal...but parking a tent 2+ days in front before hand...?! Really? Aren't you just announcing to the world: I don't have a job to be at and I don't have family I want to spend Thanksgiving with!

Off subject. My bad.

Anyway, my point is Toys R Us is very different from Wally World. Our Toys R Us Line got long, but not insanely. It was a rush when the doors opened. We never bothered with a cart because wheeling it through moms-on-a-mission just isn't worth it. We usually made pretty good time and then we'd head to the Fayette Mall (where most stores weren't open yet) and grab some grub and then relax and wait for the Disney Store to open. It was great to hit up all of the deals and steals and be out of there before 9 am--which is around the time most of the door-busters are over and it gets extremely crazy.

Toys R Us shopping in 2006.

By the time Jon & I returned to Wal-Mart the traffic was picking up incredibly. We are noobs at the Black Friday thing and didn't realize at first the GREAT deal TVs are so coveted that they are treated specially. First off, NOTHING is in it's normal department. You have to get a special map of the store if you hope to find any big sale items. TVs happen to be in the lawn & garden section...so to the plants and trees we went. The line wasn't too long...probably 50 people (not 50 groups/pairs) were in front of us so I was guess that was about 15-25 TVs so we were fine. From that point I only took on trip away from the cart. Jon took multiple. Every time he came back he'd report how much crazier the store itself was getting and that the main aisle were cart to cart non-movement. The side aisle were blocked with STUFF that the Wal-Mart employees had moved out of the way.

Here's a bit of the fun we took in...spun out of your typical Black Friday Shoppers:

The Crazies

This lady (not sure if "lady" is the proper term based on my experience), ended up in line behind us for the TVs but that's not why I took her picture. In my one trip out of the line I ran to the car to grab our gift cards we were using. I happened to notice a LONG line of headlights down one aisle and realized it was because the front car was waiting to turn into a spot where someone was packing up to leave. A second later I realized that one lady from this SUV in front was outside of the vehicle trying to direct her driving to backing up because the car behind them was bumper to bumper with them and REFUSING to back up (even though the 3rd card had given it a good 4-6 feet to back up). So the woman outside of her SUV was helping her driver while cursing the 2nd driver and calling her the most ridiculous names. Now, given I hadn't been there for the beginning of this little situation and maybe Driver #2 had good reason to be a jerk, but from my perspective...she was simply doing that: Being a jerk and not back up. However, SUV Lady was looking like the bigger fool with the show she was putting on with her profanities.

So I went to the car, got my cards... By the time I was back at the scene (and what a scene it was!) the SUV had made it into the spot it had been trying for, but NOW the spot next to the SUV was freeing up, but you better believe SUV Lady was not going to let Driver #2 into this convenient spot. So what does she do? SUV Lady stands in front of Driver #2's car and is shouting, helping this innocent bystander who was now trying to leave, back out. They are also directing Car #3 around Driver #2 so Car #3 can have the new spot instead. So this leaves Driver #2 trapped and unable to even leave the scene and continue her search for another parking spot. SUV Lady is yelling and at this point just laughing while booty-shaking on Driver #2's hood. Wow. 'Tis the season!

The Traditionalists

Here is crew in much more of a TRUE holiday spirit! This was their 9th year of Black Friday shopping together (first year with shirts, though, haha). They were all quite friendly and just happy to be out. Wal-Mart was their first stop but they had several more in lined up. This was taken just before midnight...only the start of their night.

The "I'm Just Here For The Deal" type

This lady was in front of us in line for the TVs. She had several of her kids with her (adults, mind you) who kept running off to find other "great deals" to throw in the cart, but for the most part, this lady held her post. She mad her nest on a lawn & garden cart with some towels that were on sale and kicked her feet up for the multi-hour long wait...accidentally throwing potting soil all over at one point, but hey, she was in good spirits. That's all that really mattered.

I didn't take a picture, but of course we did have an encounter with the most common Black Friday Shopper: The Mom. Actually it was parents. The lady behind us had a fuller-than-full cart (her husband was there as well). To her credit, though, she said she buys many of the gifts each year after adopting an "Angel" and giving it gifts. They had a miscarriage at some point and said that she knows if that child had lived she'd spend lots of money on it all year so to spend extra money on another child whom she can bring some extra holiday cheer is the least she can do. Wonderful Christmas spirit.

The lines were at a standstill at about 20 til midnight. Everyone at this point had items that would not be on sale in the registers until the stroke of midnight...we waited anxiously.

I have to hand it to Wal-Mart, though... They have done this enough that things were pretty together. (Given I wasn't out in the madness of the store the 2 hours leading up to midnight.) Having you WAIT in a separate line (not grabbing your TV and wait at a register line) until 11:30 to even get your TV is smart. Some people were upset that they couldn't be doing other shopping, but I think the genius of Wal-Mart has learned a thing or 2 over the years and knows this works best. It was about 11:30 when we put our game faces on and decided to ditch the cart. Mike and Jenny had stopped by and grabbed these Elmo backpacks that Cassie had her friend had been in search of, but a neighboring Wal-Mart was out of, so on with the packs we went and goodbye to our cart.

Game Faces ON.

I headed out into the main-store-madness to snag us a place in line while Jon moved through the now moving TV line and carried the 32-incher to find me. Without the cart he was able to finagle his way to me no problem. We'd also snagged a small Eureka vaccuum for $25 bucks in the process (something else we'd planned to purchase post-wedding) and our only "impulse buy" was a dvd/blu-ray player someone decided not to get in the line. (Our dvd player is pretty worthless.) I'm proud to say we were out of Wal-Mart and in the car by 12:12 a.m. and in bed asleep shortly thereafter. Success.

Show 'em some grAtitude!

2011-11-24T10:58:00.000-05:00

I don't want to seem UNgrateful, but I'm not going to call out the important people in my life for this post. I don't need a special season, time of year or holiday to tell those people in my life that they are important to me. I hope my actions and words send that message to them on a daily basis. Instead, I think this season of appreciation is a good time to remember the things we don't always take time to show the gratitude deserved...so let me begin...

Eye Doctors - I don't know this for a fact, but I'm 99% sure I'm legally blind without my glasses or contacts. I probably wouldn't be able to hold a job and would have had many, many obstacles in school if I didn't have contacts/glasses. Thanks GOODNESS!

Kentucky Weather - People complain all of the time and I probably have too at some point. But wow do I love ALL seasons. Sure I get tired of the freezing cold and snow by mid-February but I still love the beauty of snow. I love the arrival of spring days and the coming to life of the world. Everyone loves a hot day at the pool or lake during the summer and nothing tops the radiance of colors along with the perfect weather of the fall. So grateful I can live in one place and experience ALL of that.

Airplanes - I've gotten to see some pretty cool places and visit some great friends thanks to this speedy form of travel. The food may be crap but wow is the ability cool! We can FLY!

Coffee Shops - I love the smell and the coziness. I've spent many a hour catching up with friends, reading (lame) text books and zoning in on school work and sometimes just for the comfort. In 2009 when the ice storm hit Louisville and my home was out of power (ie, WARMTH) I enjoyed a hot cup of coffee at good ol' Heine Brothers and used my laptop waiting for a friend to get off work who was supplying me with a hot supper. That coffee shop never felt more like home!

Adult-sized onesies: Yes, the sell them. Yes, I have TWO. A purple one (of course) and a glow in the dark dinosaur one. Keeping the kid alive in all of us.

Valerie, Myself & Becky all sporting our trendy onesies!

Sweats & Slippers: I can't understand who wouldn't want to wear them all of the time. Sure it's fun to dress up here and there but man-oh-man, nothing tops my "simple pleasures" in life like wearing cozy clothes all day long.

Pets: Some people don't find the appreciation in them. Amazing how if you embrace them, though, that they become an active part of you and/or your family. Someone to talk to when no one else is around. You never have to feel alone.

Hats: I have a lot. I'd like more. I really don't think I could have enough. They're so warm.

Modern Communication: I have friends all over the country and world. Jon's family lives 4 hours away. I live 1-2 hours from most of my friends. I am in touch with them all constantly. When my parents moved to middle-of-nowhere-Kentucky there was only the option of snail-mail or long-distance phone calls. Now we have cell phones, email, Facebook, text messages, Skype...the only people we fall out of touch with are those we choose to do so.

Hand-written letters: I don't get many and I know i just thanked the opposite, but nothing excites me like REAL mail. Perhaps one of the best things that came out of Jon and I living apart for a year were the wonderful letters he sent in the mail.

Happy Thanksgiving to All!!

Hunting Season

2011-11-17T14:05:00.000-05:00

I'm job hunting. I wouldn't describe it as "fun," but in my particular circumstances it is a bit exciting. I love my current job and the idea of not working for Todd after 3 years is sad. I have a feeling that throughout the duration of my career, none will compare to that of working through the evolution of Infominded to Member Minded to Try It Local with Todd. I was a bit spoiled with the type of "job"I've had for a three year period as someone in her mid-twenties!

Nonetheless, with the end of any good thing, is the start of a new adventure and only time will tell what is in store next. Perhaps the crappiest of crappy jobs. Maybe it'll take my six months to find one in this middle-of-nowhere Central Kentucky land. Maybe I'll have to take something that barely covers the gas to make it there everyday. Good or bad, I think we can all agree that sometimes it's the bad, ugly and unfortunate situations that are the most memorable and bring the best end results.

I don't want to give too much detail about my job hunt. I'll just say I'm looking constantly and doing my best to connect with those whom I believe know me well and can put in a good word or help network me if they happen to hear of any opportunities. There are some potential situations out there right now. One of which would seem almost too convenient and desired to work in my favor. (I figure Jon and I got our lucky break with his Tarter job this past spring.) But either way, these hit and miss hopeful opportunities do provide me with one thing: peace.

Whether I find a "dream job" or not...whether I find something tomorrow or in three months... Here in the middle of nowhere there are still opportunities and one will come about that is for me when the time is right.

Happily Ever After

2011-10-08T22:46:00.000-04:00

My Wedding on a Budget: 1 Day to Go!

2011-10-07T23:03:00.000-04:00

And so it begins...

No, I didn't have to work today...but did that mean I slept in AT ALL? Heck no... I probably rolled out of bed quicker and earlier! It's the same way Christmas Eve is almost better than Christmas itself--or that they are one in the same. That's how today is!

I packed my bags for everything through to getting back to the Loft tomorrow once we're running on the WEDDING DAY MASTER PLAN (drawn up by yours truly). That means, massage, nails, rehearsal, salon...all packed for... I set out all of the homemade salsa that needs to be at the reception site for tables. I pulled together last minute items like the smaller bushel baskets for the can coozies and the champagne glasses. Pa took the day off work as well, so when I got to Greystone he was working on his many remaining duties including creating the Knob End sign he promised to help me with. We brought to the site most of the remaining items including the flicker lights, ribbons, flip flops, etc. And at about 11 a.m. Rachel and I loaded up Toad and headed for Danville. Even our drive was purpose-filled. We set out all of the HARRIS/DIXON WEDDING signs going towards Danville/HWY-127.
My massage was at Noon and while I was relaxing like never before Rachel took care of some bank business for me and picked up the final signage projects from Uncle John. We then headed to Nails Express where we met Jo and Kelli for some mani/pedi fun. We actually just missed Mom and Aunt Anne being there. KK actually met us there about the time we were wrapping up and Uncle Kelly stopped in with Aunt Anne about that time as well just to give me a squench and hello!

Check-in time at the hotel, where we also saw some familiar faces who came a day early for tomorrow's festivities. We got checked in to our 2 rooms--one of which was the King Size bed with a pullout--quite roomie! It pays, literally, in such instances, to be the Bride! We had some decent down time. Ate some food...Jo helped me write out the lyrics to "One For The Road' (Jolly Rogers) for the reception. Then it was time to get ready to head to Liberty for the rehearsal. We left a wee-tad early so I could swing by the Casey County Library and pick up the fancy-pants cameras that Kathy Goode left for me to borrow.
Rehearsal went just fine and dandy. Father Pat was more relaxed about most everything than I thought he might be. A few people weren't there like Gohmann and Uncle David and Jon's cousin Jessica but nobody has anything too tough to do. As long as Father knows his job and the people who have to speak have their lines at the podium, we're good! Oh and Anne-Tyler couldn't make it to practice her singing, but I trust her to be awesome. The best part of the night for me was Jon's little surprise. As most know, it's a tradition to use the bows from your showers to make a bow-quet to practice the handoffs during the ceremony between bride and maid of honor. Well, I guess Jon decided he too needed a prop or practice tonight. So when it got the ring practice...should have known... Jon says, "Wait, wait!" and pulls and RING POP out of his pocket! Everyone of course laughed. What most don't know, though is Jon buys me Ring Pops here and there and asks me to marry him quite often. :)

Frank's for dinner! I realize it's pretty casual and non-traditional for a rehearsal but it's Jon's absolute favorite and everyone loves it! Jenny and Mike picked it up on their way through Louisville today and everyone was able to just relax and hang out in the church basement. It's kind of crazy how all of these people get here tonight for the rehearsal--all of these people whom you've asked to play a particular role in the big day--and for them the festivities are just beginning. They have not had this crazy, wedding-filled week and have no idea everything that has ALREADY had to happen just to have us at this point! But now here they all are--in one place together. And once we split for the night...we won't be all together until it's truly SHOW TIME!

Father exposed the Blessed Sacrament a bit after dinner for anyone who wanted to return to the church and pray. Jon and I wanted this especially for ourselves but it was more meaningful than I even expected to see others join us. I was especially touched to have Gress and Sara come up--the only two non-family members who joined us. They were there with us on the engaged encounter so it felt like their prayers held that much more meaning. We are so very blessed to have them as our close, dear friends.
Rachel and Michelle were patient with me leaving the church--my last chance to see so many people and give final instruction on morning duties. I'd gone over itineraries with so many people making sure things were squared away. In the end, I know things will get done and what doesn't happen, won't ruin the day. I think I said goodnight to Jon at least four times. And then, at last, with one final, "Goodnight Miss Dixon" (for the last time!) we parted ways!

While I was exhausted arriving back at the hotel... I wasn't. All of my girls were there hanging out in our "big room": Jo, Rachel, Michelle, KK, Valerie, Dani, Becky, KelKel..and even Bethie drove down to join me on my last night as a single lady! Rachel had picked up a bottle of wine for us to sip but silly us forgot the need for a corkscrew! Ha..but what am I saying... the need? Not quite... a screw and a screwdriver and Michelle's muscles and we popped that cork right out!
I was the last to go to bed, as I stayed up a little later finishing a final note to Jon that I could have passed to him tomorrow. The day has truly arrived and while it feels magic it also feels as real as ever. Every piece of what will go on tomorrow has a piece of Jon or I in it. Every detail and moment--even those that no one will even notice. I hope every person who joins us enjoys the day and has a blessed memory and sees even a glimpse of what a special bond Jon and I hold and how real this love is.

I'm so excited...but I know it'll be gone in a flash. But just like the day itself cannot last forever, neither can Alamo. So time to snuggle to sleep one last time before life as Mrs. Harris will begin.

My Wedding on a Budget: 2 Days to Go!

2011-10-06T15:57:00.000-04:00

WEDDING EVE!

Okay, not really because it's only Oct. 6 and the wedding isn't until Oct.8, but honestly... today is the last day of real "wedding prep". Tomorrow I'll do a little in the morning but once Rachel and I leave for Danville for my oh-so-relaxing massage (thanks to Kara & Dani) wedding-ness will be well underway and no looking back!

I still worked today but my goodness was it tough to stay focused! I cannot imagine if Rachel and Aunt Anne hadn't been here to help with so much set up. Rachel actually came down to the Loft this morning to get a TON of MY cleaning done. This place has been a wreck and I know there will be a lot of people in and out of here during the festivities so it had to be cleaned. Rach knocked it out like it was nothing, though.

Around lunch time we made a trip to Knob End because Karen's team was setting up the rest of the tables and so forth. LOVE IT. Oh I cannot even begin to tell you how wonderful it looks! It's such a relief to have Karen taking care of this because she truly cares--and part of that is because she knows the family, but I've worked events with her enough to know that no matter the event she put her extra touches to make it look great. She had some purple table toppers she put on all of the tables and decorated the tall chairs on the cocktail table she set up for Jon and I. The buffet line table looks fabulous. The bar, cake table, gift table, champagne buckets and beer/soda bins are set up. I love it.

I did have a minor crisis on my way to checkout the setup. I called (using Rachel's phone since mine is acting bizzarro this week) Shade's salon to find out how early we could come in to get going on hair Saturday morning. Well, as soon as the girl answered the phone and I told her who I was I could tell something wasn't right. Her delayed, "Ummm....," told me she had bad news. Apparently they did not have the right phone number for me and said they'd been trying for the last couple of weeks to call and confirm the appointment and since no one had responded they cancelled it! First of all, I thought it WAS confirmed after Holly made the initial call and I followed up. I think the confusion spurred from my inquiry about make-up application when I did follow up. I asked if they did make up and said I'd let them know how many girls wanted that done. I guess in their mind that meant I was still calling back to confirm everything. In my mind that meant I'd confirmed the hair but I'd call back about makeup. Given I never called back but I wasn't too concerned about make up.

Good news is, the owner, Brian, is awesome. The girl got him on the phone and he talked with the girls there. (Luckily it was just yesterday that he'd cancelled it in the books.) They are still able to be there Saturday morning so we are set for 8 a.m.!

I left work just a tad early, 4 p.m. so Rachel and I could get up to Danville to do some final shopping. I had a list and she had Mom's list. Our stops included: WalMart, liquor store, HalMark, Peddler's Mall, Lowes, Dixon Design Studio (Uncle John & Aunt Dana's) and the smoke shop. We did a good job of keeping each other moving and we got everything we came for. The list of "to-do's" is not nearly done yet, but I'm so grateful Rachel go the house cleaned for me--a huge relief! Now I don't have to stay up all night working on it!

Jon brought home the printed itineraries for everyone. I cut the foam board we bought at WalMart and hand-wrote the directional signs we're going to put up to direct people into The Valley. I connected with Kathy Goode finally and will be able to pick up her video cameras tomorrow at the library. The programs are ready.... It's really, really, really just about time!

Tomorrow Rachel and I will leave for Danville at about 11 a.m. to get me to my massage and at that point my "wedding prep" duties have ended. I'll do my best to simply forget about everything that is or isn't getting done and just let the schedule begin to roll. In some moments I feel there is so much to do still and others I feel like it's all set! Either way, tomorrow Alamo ends and the ride is in full swing, so there will be nothing to do but breathe it in and enjoy!

My Wedding on a Budget: 3 Days to Go!

2011-10-05T23:05:00.000-04:00

Signs, Flowers and Setup--oh my!
Jerusha started on the flowers today and I haven't seen any of them myself, but from her pictures and what Rachel told me they are wonderful! She's doing great!! Who'd know she isn't a trained/learned florist! I love the wildflower look being created. So perfect! I LOVE my purple bouquet! It makes me happy just to look at the picture. She did so, so many in mason jars and more for the church, reception and anywhere we could possibly use flowers.
Went down to Greystone early this morning before work so I could meet with Mom, Rachel and Aunt Anne and here there to-do list for the day and weigh-in. (I'm still working...) Mom had the 30-whatever mums still (from Uncle Jerome & Aunt Janet) that still needed to be planted or placed. She also needed certain flower gardens cleaned up. They got all of that done and they started placing the walkway/path lights around the grounds.
The program is ready to go and being printed. I saw a sample tonight. I made one of the directional signs and started on the "Welcome to Knob End" sign that I was going to wood burn onto one of the log pieces that Jon cut, but then Pa kind of "volunteered" himself to take over for me--and I did not object!
Rachel and Aunt Anne also picked up some more stuff to use from Karen. Somehow Mom and I missed that the table toppers were not extra and had gone with just the white linens. We knew the colored linens were extra so I guess we assumed the toppers were as well, but, no! And guess what? She has some PERFECT purple ones that are just sheer enough to not be to overwhelmingly purple! She also has the perfect green colored cloth napkins to cover the chip bowls for snacking. It's all coming together and so soon will it all be over!

My Wedding on a Budget: 4 Days to Go!

2011-10-04T22:03:00.000-04:00

It looks like there's gonna be a party in Knob End!
The tent crew came today and it is up! It's BIG but not too big for the field. Just about right actually. It's so exciting to see it there. It's really, real! I'm getting married. We'll have a big celebration with everyone we care about! They also left the chairs, dance floor and bar. I took my first peek at it at about 6:15 this evening and the sun going down at that time hits the field beautifully! Jon and I went back down in the evening to take a spin on the dance floor together. The moon is just over half full and it will be a more like three-quarters on Saturday. The stars are beautiful since it's so clear right now and with that moon out you can even see into the field in the moonlight. It's spectacular!

Programs are more or less laid out...Just a couple of things to finalize. I finalized the photography itinerary and reviewed with Jerusha. I also sent out the guys' itinerary. Rachel got down here tonight so I got to visit with her and Aunt Anne. Uncle John and Aunt Dana also made a visit so he could drop off one of the signs he is making for the reception. It looks fabulous!

My Wedding on a Budget: 5 Days to Go!

2011-10-03T21:13:00.000-04:00

Only time for a bullet list:
- Spoke to Izetta and music is set (cleared by Father as well)
- Jenny has possession of Jon's Baptismal record and all else necessary (sigh of relief)
- Reviewed the itinerary with Mom
- Flowers arrived...a day early! Which was a mini-crisis because there were so many (much more than we anticipated) and they overloaded Karen's kitchen which she was busy with other things today. So Mom and Aunt Anne went it immediately to begin cutting them and getting them in water buckets. Jerusha came in to take a look as well.
- We just realized that the bouquets can't be tied until the morning of because they need to be in water, which means Jerusha (the photographer) cannot do it herself, as she'll be quite busy with that other very important job she volunteered for. I called in my Go-Pher girls: Sara & Michelle! They'll tie the bouquets!
- Mom was worried because she didn't get the yard mowed due to having to go in for flowers unexpectedly. Jon jumped on it and got it all done.

My Wedding on a Budget: 6 Days to Go!

2011-10-02T17:20:00.000-04:00

Meetings & More
Up early enough considering the fun night we had. We girls had some good re-cap time of the night before, enjoyed breakfast and cleaned up the girl explosion that happened in Holly's room. (Seriously, I wish I'd taken a picture of that--shoes, shirts, boots, jewelry, bags, bras, presents-EVERYWHERE!)

I headed to Louisville with Michelle since Jon had stayed at their house last night. (He went up to get a nice, snazzy haircut.) Then we headed to meet with Ben one more time about music. And wasn't it a surprise that Virginia came with him! It ended up being more like a great afternoon of chat and catch up with two of our favorite people--oh yeah and by the way here are 2 cds of music. We actually kind of took a page out of their book for the whole wedding from the beginning. They just got married last October and had a fairly short engagement. The wedding was outdoors (her family winery) and reception in a barn. The fact Ben was the DJ for his own wedding is what made me even ask to do ours. They did a "cook out" style meal and the entire thing was fabulous. Hope they take it as a compliment that we are copy cats!

Aunt Anne flew in today and Mom brought her home. Touched base on a lot tonight: music, singing, rehearsal, things father brought up at church this morning. So I came home and sent the itinerary to Mom and Cassie to see what their thoughts are before finalizing.

Also, Uncle John has (so kindly) agreed to make a few signs for us. His artistic hand will have a much better result than anything we could have done. Looking forward to see what he comes up with!

This week is going to fly......

My Wedding on a Budget: 7 Days to Go!

2011-10-01T22:17:00.000-04:00

BACHELORETTE BABY!!
The big kick-off to wedding week!!! The Bachelorette Party! Jo was the hostess with the mostest who planned the entire day and made it beyond spectacular! Talon winery was, well, cold on the tour, but tasting was a blast. Ten of us went and got to try 6 types a piece. The tour guide was pretty generous with his "tasting" size pours (probably too generous) so a lot of us got lucky (and a little buzzed!) Rachel bought some delicious wine cheese as well.
Then we had some unwind time at the house. Michael, such a good guy, let us girls take over his house on a Saturday and he just stayed out of the way! We relaxed, chatted, watched some football. Some girls didn't stay for the going out at night and a few more joined us that hadn't made it to the winery. Although I told Holly to tell them no gifts because they've done enough already, they showered me with fun, fun, fun honeymoon attire.
Rachel did a test run on my wedding makeup and it looked wonderful! Everyone dressed in purple and just looking at the group of girls made me smile! We made girly drinks (no beer for once!), shared jewelry and swapped clothing and accessories. Did hair and make up. Jammed to tunes and the longer the evening stretched on the more girlish squeals of "Wedding Weeeeeeeek!" were let out and "Woo-Hooing" was heard!
We headed out to Hugo's at about 10:15 p.m. where Holly had a reserved booth for us. It was perfect. We ran into some unexpected friends while at the bar. We laughed. We danced. I couldn't have asked for a better girls' night. I think what made it that much better is that none of us were single We were all in serious relationships so no one was concerned with men on any level. We were there for each and other and the fun we create.
Wedding week has begun!

My Wedding on a Budget: 8 Days to Go!

2011-10-01T00:29:00.000-04:00

Too much to do for pictures
You're lucky I'm even posting to the blog...
- Have my gifts and thank yous ready for my girls to give to them this weekend
- Have music on cds for Big Ben (hoping we see him this weekend)

Need to make several lists:
- Things I need Mom to talk to Father Pat about at church
- Signs we need to get made
- Thank you's I need to get taken care of

A few things I need to finish up soon and very soon:
- Laid out program
- Buy paper and print the programs
- send Anne-Tyler our responsorial psalm
- Lay out the music exactly as we want it for the ceremony
- Talk to Isetta about what we want her playing for the ceremony

Bachelorette fun tomorrow night!!!

My Wedding on a Budget: 9 Days to Go!

2011-09-29T22:54:00.001-04:00

SINGLE DIGITS!!!
And I can finally check the 10 day forecast and what's it say....
Aaahhh...so far so good! Let's just hope, hope, hope it stays that way!

It's hard for me to believe we're really so close! There are so many little things to tie up that I feel like I could work non-stop weddingness these last 9 days! I finished my thanks yous tonight and put together my bridesmaids gifts so I can bring them on Saturday. We had dinner with Jerusha and Clay and she was practicing on lemon cupcakes. (baking, icing, seeing how long they'll stay fresh...) I still have quite a few things I want to get done prior to leaving for the bachelorette party on Saturday...!

...Seriously, though... I feel like that weather forecast is too good to be true... It's kind of scaring me!

My Wedding on a Budget: 10 Days to Go!

2011-09-28T22:37:00.000-04:00

Wedding Dreams It was Driving Wednesday (therefore no major wedding work) so I thought I'd share with you the 3 wedding dreams I've had so far...

The Bridesmaids Dresses - I had this one back in May I believe so I'm fuzzy on the details, but I think it sprung from me telling the bridesmaids they could pick their own dresses and that I'd finally committed to a date. It was suddenly Wedding Day and the catering was crazy and fixing weird food (I knew what it was at the time but now I"m not sure but I do believe that none of it was stuff Jon could eat.) The part I do remember was that the bridesmaids were running around in these salmon pink dresses with poofy sleeves--straight up 80s! I mean, I do love the 80s, but not for my wedding party. I remember in the dream wishing I'd given myself more time to plan because it was suddenly going to be over before I'd had any fun with it! Good news is that hasn't been the case!
The Weather Nightmare - Actually, this wasn't a nightmare at all. It did rain on the wedding day for my dream, but I think this was God's way of calming me down. It rained and the day went on, nothing was ruined. Everyone had a great time. Everything was lovely. Rain won't ruin the day.
Hair Scare - I had this one just last night. I was having my hair done but was extremely distracted and caught up talking with Holly or Rachel or someone the entire time. When the lady finished (and I remembered this was for my wedding) I realized I hadn't given her any direction with what I wanted her to do so she'd completely done whatever she felt like...which resulted in it being pulled back into two french braids with these blue beads (marble sized!) stuck into the braids on my head. Whoa. I didn't have the heart to tell the lady who'd spent 45 minutes working on it that I didn't like it when I hadn't given her any direction. But that's what I had Holly there for!

Hopefully none of the dreams come true... we'll see if I have any more in these last TEN DAYS!

My Wedding on a Budget: 11 Days to Go!

2011-09-27T23:08:00.000-04:00

The Odds and Ends
Trying to take advantage of my last "must be here" night in Louisville. (I will drive home tomorrow and possibly be back on Sunday but it's better to get as much done as possible, right?)

So what got done?
- Dropped off cake topper (flowers) and cupcake papers to Kara
- Picked up the Greystone Cellars Chardonnay and Cabernet cases
- Check things off the shopping list:

Guest Book
Sharpies to write on Koozies
Boots to wear with my bachelorette dress plus jewelry
Thank you cards
SD card for my video camera (16 GB)
Blush and lip stuff I still needed for make up
Swim trunks for Jon
GLOW STICKS...just in case we want to bust them out at the reception
A few other fun items...

I could have gotten all of this shopping done a lot faster/earlier but it sucks you in!!! And let's face it, I don't shop too often, so when I do, it's okay to get a little caught up in it, right?

My Wedding on a Budget: 12 Days to Go!

2011-09-26T23:00:00.000-04:00

Final Haircut and Bachelorette Dress
I finally went to see J-Pat for the first time since December! Crazy...I know. I was due for a haircut in the spring but then Jon proposed and I decided I would let it grow out some and, well, here we are now! He trimmed me up so the ends will look nice and curl nice for the wedding. He's so nice and so fun and so great with layers.
Holly met me there and then we hit up Forever 21 at Mall St. Matthews. It's good to have a fashion consultant in your wedding party! Forever 21 has taken over one of the larger corners of the mall and it still blows my mind at how much stuff they have. I could have gotten lost in there so easily but with Jo we just sped through on a mission and we found just what we were looking for: a little sexy white dress. (It's actually more off-white.) Now it's just a matter of me finding the right shoes and the right jewelry. I'll probably go with some cute boots if I can find them and gold jewelry.

My Wedding on a Budget: 13 Days to Go!

2011-09-25T22:19:00.000-04:00

Mum Mania!

Astrea is Vanna Whiting the MANY, MANY mums that Uncle Jerome and Aunt Janet delivered to the house today! Most of them aren't blossoming just yet but should be any time, meaning they'll be lovely in 2 weeks. All colors...it will be beautiful! And that's not the end of their delivery! They have about 10 more they couldn't fit in this trip!

My Wedding on a Budget: 14 Days to Go!

2011-09-24T22:31:00.000-04:00

Work Party
Mom and Pa are gone to Ohio for the weekend. They'd planned a weekend with a bunch of their high school friends long before Jon even proposed. That's part of the reason why we didn't go with an October 1 wedding. (Mom wanted to be home the weekend before the wedding.) So they left us a nice long task list. Luckily, Jon had talked to Seth and Nic during the week so they came down to help out as well. What's even better is we pretty much accomplished everything on it...

- Stone the front path
- Paint the garage trim
- Redo the wood on the Grammo Bridge
- Pick up branches under the big poplar tree (where parking will be)
- Clean up the Yates Flower Garden (all grown up with weeds!)
- Clean up the rotten tomatoes that were sitting out for canning
- Push Mow the back hill
- Weedeat, weedeat, weedeat!

My Wedding on a Budget: 15 Days to Go!

2011-09-23T22:06:00.000-04:00

Meeting with Father
A trip to Liberty after work today so that Jon and I could meet with Father Pat one more time. It's a lot to go through so I'm glad that's one area where we have somebody else (Father Pat!) completely in charge who really knows the routine. We need to finalize what music is being played when and get that all to Isetta. There are some things that Father Pat is really hardline about that are kind of bothersome. For example, he wants us to kneel up front the entire time. He said it's easier that way and not room for us elsewhere and it's too hard with the bride's dress. Well, I have never been to a wedding where the couple kneeled the entire time. (Through the ENTIRE mass too!) But I think there will be something extra holy and neat about it. Jon and I usually hold hands through mass especially when we are kneeling. I think this will make it easier for us to pray together through the mass and keep our focus on what it should be. In the end there isn't anything that I'm worked up about. He's letting us get a ton of people in that church which is probably more than a fire code would allow.

There are actually a lot of things I like and appreciate about the traditional Catholic wedding ceremony that I did not know until he told us. For example, the congregation stands at the beginning of the procession, and remains standing for the entire entrance through the bride and not just for the bride. This "show" isn't just about me.

After our little meeting Jon and I took a little stroll through the Apple Festival. He took me on a "romantic ride" on the ferris wheel. I was disappointed when my camera died and I couldn't capture the moment.

My Wedding on a Budget: 16 Days to Go!

2011-09-22T16:51:00.000-04:00

Basket Fun
Jon and I made a trip to Danville after work to go to the grocery and get a few other things and decided to drop in at the Peddler's Mall while there. (Wouldn't you know we'd run into Pa!) It's full of plenty of crap but lots of really cool stuff if you're patient going through it all. We decided to not get overly excited and buy things when we still have a wedding ahead of us. The only thing I did buy was a cute little half bushel basket because it is the perfect green color! What will I use it for? Not quite sure yet, but I will find something!
I'm finding out usable bushel baskets make for great decorating resources. Two of them that Mike and Jenny brought last week I've already filled with the 50 flip flops I bought earlier in the summer. Green and white in one; purple and black in the other. I simply tied one of the (many) Bed, Bath & Beyond ribbons around each of them and just that is enough to add a little festivity and character to the wedding decor.
We have a few other half bushels along with a longer, rectangular basket that I'm thinking I'll tie some ribbon around and find job for. Can koozies, flowers, snacks...something... Mom and Pa leave for the weekend tomorrow morning.
Jon and I touched based with them tonight though to get a weekend task list from them. Hopefully we can get a lot accomplished... we only have 2 weekends left!!!!

My Wedding on a Budget: 17 Days to Go!

2011-09-21T16:29:00.000-04:00

Ready to Jam
We're set! The sound equipment is all safely to the Valley! I stopped at Doo Wop before heading home tonight and the guy helping me hooked me up with all I needed and even bettered it. He got me speakers and an amp that would use less power than those I was originally quoted. I also specifically watched how he hooked everything up and he definitely do anything special with outlets and what he plugged in where so I think our electric hook up should be fine. The total came to $118 and the quote last week was $178. Clay also picked up the electrical equipment we need and hopefully we can return some of that when all is said and done. After watching the hook up process the Doo Wop guys did I don't think we need to be too worried about the power. We're ready for a purple party!!

My Wedding on a Budget: 18 Days to Go!

2011-09-20T21:44:00.000-04:00

Musical Meeting with a hint of Cider
Got together with DJ man Ben after work today. We met up at Heine Brothers on Frankfort after I got off work and I'd printed off the list I made (and Jon added a little to). We met for about an hour and a half but I'd say less than 45 minutes of it was essential planning for the wedding. I went through the things I really wanted/needed played, the general feel for before, during and after dinner and he provided some pretty nifty input as well. I've got to put a lot of my music on CD for him so he can add it to his collections so hopefully I can do that this weekend and get with him one more time before the big day (oh-so-close!)

I know I've said it before, but I'm so grateful to have a close friend heading up my music for the day. Beyond that, I'm so glad to have close friends and family being a part of so many aspects of the wedding. And in case I haven't given them all a special thank you in this blog:

Caitlan "KK", my cousin, doing some of my church decorations and flowers for the bridesmaids.
Jerusha, my cousin, helping with more than her fair share. She'll do pictures (with help from her sister, another cousin, Alyx), a batch of cupcakes and put together flowers.
My Aunt Lea who made my veil
Kara, my college friend, who is making my cake and a batch of cupcakes
Michelle, my sister-in-law, who is make TWO batches of cupcakes (sorry I cannot link to a Michelle page! She actually did a test run of cupcakes for me before I started tracking my wedding progress in the blog. She made FIVE batches of cupcakes from scratch in ONE DAY! The house was loaded with cupcakes! Quite the taste-testing!)

Most of my time with Ben was simply catching up. As most of you probably know, the older we get, the less time we get to simply relax and enjoy a good cup of coffee with close friends. But it's worth stopping to do every so often. And in this case...for me at least, it was an exception to my normal coffee because HUBER'S CIDER is back at Heine Bros! YUM!

My Wedding on a Budget: 19 Days to Go!

2011-09-19T22:00:00.000-04:00

Today's checklist:

- Ben said we can get together tomorrow about music stuff. Hopefully we'll make some good progress.

- Went to see KK after work and she's gotten quite a bit done on the flower work. They are looking great and she should have it wrapped up by the bachelorette weekend.

- Called "Ecotage" Salon...and it's no longer Ecotage! Good news is J-Pat still works there. I haven't been to see him since DECEMBER. I know...kinda crazy to go that long without trimming up the loose ends. I had to get some length on it though! Jon proposed right around the time I would have schedule a fresh cut and after that I decided to let it grow. But I have an appointment for next Monday so I let Dani and Holly know so maybe they'll do a little shopping with me afterwards.

- Clay called Doo Wop today and it sounds like we're all safe for our sound equipment. We may just need to run more circuits over to the field than expected.

And last but not least... Tell me HOW cute is this ring bearer going to be?!

My Wedding on a Budget: 20 Days to Go!

2011-09-18T21:29:00.000-04:00

Mass Music
Jon came home today me today! He still loves me after a wild weekend with the boys!

I stole one of the books from church today so I could find some suitable songs for the ceremony. We mainly need stuff for two parts: the presentation/preparation of the gifts and communion. The other parts will be instrumental (organ) only.

A few I book marked and need to run by Jon are:
- I Am the Bread of Life
- Taste and See
- We Are Called
- Whatsoever You Do
- You Are Mine
- One Bread, One Body

I really, really like "We Are Called," but I'm not sure that will fit anywhere. It seems to be more of a closing, "go forth" song. "You Are Mine" is one of my favorites. I can't decide when to play it but that one is my #1 vote. "One Bread, One Body" and "I Am the Bread of Life" are also two I have always liked. I'll also run them by Anne-Tyler to see if she could lead any of them. I'm not sure if I'll have her sing or lead. I feel like if we want people to join in we need to have lyrics printed out for people so we'll see.

Wrote some more thank yous. Clay went over our electric needs for running power from the garage to the field. He's been beyond helpful. He's going to call Doo Wop tomorrow to figure out if we have to get any special. Last thing I want is power to blow and we lose music and lights!!

So glad my man made it home safely :)

My Wedding on a Budget: 21 Days to Go!

2011-09-17T13:19:00.000-04:00

Up bright and early! Mom and I ran into Karen's kitchen early this morning. She was off to cater another wedding but had let us know that she had purple flowers for this particular one and would have them in her fridge if we wanted to come take a peek. Why not? Most of those used are not the wild flower look I was going for, but the hydrangea were lovely. (Would be nice if those were still blooming at Paula Esterle's house so I could get Michelle to steal some for me like she did for the shower she held for me.

Speaking of flowers, though, Aunt Janet did find a GREAT deal on mums. Mom had asked her about a month ago to help her find lots of big mums she could buy (fairly cheap) to plant and put around the reception. Well, she sent some HUGE ones home with Uncle Jeff that she can get for just $4.50! They don't come in any deep, true purple colors but I've told Mom I'm not concerned with those flowers being "our colors". Mums are pretty in general and I love fall colors so I'll be happy just to see beautiful flowers around.

Mom made a trip to Lexington for a few tasks and met up with Rachel. They went to Sam's club and got some of the necessities there. I stayed home and made another batch of salsa. Not sure, but we may use this salsa to set out as a pre-dinner snack. We'll see how much we end up with.

My company has not been the most helpful this weekend, but they're entertaining so it's okay.

My Wedding on a Budget: 22 Days to Go!

2011-09-16T22:36:00.000-04:00

THREE WEEKS?!
Dang, that really hit me today! I realized I have this weekend, next weekend (which is Apple Festival and Mom & Pa will be in Ohio with the "RF" friends from high school), then it's my bachelorette and BAM wedding time!!

Short and sweet tonight... Mike & Jenny drove down today so they could bring a truck load of stuff for Jon and I. A lot of it was from Grandma Feagley's house that was sold. (Nothing wedding related, but LOTS of great canning and gardening tools!) They also brought down the soda and paper products for the rehearsal dinner. One less thing to worry about the week of.
But they ALSO brought something very important for the wedding: the rings! I wish Jon had been here to see them in completion with me the first time, but of course I couldn't help myself and I had to take a peek. Glad we have those safe and sound!
Mom is off on Fridays now so she was running around getting things done and since last Sunday Pa got our drive grated, today they had 3 massive truckloads of white rock brought out for Blue Bank Lane. I drove down for dinner tonight and it looks so nice. They actually extended the gravel back towards the new bridge into Knob End. It's official! We have a road back to our future home. It makes it that much more real!

After eating mom's homemade pizza at the house she and I got on the computer and started looking at some wedding night wear for me. There were, of course, options on Victoria's Secret, but we found a few other sites with some fun (and cheaper) options.Really she could surprise me with whatever and I'd be happy--it's all new to me!

At home I started working on more music. This time for the party part of the reception. How to choose...how to choose! There will be some musts that aren't on most people's play lists (Electric Six and One For the Road). I have to remind myself that not everyone gets excited about 80s jams like I do and I was finding a decent collection of 90s hits I was adding to my potential list. I guess it's pretty clear what era I grew up in. I also want to mix in a little bit of what I have come to call "Jo Jams" in honor of the one and only Holly Jo. She's made many party mix cds over the years and that's where I tend to get my collection of Top 40 and club hits from. I want to hear some bagpipes from the likes of Flogging Molly or Dropkick Murphys...plus a bit of some club techno and country can't hurt. Honestly, anything that will make people excited and get them moving. I also found a very helpful list from this site that is a great guide to the Top 200 wedding songs and then suggestions for different events in the evening.

As said in my previous post...music is a time suck...I was up quite late....

My Wedding on a Budget: 23 Days to Go!

2011-09-15T19:05:00.000-04:00

Party in the BLUEGRASS
Picking out music might be my favorite and least favorite thing...
Reasons to love it:
1.) I love music....simple as that.
2.) It expresses so much not just lyrically but in its sound. Being a lover of movie scores, piano music and all things instrumental, I'd go as far as to say that the sounds means 10x more to me than words.

Reasons to hate it:
1.) There's so much of it and I only have so much time to play it during my day! It basically breaks down to three chunks: Church/ceremony, early reception and party/dancing reception.
2.) Going through it and picking and choosing can be a HUGE time suck!

Tonight I tried to work strictly on the opening reception music. The good news is Jon and I have pretty much accomplished half of the battle and narrowed it down to what style of music we want it to be. The bad news it's not traditional wedding music. Most people stick with the Norah Jones and Frank Sinatra mix that any DJ who's worked a wedding probably already has a standard play list for. Not us. For some reason "Come Fly Away" doesn't seem as suiting in our setting. So we want to go with folk/bluegrass mix. You know...lots of fiddle and banjo music. Maybe it's just me but fall colors, cool weather and a field just scream some good fiddle tunes. On top of that I'd say it's probably Jon's favorite kind of music. I remember in my early months of going to his apartment to fix and eat dinner he'd put the TV on the bluegrass station and just let the music play. It was comforting even then.

Jon has several bluegrass cds so I've been going through them picking out the instrumental songs so I can provide Ben with as much as possible. From those CDs I've gotten a decent collection: Sam Bush, Alison Krauss & Union Station, Bill Monroe, Bela Fleck. Ben may have some but I'm guessing (as said previously) it's not his #1 request. I've put together almost 2 hours of music but that's from all that I could find and I'm not sure I want all of it used (some is slower or very similar...Need a little variety.) I'd like to find more.

I'm 99% sure the song Jon and I will be using for our first dance is off of a Sam Bush album he purchased in the past year: "Circles Around Me." I love the sound and the words about life, love, friends, family...all that really matters in life. Jon and I have never really had a song (unless you count Meatloaf, "Anything for Love", but we'll save that performance for later in the evening...) so I wanted him to pick out what we'd dance to. He mentioned this one and I want to run with it mainly because so much about it screams Jon Harris. It's slow enough to be sweet and heartfelt, but got enough pick up in it for him to spin me a time or two on the dance floor (and spinning is important!)I hear it...and I think of him. That's how it should be.

He's off to Dale Hollow for a bachelor party weekend. Won't be back til Sunday so it will be me and the animals holding down the fort!

My Wedding on A Budget: 24 Days to Go!

2011-09-14T21:27:00.000-04:00

MU-ZAK!
I like music. In fact, I really love music. I listen to it non-stop. I know nothing about making music and nothing about music equipment. Thank goodness for people who do.
My friend Ben ("Big Ben" from my Man Clan at Bellarmine) will be heading up our reception music with his mad-music-DJ skills. If he's talented and cool enough to DJ his own wedding, you can bet I'd trust my wedding in his hands. Not only can I trust him to know the equipment and guide me in what I need, but I trust his music tastes, I trust him to play anything I want and I trust him to be a good emcee. Let's just say Ben's a pretty stellar dude and most definitely trustworthy.
So he'd recommended renting the equipment I need from Doo Wop Shop when I first talked with him back in May or June. He'd told me then that they don't do reservations but did week or month-long rentals, so I really couldn't take any more action until now. Ben sent me specific instructions on what I'd need: a subwoofer, 2 speakers and stands. Once to the Bardstown Road location a guy named Mark helped me and by all means he did HELP me. Very helpful. He added the cables I would need, plus the mic and a DJ mixer. He also helped me pick out fun lights. He gave me the quotes on renting all I'd need for both a week and a month. I could have taken what I needed today but he told me he really didn't think I'd have to worry about getting it later. The other convenience I have is that there are 2 Louisville locations, plus Frankfort and Lexington locations. All 4 would be easy enough for me to rent from and all 4 have the equipment I'm looking at using.
I have to say, I'm really impressed with how cheap it is to rent this equipment. Even for the month long rental of everything, it's under $200. (For the week it's less than $100.) I left without anything today with the thought maybe I could save money and do the week rental, but I'm pretty sure I'll move forward with it next week. It'll give us a chance to determine how we'll do the hook up, one less thing to worry about the week of and I won't have to worry trying to get it returned just before or during the honeymoon.

My Wedding on a Budget: 25 Days to Go!

2011-09-13T19:54:00.000-04:00

Cake Tasting...Yum!
Today Kara finally got to do a cake run. There are many factors to evaluate...

The Design/Decoration: Of course they day before she did it would be when I decide to change the design. Okay, not the design but the look, so all I had for decoration was the ribbon from a few weeks ago with KK--No twine or burlap. However, the thicker dark purple ribbon I got that I thought I didn't want to use, may end up being what I use if not the twine. Talking it through with Kara, we decide we could always use a regular stand, lifted up on blocks or something of the sort and just overlay it with the burlap and maybe even incorporate some moss. Is it bad that I sill really don't know what it's going to look like--with 25 days to go!

Icing: It ended up not mattering too much that we couldn't do much decorating because her buttercream icing with no real butter test didn't turn out so well, which meant the exterior look wasn't really top-notch. (Good news is, it wasn't the taste of the icing that had issues. I thought it was delish!) Neither of us thought about the fact tub butter/Earth Balance is very soft in general and that it probably would melt and become soft very easily. While it tasted great, she had a tough time spreading the icing so it was pretty thing and sloppy. It will definitely need a better look for the real deal. I would think that stick margarine would work better. It was only NOW, though, that Jon decided to mention that his mom has her own Jon-friendly recipe. Hopefully that will be the secret sauce we need. She uses water, powdered sugar and vanilla, which I would think creates a fairly thick/stiff icing.

Flavor: Chocolate cake was great. Not too heavy, which I had feared only slightly. It's been that way sometimes in the past, as I have found happens more so with baked goods from scratch. She did good though...as I expected from her baking experiencing! She's also going to throw together tomorrow a bourbon fused version of the cake. I doubt we'll go with it, but it's definitely worth trying and we know how Jon feels about bourbon!

And something extra: Kara also stuck a little purple surprise in the center! She put a layer of purple icing between the two layers on top. (I assume she did the same for the bottom.) Not only was it purple, though, she took it a step further and threw blueberries in it. I guess she knew we wouldn't turn down the extra thought by securing my vote with the purple and Jon's with the blueberries.

Icing will have to be bettered and the look still has to be nailed down, but it'll come together. It's one of those things I'm not too worried about.

My Wedding on a Budget: 26 Days to Go!

2011-09-12T22:47:00.000-04:00

New Checklists
Now we're getting to many things that have to be done but couldn't be done until now. (Okay, so maybe some of them could be done already...but that's beside the point.)

Check out Doo-Wop shop and rent the equipment we need
Call one of the hotels and reserve 2 rooms for the girls the night before the wedding.
Start hitting up people whom we haven't gotten RSVPs back from
Get the marriage license
Hold a final meeting with Father Pat
Decide for sure on the music and every job/role for the mass so we can print the programs
Give Ben our must-play music selections
Check in with the Limo/Hummer company and make sure everything is still set.
Talk with people I'm hoping can do random day-of jobs to make sure they'll be free prior to wedding time.
Shop for the final items we still need, which is a random, random, random list.
Start on a honeymoon packing list
Buy thank you gifts for people who've helped
Turn in a head count to Karen for food purpose

I don't have my notebook handy but I know there is plenty more. We're scratching stuff off but new things keep finding their way onto the list! With where we are on RSVPs right now the church is just getting stuffed pretty cozy! We still have about 80 people to hear back from though!!!! Could get interesting...

My Wedding on a Budget: 27 Days to Go!

2011-09-11T21:27:00.000-04:00

Grown up Stuff
Jon and I are Godparents! Well, before today, I was a Godmother and Jon was a Godfather but now we are Godparents together! Little Samuel Jonathan had his Baptism in Lexington today and Valerie and Brett had asked us to be his Godparents, which we definitely accepted. It was great to spend time with the two of them and the little guy, plus both of their families. So much grown up stuff happening these days!

However, it did mean for not much time at home. I didn't get to much wedding stuff. A quick trip down to Greystone and Mom had the chance to show off some of the rooms and space she's getting cleaned so that she has storage room. I made a trip up to Jerusha's new place (first and foremost to see it!) but also because she sampled some icing styles. She has more icing tips than I'd ever know what to do with, but she did a sample of each for me...which, we all know that's the last thing I need: more to decide among! I wrote down a few I liked so this week I can see what similar tips Michelle and Kara have and decide from there so that they can all be slightly similar.

I'm also leaning towards a new idea with the cake decoration. Going back to this idea of the brownish icings, I think I'll look for twine to use around the cake and then throw on some flowers for color. Some ideas I saw also incorporated burlap, which gave me the idea to use burlap around the bouquets with just a single purple ribbon. I am liking that idea more and more and I feel like it will be easier than wrapping a bunch of ribbon. We'll be buying burlap for the hay bales anyway.

My Wedding on a Budget: 28 Days to Go!

2011-09-10T21:14:00.000-04:00

Shower #4: Mothers & Daughters!
An old school family reunion with all my County girls and second moms from growing up! Kelli and her mom, Amy, threw me a shower today that was a mother-daughter shower. Rachel nor Michelle got to come but Mom & I were there along with the two of the, of course, plus Beth & Lora, Amy & Joyce and Melissa couldn't come with Meagan, but that worked out okay since Meagan is the first of us to have her own daughter, so she had Bella with her! Jan Rader also came which was wonderful since she can't come to the wedding itself. I haven't seen her in ages so it was quite great. Emily, being in Florida, couldn't be there with her.

I don't get to see any of my highschool friends nearly as often as I'd like, so it was great to catch up. It's the first time I've met Meagan's little Bella. I hadn't seen Amy in about a year. She's looking to make a big move when she's done with dental school this Spring to continue into pediatric studies. I think it's awesome that she's looking for a change in scenery. News of Bethie's bun in the oven is out among all of the girls now. There's enough excitement from the rest of us to fill her lack thereof. It's great to still have such a close, special bond with that group even after the years apart and our lives being all over the place. Plus I have these Moms that have watched me grow up and looked after me that I feel like are now more my peers than my overseers. They are the people who helped me become who I am so that I can be at such a happy place in my life now.

As stated recently, I know my wedding day will go by in a flash, so it's nice to have these showers so you have time to celebrate the exciting times with these important people in your life.

My Wedding on a Budget: 29 Days to Go!

2011-09-09T23:47:00.000-04:00

More than just the Bride?

As much as I am excited to be the bride at my own wedding, I wouldn't mind to be the photographer and videographer as well! Gui posted the video of his and Carla's wedding on Facebook and it brought me to tears. (Partially because it was so well put together and partially because I so wish I could have been there for it!) Meanwhile, Sara sent us the link to her wedding photos as well. There are SO many and they are all so wonderful. I would love to have one of those jobs. To capture somebody's special day or special moment for them and then piece it together as a time capsule to be kept for a lifetime.

Melhores Momentos Carla e Guilherme from Nando Menezes on Vimeo.

I realize I cannot play 3 roles on my wedding day and it's best if I just keep to the job I was meant for on this occasion: The Bride. What I do love, though, is I will have free access to all of the pictures and all of the video from that day. It will be at my disposal to play with and pretend I was videographer and photographer after the fact. I've been watching some other videos online (Gui's inspired me!) and I am thinking that I'll not only ask Uncle Jerome to borrow his flip cam, but perhaps someone else as well. This way the girls can have one; the guys can have one and then I can give a third to someone like Alyx to run around with during the day to get other random set up activity. I'm also thinking that I"ll want someone with the camera up to the point of the ceremony beginning. I may ask Joshie to help with some of that as an usher. Darnit, why did Jon have to ask Seth to be a groomsmen??

My Wedding on a Budget: 30 Days to Go!

2011-09-08T21:32:00.000-04:00

ONE MONTH!!!
Can you believe it?! Sometimes it really hits me and I start thinking about all of the people that will be there, together, celebrating and simply having a wonderful time and it makes me both joyous and tear up at the same time. I remember the entire year prior to Nic and Michelle's wedding I was so excited. I would hear songs on my iPod and begin daydreaming about the amazing day it would be. It was also the summer after I graduated from Bellarmine, so I sort of saw it as the great finale of my Bellarmine run. (Which, most should know, was an amazing four years.) Well it hit me today, that I have been so caught up in planning that I've not stop to realize how excited I am just for the event itself. Being married to Jon is something I have wanted for a long time and having a life we live as one is something he and I have talked much about. As our day nears, and RSVPs are coming in, I have begun to realize all of these wonderful people who will REALLY be in one place with us.

I think this reality is partially hitting because I've been working out lots of the logistics lately. I'm literaly writing out the entire day from the perspective of everyone who has a role and what they will need to be doing. I want to think it all through now, so that day I'm not worrying about it and I can turn it over to Cassie, who is our day-of coordinator, and let the questions come to her. However, what this play-by-play has made me realize is how PACKED the day will be! How much will be going on at once and that every 15 or 30 minute interval will end up feeling like 5 or 10 minutes. I already know I won't get to talk with everyone as much as I want. I already know I won't get every last picture I want. I already know something will go wrong. I already know something will happen late. I already know I'll want to dance more than I get to. I already know they'll be a song we forget to play. I already know the day will be over in the blink of an eye.

When I was about 11 years old my family took a vacation to Disney World. In preparation for it Mom bought several books--one of each park--so we'd be able to look through and decide what in each park was most important to us kids so it would help her plan the trip. The anticipation was unbelievable. So you can imagine what it felt like for us kids once we got to Florida and we were stuck at Alamo car rental for what seemed like hours upon hours waiting for our rental car. Mom had disappeared to go get it and we waited outside with Pa and began to think she'd never come back. Although he was probably anxious to get going as well, as an attempt to make us children "chill", he warned us, "You know, before you know it you'll be getting on a plane to ride home because it will all be over and you're going to wish you were back here at Alamo. That's right. You'll want to be here. So you better just enjoy it." Whether we understood it then or not, the phrase "wishing you were back at Alamo" became very common in our household, particularly for occasions like Christmas Eve.

I wouldn't say I'm quite at Alamo yet with the wedding prep. I'm probably still looking through the books. I've already picked out where I want to go and now I'm just planning out the itinerary. The play-by-play. No doubt Alamo will be here soon enough, starting with my bachelorette the weekend before the wedding day, and once again, I'll be wishing I was back at Alamo.

My Wedding on a Budget: 31 Days to Go!

2011-09-07T23:17:00.000-04:00

Special Deliveriessss!
I think I've gotten in just about everything I've ordered now. The second round of cupcake papers came in. Yesterday Holly had my shoes for me. The bridal party jewelry came in while I was away so Jon had that box waiting for me when I arrived home. The room I've been storing stuff in is beginning to have quite the pile of weddingness! Shoes, bags, candles, flip flops, makeup, jewelry, flowers...and on and on!

I talked with both Kara today more about cake to-dos. We were going to taste-test yesterday but I forgot to bring the ribbons for her to decorate with so we can square that away, so we've postponed until next week. She IS going to do one of the cupcake batches, which takes some off of Jerusha's plate, which is a good thing considering how much she's taken on for me! So Kara will do funfetti, Jerusha will do lemon and Michelle will do German chocolate and caramel apple. With the chocolate and caramel icings pretty much being stuck with the brown/tan colors they are, I am thinking I'll do funfetti in purple and lemon in green...and maybe, just maybe, I can still get Jon to help me construct a wood/log piece to place the cake itself on to tie in the browns of the icing. Karen Schafer also has some cupcake stands I'll be able to use from her.

My Wedding on a Budget: 32 Days to Go!

2011-09-06T22:48:00.000-04:00

Shoes...check! Jewelry...check! Favors...check!
I love getting these check marks on the list! The shoes I picked out form Endless.com that Holly insisted she get for me as a birthday present came in today. Very comfortable. Very purple. Very cute!

Rachel texted me a picture of the earrings she meant to bring to me on Saturday when we did make-up. They are dangly, yet simple with just a single pearl on the end. She says there is a matching necklace and after seeing the picture of the earrings I think they are just perfect! So that takes care of my something borrowed!

Mom got the art back for the can koozies we are going to have as favors and also since we are doing canned beer. Now the plan is to have a number of sharpies at the reception so people can sign their names on the koozies and this will help them keep up with their beer! (And maybe less waste!) I know the blue doesn't go with the purple and green theme, but...
(a) It's more authentic to The Blue Bank Farm look and
(b) Jon really wanted blue and since he's only opinionated every now and again on anything to do with the wedding I figure it's fair to give him some say on the things he actually cares about.

Gotta mail all of these thank you's I've had done for over a week!!

My Wedding on a Budget: 33 Days to Go!

2011-09-05T21:14:00.000-04:00

Readings...Check!
What a lazy, rainy day! I guess it was quite all right considering it was Labor Day and technically you are supposed to celebrate by doing little to no labor...so that's what we did! We slept in some, but not too late and it was still raining. It was cold, cold, cold outside which is just crazy because it was just Saturday that it reached over 100 degrees! Now it's in the 50s! Unbelievable! Between the cold, the rain, and two very busy days, Jon and I laid low. We cleaned up the kitchen from our gather last night. (Friends and family cooked out and had a little shindig.) We did make a trip down to Greystone because Pa was extracting what little honey we got from the bees this year and I definitely wanted Jon to see how that went. I would have made more salsa today but didn't want to take on the cold rain to pick tomatoes.

Instead I took advantage of having Jon inside with me for the day and we decided on our readings. We'd sort of already narrowed down our favorites over the other times we'd looked through the book in the past. The book I have, by the way, is one I found and took from Grandma Rousculp's house at the time of her funeral. Of course, Jon and I were not even close to being a couple at that point and I was dating no one so I'm not sure why I took it but I guess I knew (hoped) one day I'd have a reason for it. It's kind of an extra role Grandma can play in my wedding planning. None of the readings we chose are too standard. I really like the message of God being love and that having love in your life is having God in your life and you cannot have one without the other. If everyone could simply see God as love, it would be that much easier for everyone to realize there is something at work in this world outside of themselves and something powerful beyond belief. I think most people believe in love. If they believe in the power of love, they believe in God; perhaps all people just done like to put that label on it, but God's power and presence is nothing more than something so simple as love. And that is why Jon in my life brings me closer to God, because the love I can experience with him brings me so close to the love of God.

My Wedding on a Budget: 34 Days to Go!

2011-09-04T20:26:00.000-04:00

Getting Greystone Ready
Nic & Michelle were home today as were Seth & Rebecca. As you can imagine, this was great for Mom and especially Pa who had extra hands and muscle. They are worry more about the look of the Realm of Greystone than the reception itself and Pa has quite the list of projects he wants done to have the place "ready". Jon's been doing his best to tackle things but having the boys home today was definitely a boost. I told you last week they worked on the Knob End Bridge. Well on Thursday Uncle Fron helped Jon a little more with that as they got the rest of the gravel brought over so they could even out the road/passage across. Yesterday Jon went down the road with the big tree trimmer and cut down low hanging limbs and close trees down The Lane. Pa's been working on stoning the cistern top. Today Deutsch and Nic worked on more of the stone work on the path in front of the house while Pa and Jon pressure washed the house. It FINALLY started raining today and it seems like it's going to continue into the night. We needed this soaking...everything was getting so dry that leaves are beginning to fall. We can't have the colors change and leaves disappear too soon. Fall needs to hold on until October so I can have a beautiful weekend, semi-warm, still colorful, DRY day!

My Wedding on a Budget: 35 Days to Go!

2011-09-03T20:35:00.000-04:00

Lexington Trip
Lots done this morning in Lex! Jerusha came withe Mom and I this morning, and I'm very grateful! Our first stop was the flower place, which we had to pretend that we were simply pick out what we wanted Karen's florist to put together for us so that Karen can order them for us at her wholesale price. So, so many flowers to choose from so it was definitely helpful having Jerusha and Mom both there to ask me questions... "Do you like these or these?" "Do you want these in the bridesmaid bouquets?" "Do you want any white in your bouquet?" The good news is, with what I was going for, I picked out all cheap flowers.! Not really a rose kind of wedding and lilies are too springy. I'm going with white daisies for the bridesmaids and hopefully purple dahlias with purple stock for my bouquet but if the dahlias have already died out for the season I'll go with purple spider mums. Then we picked out some other things for a few other arrangements. In the end I'm not too worried about it. To me, flowers are pretty so whatever the combination...it will be pretty!

Then it was to Macy's at Fayette Mall to hit up the MAC counter. Rachel met us there. We couldn't get a girl to do the makeup application before 11 a.m. So in our 45 minute wait we found this kiosk with these dress/wrap/skirts. They were pretty simple but the 2 layers of patterned material at different lengths cut in such a way and put together so that it could be wrapped and tied in multiple ways to be dresses or skirts. Very, very cool. So, of course, Rachel and Jerusha talked me into getting one. It'll be a perfect carry-on item for the honeymoon, because even if they lose my other luggage at least I'll have something that poses well as multiple dresses, right?

Make up went well minus the fact I had to spend a ton of money on it in order to get the stuff I'll need. Part of me hates it but the other part is just trying to just remind myself I can use it for years to come and it'll be worth it for keeping a nice look all day long, which I definitely want. I will still need to find blush and lip stuff similar to what they used but Rachel said buying their top of the line stuff wasn't critical for those two elements.

Last thing we did was Mom had been looking for something for herself to wear. She found a nice black chiffon skirt and satin-like purple top to go with it. She's still not 100% convinced it's what she wants, so we'll see. But while she was checking out for that we sorted through all of the clearance swim suits and found one that was a black- white-aqua that I went ahead and got since I never even got one this summer.

Oh and I also stopped in Men's Warehouse to turn in our code card for the $40 discount on all of the tuxes. I am pretty sure Jon is just going to switch them all to the cheaper tux which I am completely okay with. I don't think anyone will notice or care, minus all of the guys renting them. They'll care and be glad they are saving $50!

My Wedding on a Budget: 36 Days to Go!

2011-09-02T12:17:00.000-04:00

Ready for a long weekend!
We have an entire weekend ahead of us to look forward to of being in the Valley with a bonus day thanks to Labor Day!

I finally called Jeannie in Junction City to cancel the hair reservation I'd made after the trial run. Luckily she was very nice and just said, "Okay thanks for letting me know," so I didn't have to feel bad.

I also called Shades just to double check on the make-up thing. Turns out the WILL do make up application! Obviously it's not their main trade so the guy I spoke to said he recommended bringing some of your own stuff--especially foundation or powder--because they mainly had some Mary Kay stuff. It's only $15 to have it done so now I can message all of my girls and let them know they have an option for make-up if it is something they want to have done rather than doing it themselves. PLUS I can have them do mine and not worry about Rachel or Holly having to do it. I'm still going to go tomorrow, as planned, to have it done somewhere like MAC so I can buy some products.

The flower place changed and now we have to be there and do our thing BEFORE 10 a.m. so we're leaving nice and early at 7 a.m!

My Wedding on a Budget: 37 Days to Go!

2011-09-01T22:27:00.000-04:00

Veil...Check!
Aunt Lea is done with my veil! I picked it up this evening and it looks wonderful! She did an excellent job. I officially have a veil and it's even more excited to have had it made by someone so near and dear to me!

Here is some more good news: Shades, the salon, will do make up! They don't have a big line or anything too fancy so the guy, Brian (the one Holly was familiar with), told me that they recommend us bringing some of our own stuff--particularly foundation and powder. It's only $15 a person. I'm just glad to be able to give the other girls an option and to not have to worry about who is going to do mine. I'm still planning to do the Mac counter or something on Saturday. Jo and Rachel both recommend Mac as the best brand to really look good and last all day...and, well, let's face it... Of my bridal party, I'd say those two are the experts! Brian also told me that we are free to bring morning mimosas and food/party trays and our own music. We'll be the only ones at the salon!

Kara and I also chatted at length online today. She found the smaller size cake pan she needed for the top layer of the cake, so I think she is going to do a trial this Tuesday or so and then I can come by and bring my ribbon and maybe by then I'll have picked out flowers for the rest of the wedding and have an idea for her. I just have to remember to bring my stuff up to her!

My Wedding on a Budget: 38 Days to Go!

2011-08-31T16:44:00.000-04:00

Planning for Saturday
As usual, there wasn't a lot of time for wedding progress on Driving Wednesday. However, I got to talk with both Mom and Rachel on the phone about plans for the weekend. Karen (the caterer) has a flower guy that we, as of now, are planning to get our fresh cut flowers from. He's got a weird schedule for when he's available for us to come look at flower options and basically the only time that works is he is there from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays. Oh, and I guess I should mention that he is in Lexington.

So the plan is to go scout out flowers on Saturday and while I'm in Lexington I'm going to do a make up run through and probably buy some stuff I'll use the day of. I haven't found out for sure if the salon does or doesn't do make-up but we're kind of thinking no, so I'm trying to figure out a plan. I trust Holly or Rachel to do it but I want to have an idea of what I want it to look like and I want quality products that will look nice in pictures and hold up through the day. So I'm going to either the mall Mac counter or Rachel's friend works at a salon who sells a lot of stuff so maybe there. The other thing I am still considering is seeing if Kathy Goode, who did Kelli's hair and make up for her wedding, would be willing to come up to the salon to do it and free to do so. Because, believe it or not, this isn't all just about me. I know some of the girls would prefer and find it fun to have someone else (who knows what they're doing) to do their make up and I'd like to at least give them an option.

I also need to call poor Jeannie in Junction City and tell her I won't be coming to her solo salon!

My Wedding on a Budget: 39 Days to Go!

2011-08-30T20:31:00.000-04:00

Taking care of the girls!
I'll be honest... I relaxed a lot tonight. So many of the big things are being scratched off! I did order the jewelry that Rachel and I picked out over the weekend. It's from a site I found a month or so ago called 2-B-Unique that has very, very cheap jewelry and sets. There were lots of good testimonials about it and it sounds like it's been used for lots of bridal jewelry. Worst case scenario i get it and return it, right? I'll give you the final opinion when it actually comes in.

The little black dress Michelle is going to wear came in so she tried it on tonight and measured her waistline to give the measurement to KK for the sash she is making. Becky also texted me and found some shoe options for herself so I think she is going to send me some pictures.

PS... I just realized I need to give Jon credit for his wedding progress as well. He got in touch with all of his boys today and even talked with Men's Warehouse. He's also been in touch with Bill Dysinger regularly over the past few days and really staying on them about having our rings done when they said they would...which would be this Friday!

My Wedding on a Budget: 40 Days to Go!

2011-08-29T22:37:00.000-04:00

Kudos to BookIt.com's customer service!
We're up to 87 RSVPs (not counting any Mom got in the mail today) and only 12 of those are No's....Deutsch better get that closed-circuit thing worked out is all I've got to say!

I have to give props to BookIt.com's customer service. Being that I somewhat work in customer service, I shouldn't continue to be so skeptical. However, so many places that you contact for help either:
(a) put you through loop after loop of automated selections that never really lead you to your answers and there is no way to get to an actual human
(b) the person who answers doesn't really seem to care what your question is and doesn't even seem to know much about the business or product your inquiring about but has a canned set of responses they spat back.
This was not my experience with BookIt.com. I called and yes I did have the automated service and selection options, and was then put on hold; however, one of the immediate hold options was to request a call back when someone was available rather than being stuck on the phone waiting. Still being skeptical I stayed on the phone, thinking I'd never get a call back. However, after about 5 or 10 minutes I'd lost my patience and didn't want to listen to their music and messages anymore so I punched in the numbers to request a call back. It wasn't 5 minutes when my phone rang. The lady I spoke with was extremely nice and it was like working with a human so all I could imagine was one of us at Try It Local on the other end of the phone with one of our customers and what they imagine with us. She answered my questions and took some extra notes about our stay and put them into the reservation for the hotel--including the fact we are coming on a honeymoon so we get the free honeymoon package! Woo woo! I feel much better, not only to have spoken with someone, but feeling that if I have other questions or concerns, someone will be able to hear them and help me out.

My Wedding on a Budget: 41 Days to Go!

2011-08-28T19:52:00.000-04:00

Amazing how relaxed I feel from a day of being in the house doing chores! Let me tell you about my checklist today...

Folded laundry
Ironed hanging laundry
Swept the kitchen
Scrubbed the kitchen floor (I remembered today we have no mop **hint, hint...there's a wedding gift idea for ya!**...so it was on to my hands and knees to play Cinderella.)
Put away more wedding gifts/Boxed up more borrowed loft kitchen "stuff".
Made chocolate zucchini bread (Made it from a recipe in one of the books his mom and sister got me)
Sauteed cabbage, peppers and onions for dinner

After doing all of that Jon was still off and away doing lots of busy outside work (More work on the bridge! You can drive over it now!), I knocked out a bunch more thank-you notes. I nearly have them all done but I just need to buy stamps so I can actually get them in the mail! I also sipped on some of the wine that Jon's parents gave to us to try for the reception. Friday I tried the Windsor Wall red and tonight the white. I think the red was a bit too sweet for me. Very good, but not what I would choose. I liked the white better.

Oh and please admire my all the pretty purple in the bathroom from all of the shower gifts. I blended in well in my skirt that Jon gave me for my birthday. He sure must love me a lot to put up with so much purple in his life!

My Wedding on a Budget: 42 Days to Go!

2011-08-28T00:06:00.000-04:00

Building Bridges

Jon gets most of the credit for wedding progress today. He, Pa and Uncle Fron did quite a bit of "heavy lifting" to help us get one step closer to having our Knob End reception. What we've always called a "bridge" that passes back into Knob End Meadow is not quite a bridge anymore. There used to be a small pipe that ran under the ground for the small creek but it has since become buried and filled with gravel so water just runs over it when we have heavy down pours, rather than under it. While we may not be having guests drive over that bridge, the caterers and tent people will probably need/want to in order to set up. Luckily, thanks to Grandybo's "scrounge" mentality, there were some giant concrete tiles in the old Hay Barn. So with the help of Fron's Back-Ho skills they laid the tiles and tomorrow they'll bring over gravel to even it out with the lay of the land so it's passable. I'd like to stone either side of it but we'll see what's possible before October 8!

Rachel and I canned tomatoes, which has nothing to do with the wedding prep, but it did lead to Mom and I making salsa. Then when Mom and I were chatting about having some pre-dinner snacks out, we thought maybe we could make enough salsa to set it out with chips. (Heaven knows we have enough tomatoes!! ...We'll see if we have enough time.) Mom also got out these pretty (and tasty) raspberry yogurt covered pretzels. She picked them up at the Peddler's Mall yesterday and thought they might make a nice snack (and very fitting with their pretty purple color!)

My new camcorder came in and Seth was home so he could go into the church and check out what we have/need in order to set up a closed-circuit broadcast of the ceremony downstairs. I'm excited about the new camera. I'll definitely have to buy a memory card for it, as expected. It's zoom quality is less than ideal, but for $100 I'll get enough out of it! Also, Mom had the bags embroidered for my bridesmaids! (And if you are a bridesmaid reading this...sorry, it's ruined, but good for you for reading my blog!)

Long, tiring day...yet productive! That's how it works when we stay home!

My Wedding on a Budget: 43 Days to Go!

2011-08-26T21:42:00.000-04:00

Love is Passion...Obsession...Something You Can't Live Without
First and foremost: eyes are much better today.

Rachel came down this evening to stay the night. Jon and I dug potatoes after work and then headed home to fix chicken. Mom called while we were doing so and said that they were going to put Meet Joe Black on. Turns out it was Pa's idea.

Interesting that such a story touched me at age 14. I think I could quote that entire movie, but it's just the nuggets of ideas throughout the entire thing that got seeded in me. It is a great love story but it's also a great story about the priceless-ness of life in general and being a genuine, honorable person, like Anthony Hopkin's William Parish. The whole thing is about love and how it is what makes us human and makes life worth living.

And it's not just the love story about finding that one where lightening will strike, but the passion Bill has for his company and it's purpose, passion for his family and for his daughter. And that is why, even when very, very few understand it, I'll dance with my Pa to the instrumental version of "What a Wonderful World" from the Meet Joe Black soundtrack, because that is what William Parish and his daughter, Susan (Claire Forlani) dance to. Every time I hear the song I get teared up so who knows what will happen that day. But I do love my Pa and it has been through his love for me, his love for mom and his love for our family that I have learned what great love is and sought to find it for myself. Fortunately, I found Jon to not only love...but to be that person whom I could love like crazy and does love me the same way back.

My Wedding on a Budget: 44 Days to Go!

2011-08-25T20:43:00.000-04:00

Too much light? Not enough light?
My eyes are wacked! They hurt on the drive home last night (as they have been burning during my drives more and more) but they were burning so badly during the night that it woke me up and I couldn't even sleep! This actually began in April when one eye or the other would randomly be very bloodshot--but not hurt. That continued for awhile and would come and go but never physically hurt. Then about a month ago when I'd drive to work in the early mornings my eyes would burn terribly and it was hard to even keep them open. I attributed it to allergies or these new brand contacts and would just wear my (not up to date and slightly blurry) glasses. But it seems even when I wear my glasses they hurt AND the fact they were burning at night proved it was something far worse. I could barely keep my eyes open when I woke up this morning. Anything remotely bright hurt them that much more than they already did. I tried to get started on some work (knowing there was no way I could go a full day) but I called the optometrist and the receptionist said to come in as soon as possible because the mornings were less busy. Todd was very cool about work and immediately took off my plate the priority things that had to get done and told me to get to the doctor. Problem is... it's not so safe to drive when you can't keep your eyes open! Thank goodness Jon was able to leave work and come get me. It only took Dr. Ward a minute or two to look at my eyes and diagnose me with a bacteria infection, write a prescription and tell me I was curable! I was mainly glad he said there WAS something wrong. If he'd told me he couldn't see anything wrong but allergies I would've died.... I feel helpless without my eyeballs!

So we went to Kroger to get my eye drops. While they filled the prescription we stopped in at Tractor Supply where I decided to price Tiki Torches and in turn found ground lanterns on sale! On sale for only $5, (regularly $15), a box of six approx. 10-in tall solar lanterns that you stick into the ground. They don't create full illumination but they will be perfect for near the pathways and bridges and bathrooms. And for $5 you can't beat it, right? Lights may be hurting my eyes today but extra light that night will be good.

I have to wear my glasses and use these drops for the next 10 days. He said I should start feeling better within 24-48 hours...hopefully it's 24. I'm just glad I finally got something done about it rather than having red, watery, burning eyes on the wedding day!

My Wedding on a Budget: 45 Days to Go!

2011-08-24T19:06:00.000-04:00

Presents at the door step!
Headed home tonight and several packages had come in the mail during my days away. The shower gift Anne-Tyler had shipped was there--two GREAT baking pans! Plus the china place setting (From Bed, Bath & Beyond) that Jon's Aunt Rhonda and Uncle Scott had gotten us arrived. It is so beautiful and maybe a bit fancy for what you'd expect from Jon and I but I love the blue and silver and I think Jon likes it too--He says he does at least. :) My cupcake papers also came in but they messed up the order slightly. I had more than enough green polkadot papers but was short on the purples by 150!! Luckily the lady at Baker's Confection (the business I ordered from on Etsy.com) was quick to respond and is sending the rest of my order. I'm just glad I counted!

I cannot express to you how excited Jon and I are to have an ENTIRE weekend to stay home! We haven't had this in weeks and weeks. Who ever knew staying home could be so exciting!

My Wedding on a Budget: 46 Days to Go!

2011-08-23T22:11:00.000-04:00

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
I did quite a bit of that tonight! I finally have time to knock out some of these thank you cards I need to write from my showers earlier this month. The last 3 weeks have been madness with how much traveling has been involved. I think I wrote it a night or two ago, but I cannot express how excited I am to have several weekends of STAYING HOME with Jon. Sure I have to drive to Louisville for work, but compared to these exhausting last few weeks, traveling up here for a couple of nights of work won't be anything! Anyway, yes I knocked out the thank yous from the shower in Ohio and 90% of those from Evansville. I know people always say to not worry about sending them a thank-you but I truly want to do this and give them a good little note inside. These people have NO REASON to buy us gifts. Sure it's customary that you have showers before weddings and people bring gifts, but the truth is, NONE of this is about presents. Jon and I are just so excited to begin life together and we'd love to have our closest friends and family be a witness to that beginning. So the fact people are buying us things to begin our new life with is above and beyond, I don't care what today's culture says. I am thankful to anyone who thinks of us during this time, says a prayer or shoots us kind words and I mean that with all of my heart. So for all of you out there... regardless of any gifts we may or may not have gotten from you... thank YOU for wishing us well on our marriage!

My Wedding on a Budget: 47 Days to Go!

2011-08-22T22:47:00.000-04:00

Purple Feet!
Many know that I am not a big fan of feet, so I'm down for doing whatever to make my feet be enjoyable to myself on my wedding day. I am most definitely getting my toes done when I do my nails, so with that in mind, I feel it is silly to wear closed toe shoes! (Nevermind that it will be October!) I have been hunting around for awhile. Found on pair on Zappos.com that I really liked but I just cannot bring myself to spend $70 on shoes for my weddings. I have a hard time even spending that much on running shoes that I know I'm really going to run into the ground--literally! What's made my hunt a little trickier are my stipulations for the type of shoes. Somewhere along the line I really fell in love with the idea of doing PURPLE shoes. What a fun way to accent myself with a little purple flare! My other tricky criteria is that I want flats. This is two fold: (1) Jon is not exactly a super tall guy, but let's do what we can to keep him a decent height above me! (2) I cannot wear heels at the reception.

I think I'll end up going with these Report sandals I found on Endless.com. They are only $30 and if I get them now I'll have time to return if necessary.

But I just checked the Zappos shoes again...and now they're only $62....

My Wedding on a Budget: 48 Days to Go!

2011-08-21T22:20:00.000-04:00

Breath of Fresh Air
The most amazing thing about today was that Jon and I looked at the calendar from now until the wedding and saw that minus our bachelor/bachelorette parties... we have free schedules! Next weekend...NOTHING! Labor Day weekend...NOTHING! I guess it is a definite sign of growing up when nothing-ness gets you EXCITED.

We didn't get home as early as I would have hoped but that was more because of me dragging my feet this morning than Jon. Mom and I were going to can but we put that project on hold and instead reviewed wedding notes on her list. She's still feeling stressed about loose ends and sometimes I think she just needs to talk them through in order to feel organized about it. She's now leaning towards paying a local friend to simply escort cars out to Hwy. 127 from the reception to help them from getting lost, rather than hiring a shuttle service. Since the church and reception are so far from the hotels it would be tough to predict how many people would take advantage of the service and make it work logistically. I think the new idea makes more sense. Plus, after this weekend, it sounds as though many of our younger friends will be camping.

Jon was a sweetie and fixed dinner for my birthday which was yesterday. We enjoyed the meal and a movie (A Knights Tale...Heath Ledger also for my birthday). What a wonderful man I'll get to soon call my husband!

My Wedding on a Budget: 49 Days to Go!

2011-08-20T21:07:00.000-04:00

Sara & Adam Forever and Always!
Today was the day!!! Sara has become a GRESS! Yes, my 26th birthday will always be a memorable one as it was Sara and Adam's wedding day. It was full of friends, fun and love! The boys all looked so handsome. The ceremony was beautiful--the clouds came out for the ceremony so it made it a little cooler, which was very nice. Sara was like a princess. Gress looked like the happiest boy alive. The reception was elegant and amazing. The fun was priceless! There is nothing like celebrating such a joyous occasion with your closest friends. It is one thing to party all of the time when you are young and in college, but something all together different when you are older and have become adults and have a reason to truly celebrate.

The ceremony was outdoors under a giant tree--so perfect for the two of them. There was a cocktail hour inside while they finished pictures where we began to take advantage of the open bar and the tasty foods. The meal was delicious and Little Ben's band played the reception. Big Ben helped with their DJing and emcee duties, which gave me all the more confidence about how wonderful he'll be for mine and Jon's. The reception even ended with Backstreet Boys even though technically it was supposed to already be done. The celebration continued back at the hotel and into the night.

Oh and how could I forget, the garder came flying RIGHT at Jon! Which only meant I HAD to catch the bouquet. Plus, I have never caught one and this was my last chance...and we have done so much wedding planning with those two it was only right. What a wonderful night!

My Wedding on a Budget: 50 Days to Go!

2011-08-19T20:28:00.000-04:00

Videography: CHECK!
Sort of... I decided to not do a videographer and instead invest money in a video camera. There were several reasons for this decision.

Videos of people's weddings are always fun and cool but I feel like there is so much they leave out.
Videographers usually leave before the end of the night and the latter part of the reception is some of the most fun!
I want the raw footage to be able to edit and have fun with myself!
I can have this camera passed around all day from start to finish and I am going to ask Uncle Jerome and Aunt Janet to borrow their flip cam so the boys can have one for pre-wedding activities. (I'll probably put Deutsch in charge of that.)
We'll have a video camera to take on the honeymoon with us.
It's much cheaper (I didn't get anything fancy) and I can continue to use this investment.

I looked for awhile deciding on what to get. I really liked the idea of the small and simple flip cam but the drawback for me was that they have internal memory. The best one you could get is a 8 GB which holds approx. 4 hours of footage. Knowing that the ceremony itself could be over an hour plus you have some pre-wedding fun and then toasts and so on and so forth. Four hours may be plenty but I want to have plenty. This camera has a small amount of internal memory but has a slot for memory cards, which means I can buy as many as I want and have plenty, plenty of time for footage. I went with a Toshiba Camileo S30 full HD. It's very small and sleek. Not top of the line by any means but the good news is it was only just over $100. I originally looked into it because I found a deal for it for only $50. Unfortunately the deal ended up a little while ago and I couldn't take advantage but it sold me on that camera and then I found the new version of it and what the heck...gotta just check things off the list and make decisions!

Sara and Gress's Rehearsal and Dinner were tonight!! I cannot believe their big day is finally here! It's been a long time coming and I'm very excited to celebrate with them!

My Wedding on a Budget: 51 Days to Go!

2011-08-18T19:18:00.000-04:00

RSVPs!!
They're coming in!! I remember Michelle talking about how exciting it was for her to check the mail everyday to see what would be waiting in the mailbox. Unfortunately I cannot check the mailbox, one, because I am in Louisville some days and two, because they come to my mom. However, I get to check the online RSVPs through the website...and believe me, I am checking it constantly! It truly is so fun as they start to roll in. It's like the day is slowly becoming a reality as you can see the church and reception filling up with people.

My Wedding on a Budget: 52 Days to Go!

2011-08-17T11:52:00.000-04:00

Driving Day Wednesday! (ie: Not much wedding productivity!) I did get my cupcake papers ordered last night as well as picking out a tote for the bridesmaids to have Mom order and get the embroidery work going. The house is such a MESS right now from all of the gifts we brought home this weekend and my lack of being here to organize it in any way, shape or form! And, unfortunately, there probably won't be much time for any of it until NEXT weekend. Gress & Sara's wedding is on Saturday, which means we will have to be in Louisville on Friday for the rehearsal. Hopefully Sunday will bring for some accomplishments, but we are falling behind on garden work as well. The garden is currently exploding with tomatoes. Canning is well overdue!

My Wedding on a Budget: 53 Days to Go!

2011-08-16T23:33:00.000-04:00

Getting Crafty, Saving Dollars!
KK and I headed to JoAnn Fabrics this evening to pick out materials for several items she's making for the wedding. Originally it was going to just be the pew decorations, but after talking with the girls on Sunday and looking at her samples, it's just silly to buy the sashes/belts for her and Michelle to wear or to buy the flower hair clips for the bridesmaids.

The worst part is that I am a terrible decision maker--that on top of the fact the store was not well organized. Some materials and some colors were grouped but not in any sensible way. So we were mainly looking for chiffon and satin, but chiffon (in purple) was nearly impossible to find and in hit and miss places! So we were having to carry material back and forth, here to there to compare side by side and figure out what we liked best.

We finally went with a wisteria looking purple ribbon for the belt itself and two different purples for flowers: a darker almost grayish purple light silky material and a iris chiffon. The belt will have two iris chiffon flowers on either side of one darker purple flower. The pews will be a pretty classic larger purple flower made of a silk satin material. A chiffon-like muted green material will tie around it and hang and we'll use that same wisteria ribbon to tie it the pews. The hair piece flowers are just a white, shiny satin that is more or less none-shiny on the flip side, giving it almost a two-tone look. We may add tulle or chiffon to the flowers. I also picked up a few spools of ribbon to possibly use for the cake.

All said an done we spent less that $60 (should have been less than $50 but they were difficult about KK's 20% off coupon she had on her phone and said they couldn't take the number from it because it had to be scanned... was pretty frustrating actually). When i was researching belts they ranged from $22 to $75. I'd have probably gone with a $25 one. The hair flowers were anywhere from $5 to $12. Who knows how much pew decor would have been. If I'd have bought these things individually, it would have been well over $100. (Probably closer to $150). This will have much more meaning coming from KK...plus there was a lot of quality time for us to spend together!

My Wedding on a Budget: 54 Days to Go!

2011-08-15T22:05:00.000-04:00

And the Invites are OUT!
I started getting texts and messages online today as people were seeing pretty purple envelopes arrive in their mailboxes!! I guess that makes it extra official, huh? We've not invited nearly 350 people and told them a date, time and place...better not back out now, huh? :-)

I had to spend my evening then making sure the online RSVP was all up to date! I hope it all works right and I hope, hope, hope we didn't somehow forget someone! I'm excited to begin seeing the RSVP cards arrive and numbers update on the web. Let's see just how many people we SHOULD expect to fit in the teeny-tiny church!

My Wedding on a Budget: 55 Days to Go!

2011-08-14T20:56:00.000-04:00

Shower #3: Family & Friends All Around!
I cannot tell you how crazy it was to see so many of my favorite ladies ALL in the same place! It was great enough to see Michelle's house transforming into a cute party place full of purple decorations and delightful food, but then the Dixon family began to filter in...then friend after friend after friend. Everyone there from my aunts and cousins and Grammo... to college friends like Alex Henning to GSP friends like Anne-Tyler! Virginia came and even introduced herself as knowing me by "marrying into the Man Clan." KK came and brought some sample flower decorations and with the other girls we made decisions on which ones for the sashes, which ones for hair and which ones for the pews. Jerusha's cake-pops were adorable. Holly's games were fun and any time Holly is hosting something (and just talking in general) people end up with a laugh. I got lots, lots, LOTS more presents. Jon and I don't even know what to think of it all!
Mainly I just had a wonderful time having so many fun people around me. It's overwhelming even imagining how the actual day itself will be when it will be ten fold what it was today! I'm getting more and more excited about the time I'll get with the girls at both the bachelorette and just the day of. In many ways October still seems a good ways off, but with how fast summer itself has gone I have no doubts it will be here in a blink! The most fun I've found in all of this, though, is having other people get excited with me! It's just great to feel that other people are EXCITED for this and not just doing it because they have to. At least I sure hope that is the case!

Caitlan "KK" (cousin & attendant), Becky (college roommate & bridesmaid), Holly Jo (cousin & Maid of Honor), ME!, Rachel (sister & Matron of Honor), Dani (college roommate & bridesmaid), Michelle (sister-in-law & attendant)

My Wedding on a Budget: 56 Days to Go!

2011-08-13T22:43:00.000-04:00

Shower #2: With the soon-to-be "in-laws"!
How overwhelming!! I cannot really describe what it is like to receive so much from so many people--especially in this case where I hardly know so many of the people from today! Cassie and Jenny put together a Couple's Shower for Jon and I. I normally wouldn't have really felt it was necessary to make it for us both (ie, I wouldn't have made Jon sit through a shower), but we decided it was a good choice for a few reasons:
(1) By myself, I would only know a handful of the people
(2) Jon hadn't seen some/many of these people in a long time either
(3) This gave people a chance to congratulate us who may not make it the distance to the Kentucky wedding in October.

The shower was lovely and very purple-filled! Yummy food and drinks and lots of great people. I felt bad to have not spent more time with some of the people whom I hardly know yet bought us gifts. However, several people warned me that the day-of will be even worse as far as the amount of time I get with people. The more I think about it, the more overwhelming it feels--so many people I care about that I want to thank for being there with so little time to do it!

We got so many wonderful gifts today. Many great tools and utensils we'd registered for at one place or another. Jon's neighbor (Jenny and Mike's neighbor) gave us SO MUCH! She made us lots and lots of beautiful throw-pillows along with boxes of other things.His grandmother made us a quilt. One of his old Scout leaders who is another Bellarmine grad got us really cool 2011 National Basketball Championship coffee mugs. Yes, all of the presents were amazing, but really it was just nice to get to spend some more time with so many of the people who have been a part of Jon's life for so long and will now become a loving, supporting, wonderful part of my life as well.

My Wedding on a Budget: 57 Days to Go!

2011-08-12T22:31:00.000-04:00

Friday's always seem to have traveling involved these days! That also usually means little time for wedding progress...however, today did bring for some progress. I finalized which flower girl dress Julianna will wear. I went up to visit Aunt Lea to give her a few answers on what I was envisioning with the veil. It really should be pretty simple and we even found online the one (I'm pretty sure) that I tried on at David's Bridal that gave me the idea for what I wanted made. Jerusha was busy-busy-busy finishing up Cake-Pops for the shower on Sunday. I was lucky enough to get to taste-test a couple! Delicious indeed!

We headed for Newburgh tonight for tomorrow's shower with Jon's friends and family. It will be followed by the Dixon family/Louisville friend's shower on Sunday. (I know, I know...Quite a shower filled weekend!) I started working on some thank-you notes from last weekend's Ohio shower while in the truck (YES, we drove the new truck) and we also went through my iPod listing some of our "must play" songs for the reception!

My Wedding on a Budget: 58 Days to Go!

2011-08-11T22:36:00.001-04:00

Signed, Sealed, Delivered!
...Almost! Minus a couple of missing addresses, Mom and I have all of the envelopes addressed and stuffed! We are lucky to have some spares to replace the screw ups (on my part... and a few we can blame on Dani, right?) I'm really, really nervous about the church. We cannot fit all of these people. I don't even know how they'd fit standing! Mom says it will be fine but I feel it's kind of inconsiderate to invite so many people knowing they'll never fit in the church, but I guess they forgive you because it's your wedding? Plus it's my church from growing up and now mine and Jon's church.

Mom should be able to stamp them and get them out this weekend.

One step closer...

My Wedding on a Budget: 59 Days to Go!

2011-08-10T22:30:00.000-04:00

Possession of the Dress!
It's ready! The alterations on my dress were complete, so I went by and tried it on (fits perfectly) and had Jo come with me so she learn the tricks of bustling it and I brought it on home! So it will hang at Greystone until the big day at this point! The longer I have it and the more I see it the more excited I am to wear it and the more I'm sure I picked just the right dress!

I checked in on the girls' dresses while I was there and had to do some prodding to remind them to get on ordering the dresses! I thought Valerie was the only one left, due to the adjusting post-pregnancy size, but no. Kelli and Holly are the only ones who have dresses so far!

I also stopped by Plato's Closet (looking for some shoes) but instead spent $20 and got 4 dresses I can wear for showers and the honeymoon. Love, love, love good deals!

My Wedding on a Budget: 60 Days To Go!

2011-08-09T14:26:00.000-04:00

Off for the Holiday: Valerie-Rita Day

There was no time for wedding planning today, besides, you're supposed to take off for holidays, right? August 9 is mine and Valerie's most important holiday (yes, we have more than one self-instated holidays). Since the summer we met in 2003 we have never not seen each other on August 9. The first 2 years were by chance and the third year was luck (we had scheduled to work in Virginia Beach together prior to thinking about the date). Since then it has been planned and sometimes nearly forced. (For example, the year Kelli and Brandon got married in Richmond and I was in the wedding. There was no chance until I ended up going back to Holly's in Lexington to stay that night and we opted to hit the bars so I called Valerie and she met us out!) It gets harder as we get older but we nearly forgot this year. Mainly because time is moving so fast! It would have been tragic if in a week or two we realized we'd not even thought about it. It was a great evening of chit-chat. Crazy yet amazing where our lives are... discussing new life with a baby for her and my soon-to-be married life!

My Wedding on a Budget: 61 Days to Go!

2011-08-08T22:58:00.000-04:00

Little Purple Dresses: The Flower Girl
I love that Aunt Janet gets excited about these kinds of things! I talked with her at the reunion this weekend about Julianna's flower girl dress. I told her I didn't want to necessarily do the standard white flower girl dress. I feel like, as a little girl, having something purple would be much more fun! I told her I'd research and bring her a few ideas at Sunday's shower. Today, though, she sent me about 4 emails after doing her own research. At first she didn't remember what the material in the other dresses was (chiffon) but after I reminded her she found a VERY cute one. I really, really like it and I'm pretty sure she does as well. My ONLY hesitation is that it is a dark purple--which I'm fine with; I just don't want it to clash in any way with the other "lapis" purple dresses of Rachel and Valerie. However, the only purple I could really go with that wouldn't possibly clash with one of the other colors would be a lilac purple, which I'd been steering clear of due to it being very "springy". In the end, though, the flowing purple one seems great for fall and is just adorable so I'll probably go with it (top left image). The one below it is nearly identical. The bottom right has some shiny satin material up top which throws it off a bit.

Aah... decision, decisions!
TWO MONTHS exactly!

My Wedding on a Budget: 62 Days to Go!

2011-08-07T22:43:00.000-04:00

Invitations: Almost there!
It was a major invitation day! I knew it would take some time but I didn't think of it taking almost a whole day. (Then again, after a late return from Ohio last night, we slept in pretty darn late and lazed around before getting going on much of anything today.)

So the invitations consisted of first lining up and making sure all of the Invites, RSVPs and inserts printed out right. Then we printed the invites... Then Mom printed the RSVPs while I stamped the RSVP envelopes. I tried to do the paper cutting of the giant 12x12 green sheets we had to cut into 6 4x6 sheets for the directions and hotel info. Yeah, I've never been so hot with a paper cutter. So I did that for like...two cards and got fired and Mom took over while I started to stamp the return address labels. Next Mom printed out the green sheets and then Jon came in and helped out with the paper cutting.

We took a dinner break and then came back later with the intention to stuff them all...but we didn't get quite through. Turns out we hadn't realized that the little ribbons that tie around the whole dealy are not even tied yet...so that was a bit of a slow down. So Jon and I put together everything else with each envelope while Mom tied the bows. We stopped on about a third of them at about 10. She's going to continue with the bows the next few nights and hopefully we can finish them up at the end of the week so she'll be happy and be true to her word and have them out the second week of August!

My Wedding on a Budget: 63 Days to Go!

2011-08-06T23:37:00.000-04:00

My First Wedding Shower!
Rachel took on organizing my first shower,but it we quickly learned it should have never been titled a shower since she expected men to come as well. The point of it was to give any of the Rousculp/King/Gill side of the family the chance to congratulate the two of us especially considering many of them might not make it to the wedding. Jon was a real sport about it when he heard it was a "couples shower" but it wasn't even a really big to-do anyway. Debra did a beautiful job of opening up their house to host (since the actual family reunion was up the street at Uncle David's). There were a few snacks and drinks. She even made me one of the fun, cool towel cake displays as her gift. Rachel put a fun game together for us. She knows I am not a big fan of shower games, but this e played the newlywed game but all married couples plus us got to play. Seth was our game show host, and as Deutsch tends to do, he played it up and did well. The best question for us had to be "Your significant other hires a beautiful blond secretary. What do you do?" We, the ladies, had to write out an answer and then the men had to say what they though our answer was. I'm not sure if anyone else got that one right but we sure did! Thanks to my silly dream I had about 2 months into our relationship when a waitress licked on his fingers and I poked her eyes out for it! So When Jon answered, "She'd tell me 'No finger sucking.'" Everyone looked at him funny until I turned over my paper which read, "I'd tell him not to let her lick his fingers." That just lead to lots of laughter and the need to explain. It was a fun first shower and a great chance to get some hugs of congratulations and laughs with family I don't see enough.

I saw KK at the Seitz reunion (Also going on today in Ohio.) She's going to make some trial flowers this week to bring to the Louisville shower next week to decide if she can make the sashes for her and Michelle. I also saw Janet and Julianna there, so I talked with Aunt Janet about what type of dress I'd like Julianna to wear. I'm going to bring her some ideas also to the shower next weekend.

Jon and I did some reading during our car rides in order to move closer to choosing our readings. Usually readings just lead to discussions on God, love and life and how they all fit together. I could find deep meaning in so many or most of the readings. I would love to have one that, for anyone who is listening that day, they really hear what we are all about.

My Wedding on a Budget: 64 Days to Go!

2011-08-05T23:50:00.000-04:00

Honeymoon: BOOKED!!!
Yikes! We did it! We just booked our HONEYMOON! Going to Mexico! Yep we went with the one I was just posting about. Jon also researched more options on BookIt.com today and we both decided we liked that place more than anything else we found within the same price range. Here was the one problem... it said on the site that the prices were ending at midnight! HOWEVER, we also had to drive to Tipp City, Ohio right after work tonight...which meant we couldn't research and call and ask questions. Instead we had to jump in the car and drive, drive, drive... The trip usually takes about an hour and a half, but our luck, it took us 5 HOURS. So by the time we got to the hotel room, not only was it 11:30, but the price had gone up by $200 ($100 per person). So that made me more hesitant to have to rush through the payments. It's a lot of money! At the same time... considering we could go and not spend a penny more (if we really didn't want to) that's a pretty good package. We have options to do some other things down there. I think our top choices are to visit the ruins (Chitzen Itza) and do the ATV/Zip package. At the same time, there seems to be a lot to do at the resort so we want to get down there and figure it out first. I hope we made the right call in going ahead and booking, but that is my thought process anytime I spend a decent amount of money, even if it is at a good price. I think the increase of $200 just threw me off in the rush :-). I know Jon is more comfortable going somewhere on LAND than doing a cruise on a boat in the middle of the ocean.

My other accomplishment tonight was getting here and trying a PURPLE PINGUS. Rachel had a drink her friend had made before that she thought was purple, called a Pixie Stick. Turns out this mix was more of a blue-green. It is very potent! If it's not purple, though, I'm not sure I'll want to use it over any other drink. I guess I'll be discussing more with Rachel tomorrow.

My Wedding on a Budget: 65 Days to Go!

2011-08-04T12:33:00.000-04:00

I did a little further digging on BookIt.com and man-oh-man do they have some nice packages! All Inclusive as well! I'm hoping there aren't all of these extra fees and things they hit us up for in the end, because right now it appears to be too good to be true!

Here's the one I was looking at: Grand Sunset Princess Resort (I won't lie...It drew me in with the name "Princess"...) in Cancun. We can get there just afternoon on Monday, Oct. 10 (Giving us that Sunday to relax, finish packing, visit, etc.) and come back Friday afternoon...flights and the restaurants included it totals $684 a person! Throw in taxes and transportation to the resort (which we may swap that out for a rental car so we have an easy way to get to the other places we need to go) and you're at $1,647! If we can pay that much and have food, airfare and room covered that is pretty awesome! I'm so glad Jo showed me this site. I am definitely going to call and try to speak with someone before putting money towards it because I want to know we're getting all we think. It appears as though the restaurants are included but I'd hate to bank on that and then it all costs a ton! Then again, we'll be in Mexico so it should all be cheaper anyway.

The other cool part is that there are so many neat things to do near by like ziplining or visiting the Mayan ruins. Now, included in the package is a $90 charge for the roundtrip from the airport to the resort, so we don't have to worry about it ourselves. We could remove that and do a rental car for $18 a day which comes out about the same price. My thought is, if we have the car we can do any traveling we want to; however, are we going to regret trying to get around ourselves as opposed to just riding with people/services who do it everyday? Another cost we might end up with the rental car is parking it in whatever garage they have. It might be less of a headache to just spend the money to take the bus or whatever to the different activities, because you know they'll have that readily available. Maybe the travel to and from those main places is fairly cheap or even a service of the resort.

Jon and I aren't hung up on doing anything overly exotic. We mainly just want time to get away together. In my opinion, whatever is cheap and requires the least work on our behalf is great. So far this is looking like the winner, but I think we'll need to decide soon if we want to get this price!

My Wedding on a Budget: 66 Days to Go!

2011-08-03T22:39:00.001-04:00

It was "driving day" (ie, I drove 2 hours home from Louisville after work) so there wasn't a lot of wedding time. I did give Rachel a call and ask her to follow up on the silver shoes she found at Marshalls that she showed me pictures of on her phone last weekend. Very cute in several styles ranging between $15 and $22. I'm going to let the girls know about them and find out who would like a pair so we can get that scratched off the list.
Jon did some more mowing of our field tonight. Pa had used the finishing mower on the main space in Knob End where the reception will be held. It's starting to come through with pretty nice grass and less woody stumps. Jon took care of mowing some of the lower part of the field where we plan to set up corn hole and yard golf.

Rather than doing any fun wedding stuff on my computer tonight, Jon and I researched auto insurance quotes for this '96 Ranger we're probably getting within the week. Hmm...yes finding ways to save money on wedding planning is much more fun than HAVING to find ways to save money on auto insurance...

My Wedding on a Budget: 67 Days to go!

2011-08-02T21:18:00.000-04:00

I'm taking it pretty easy tonight. I needed that. I've been looking on Etsy for cupcake papers to use. I figure I'll go with green and purple (imagine that) and maybe the patterns like in this picture so we can do each flavor with a different pattern. I'm going to look on some more general bulk sale sites to see if Etsy is the best route or not. These run about $16 for 225 papers.

Holly also introduced me to a site I may look at with Jon for honeymoon options. It's BookIt.com. It seems to be a great place to do last minute trips and get them cheap. My guess is it's resorts and cruises with extra space and when it's so close to that date being passed they'd rather sell it at a cheap rate than make no money at all. I really want Jon to just pick a honeymoon so we can have that decision off our plate!

My Wedding on a Budget: 68 Days to go!

2011-08-01T23:47:00.001-04:00

Here's a quick synopsis:

Yesterday Mom and I verified where we are with the budget. What we've spent, what we're committed to spending and what we have left to spend.

Mom and I finalized the invitation verbiage, insert and RSVP cards. We actually test printed an invite but not the others.

Rachel was visiting so we browsed for jewelry and hair pieces for me and the bridesmaids. We're finding some pretty good options. Claire's hair flower pieces are probably the nicest, cheap option.

Tonight Dani came over and helped me address the invitations. We only messed up SOME... I think we'll have enough extras to make up for the mistakes. :-)

My Wedding on a Budget: 69 Days to Go!

2011-07-31T13:17:00.000-04:00

Our First Wedding Gift!

From Donald Coffman (a friend at our church)

My Wedding on a Budget: So Far!

2011-07-31T10:25:00.000-04:00

With 70 days to go...here is what we have so far. The items marked with a "$" are our big money savers. The more"$" there are, the higher the savings value was.

Date: October 8, 2011
Guest List: Complete with addresses
$ Save the Date: I made a picture montage video that told "the story of us". We emailed and used Facebook to send it out. No cost at all!
Colors: Lots of shades of purple and green!
$$ Flowers: No florist. We'll order fresh cut flowers and make simple bouquets. We'll plant mums at the reception site. We'll probably have the few corsages we need made.
$$ Photography: No professional hired. My cousin Jersuha will be a part of my day taking pictures with her sister Alyx helping as well. We've been over several lists of "must have photos" we found online and developed our own list.
Church: Sacred Heart, my family's small Catholic church in my hometown.
Priest: That of the church. We've met with him twice.
Engaged Encounter: A Catholic church requirement before the sacrament of marriage. We did this back at the beginning June with our two good friends getting married in August, Sara and Adam.
Readings: We haven't chosen the readings but our Godfathers will be doing them.
Bridesmaids: Too many too choose from but I finally got it! Rachel, my sister, is the Matron of Honor; Holly Jo, my cousin, is my Maid of Honor; the four bridesmaids are: Dani, my college roommate and fellow communication major; Becky, also a roommate but also a track teammate; Kelli, a high school friend; Valerie, my "random" friend I met during a high school summer program, Governor's Scholars.
Groomsmen: Michael/"Gohmann" is the Best Man. The groomsmen are: Nic, my older brother; Seth, my younger brother; Adam/"Gress", Jon's friend from Louisville, Aaron, a soccer and high school friend; Daniel, a high school and scouting friend.
Ushers & Attendants: Our ushers are two good friends, Chad and Ben, along with my cousin and Jon's fried, Josh. My cousin, Caitlan, and sister-in-law, Michelle, are keeping the Guest Book and handing out programs.
Little people: Our Godchildren will be our flowergirl and ring bearer.
$ Church decorations: Caitlan is making some decorations for the pews. I have bought some flowers for the alter vases they already have.
$ Gown: I found a dress on sale. White and beautiful. Still not "cheap" with alterations but well under $1,000 and that included the bra, slip and alterations which, in the end, nearly doubled the price of the dress.
$ Veil: My aunt is making it. It's pretty simple but even the simple ones will run you a $100 at times.
Bridesmaid Dresses: I tried to get them to each just choose any purple dress in order to save them money and shop on their budget. None of them did this except my sister who looked at the David's Bridal options so we went with those for everyone. I still kept them in 3 different shades of purple and let them choose their style. They had the same chiffon material, though.
Groom's attire: Jon had the freedom to choose what he wanted for attire. He did choose tuxes, though. (And I was glad of that). Since my gown was from David's Bridal the tuxes were discounted for all of the guys.
$ Reception Site: On our family property. This spared us having to book a site and pay them or choose their catering services; however it comes with it's own expenses. We'll need outdoor restroom facilities brought in. Tent rental and a dance floor are also additional expenses. Parking will have to nailed down, but I've asked my cousins to direct this.
$$ DJ: We've asked our friend Ben to run the show. He sent us a list of the rental equipment we'll need.
$Catering: Due to a fairly large guest list this will be more costly than we'd like, but to keep it simple we're doing a cookout style. We're having burgers and hotdogs with sides of bake beans and pasta salads. We'll have some snack trays.
$ Alcohol: Serving our own so we do not have to hire a bartender which saves. We're doing bottles and cans so we can either return unused stuff or give it out as gifts to those who have helped. We'll also have wine and possibly a limited amount of one signature drink that is TBD.
$ Cake: My friend is making a small cake for us to cut. My sister-in-law and cousin are making cupcakes for the bulk of our "dessert". It continues with our cookout/picnic theme.
$ Tables & Chairs: We expect a lot of people to be mingling and running around so we don't want to pay for unused chairs and tables. We've gotten a lot but additionally we'll have hay bales covered in burlap for seating. We'll also have outdoor games like cornhole and yard golf set up to give people stuff to do.
$ Invitations: We got "print yourself" kits that have the card, envelope, RSVP card and envelope. We're giving people the option to RSVP online so we don't have to include a stamp for RSVP cards. I bought extra cardstock paper to print additional information like hotel accommodations and directions.
$$ Videography: If it fits in our budget I'm going to buy a video camera (nothing fancy) to be set up for the ceremony and then passed around at the reception. I did this at crazy college parties all of the time with my old camera and it always survived and ended up with great footage. I'd like the same for the wedding. Then the money spent is a long term investment.
$ Wedding Music: We didn't hire any outside musicians. We'll either use the church organist or my aunt.
Registry: We felt awkward doing this. It's not about people throwing us parties and buying us gifts. We did it, though, because we knew people would appreciate having something to go buy when shopping. We registered at Target and Sears (not recommended, by the way! The Sears we registered at was a pain, then half the stuff we registered for didn't even show up online!) and I did our china and a few other things online.
Transportation: This is one spot I spent more money than our budget would seem to fit, but I'd planned for that. I wanted the wedding party to be able to go from the ceremony to the reception together and the only thing to do that (with a bridal party this size) was a stretch hummer. The majority of the time I'll be paying for it will simply it's drive to and from Lexington (an hour and a half but the closest service we could find). We are not using special transportation to the church or from the reception.
Day of Time Line: We've started one with the major events lined out.
$ Rehearsal Dinner: We'll do it in the church basement (no cost) and we're having one of Jon's all-time-favorite meat & produce shops in Louisville do the food. They won't actually cater. We'll pick up the food and serve ourselves. It's a pretty laid back approach, but with a big wedding party there are a lot of mouths to feed so we want to keep the cost low.
Hair & Make Up: I had a test run on my hair this week. I wasn't thrilled with it. I went in not knowing what I wanted but a general idea. The back was pretty (I want an updo) but the way she pulled it back was pretty simple. The biggest turnoff for me was that she didn't even have any modern books or magazines to look through with ideas. The place was small and she's the only hairdresser so with a possibility of 8 or 10 girls getting hair done I'm opting out. Holly has booked us with a new salon that her old guy just opened. I'm still figuring out make up. We'll do our nails the day before.
Favors: We were originally going to go with burnt CDs. I love that idea. But it is a lot of work and it will be an expense to buy cds, cases and to label them. I think we are instead going with can koozies. This will help people keep drinks cold that night since we'll have cans and bottles. We're going to print them to have space for people to write their names on them to help keep track of their drinks. My parents run a screenprinting business so getting these at a cheap price shouldn't be too hard.
Bridal Party Gifts: Jon is going with beer mugs for his guys. He wanted to do renaissance style, leather mugs but they are quite costly for a wedding party this size so he's going with mason jar style beer mugs. For the girls, I'm doing a grab bag of items: $2 flip flops from Old Navy (for the outdoor reception), a personalized bag to carry stuff in (using my parents' business again), a white flower hair clip and jewelry that is TBD.
$ Rings: Done and paid for. More money than we'd like to spend at one time, but still VERY cheap comparatively. Neither of us got stones in our bands, so this saved a lot of money.
Flip Flops: We bought flip flops at Hobby Lobby on sale for only $1 to leave out at the reception for people to change into, particularly women in heels, since it is outdoors.

The Verdict: Was 2010 "DIfferent"?

2011-01-11T22:25:00.001-05:00

I know this blog only happens on the few and far between days, but I do like that I now have a running track record of New Year's resolutions and outlooks as well as reflection on the past year. I know my reader subscription isn't high, but knowing that I put those goals and thoughts in writing in a public place does give some extra pressure to be at least a little accountable.

I find it very, very strange that I wrote what I did last January when looking ahead to 2010. I sensed the changes of that year without really know what any of it would be and sure enough, 2010 was a very different year. I won't deny that a large credit of that goes to my going from 24 1/2 years as a single lady, to, without hesitation or doubt, being in a serious relationship; however at the time of that post I had no idea it was coming--even if it was only a little over a week from beginning.

What made 2010 so different?

I went from still being a 25-30 hour a week employee to a 50-60 hour a week employee that is usually still working into the evenings and to some extent on weekends.
I went from Single Sally to Relationship Rita.
I went from living directly across the street from half of the man clan and with my 2 college roommates to living on the far end of the city with my cousin and lifelong best friend.
I went from going out to a bar, hanging out late with friends on the town, or drinking with friends at least one night of the weekend to rarely seeing the inside of a bar and 1 a.m. on a weekend being late.
I went from spending all my time in town minus the occasional trip home or to Lex to spending probably 70% of my weekends outside of Louisville
I went from having my younger brother and one cousin in this city as my only relatives to having 4 cousins living here, 1 living with me, both brothers here and my sister-in-law.

Other changes really sprang from those listed above. I see my Louisville friends much, much less--not because I don't love them all. Living with Holly on the far side of Louisville, as well as spending the majority of my weekdays being exhausted by work, then spending the weekend with Jon who no longer lives here, keeps me away from "free time". I've also spent more time at home in The Valley, much because Jon thoroughly enjoys spending time there as well, but also because I know my sites are set on being there in due time and while I may not be living there now, I can spend time doing the things that will one day be a part of my daily life. We cleaned out the main barn to make it more usable. We helped family split lots of winter wood. We also began planning for putting in a second garden.

I've started eating better. While my running and working out has fallen to the wayside (so little time when you're driving and working so much!) I've started buying more whole, natural and fresh foods and actually cooking. (It helps when you have a boyfriend with allergies who is safer cooking his own food than trusting someone else.) Holly and I don't even have a microwave in the apartment so that keeps us away from frozen foods. Additionally Mom has introduced the family to Juice Plus which has become a part of my daily source of nutrients.

I just had a phone call tonight with a friend I hadn't talked much with in the past couple of months. After catching up a bit, we realized that our lack of hanging out was much to do with our lack of "going out". We agreed that not going out and not drinking was much more of the "easy" option these days. We agreed we must be growing up.

Growing up does not have to be a bad thing. If we never grow and change we stay in the same place forever and too much of any one thing and you'll get bored of it. Thanks to "growing up" I have done a lot of things in 2010 that I wouldn't have gotten to do previously. I accomplished my 3 year goal and did visit Gui and Carla in Brazil. Instead of the typical bar scenes of the past, friends came together to do things like camping trips, lake trips and road trips. I've gotten to see many of my nearest and dearest friends get married this past year and one of my very best friends is pregnant--all joys I would not experience without growing up.

A Slight Slip Up--Successful Recovery

2010-06-10T15:40:00.000-04:00

We had our first bit of a disaster today. But honestly, I wouldn't call it a disaster. If anything it was a panic more for Gui and Carla than the three Americans. Luckily, nothing disastrous happened.

Gui was back to work today but hooked us up with a great tour opportunity. His friend, Thiago, has a tour company that gives cultural walking tours of the city. It was ten times more interesting and educational than the large city tour in Rio. Typically his group averages about five people, we were "large" because we had seven. Melody, Micah and I were joined by a famliy who once lived in Sao Paulo but primarily was from Switzerland. They now live all over--but the mother father and two sons were together for the older son's 30th birthday. They were extremely friendly and wanted to learn as much about us as they did about the city.

Thiago, it turns out, is one of Gui's life long friends and did the same exchange program that brought Gui to Casey County. In fact, by complete chance, Thiago was also placed in Kentucky--Taylor County High School to be exact. His tour was excellent and nothing you would normally get our of your standard tour. I definitely preferred the walking and he simply took us to places that you would normally walk right past in the city without thinking twice, but Thiago was able to give us facts and history on all sorts of places, eateries, works of graffiti (which COVER the city), theaters, cathedrals, shopping centers, and simple little things that gave further explanation to the way of life in Sao Paulo.

From the tour, the three of us were to catch a bus to Santos, the city where Carla lives. She would meet us at the station (which would take about an hour and 15 minutes to get to) and Gui would drive to Santos once done with work. Thiago was kind enough to take us all the way to boarding the bus so he could assure Gui we had gotten on the right bus. I slept a little bit on the drive but also enjoyed the amazing scenery. We went way up in the mountains and were looking down upon gorgeous green valleys, thick with forest and jungle. It was quite a down-down-down spiral coming into Santos, but the city was much smaller than Sao Paulo. It made it feel homey after being in such a huge city.

So we got to the station and I stood to get off, but most people were still sitting. Melody asked if we were supposed to get off. I had no idea. We looked out the bus windows to see if we could spot Carla waiting for us but there was no sign of her. I guess it was obvious we were slightly confused so some people offered some help. I must have missed the first man who talked to Micah and Melody (they were seated a little further up than me) who spoke English and told them this was not the last stop in Santos. Gui hadn't said at which stop to get off. Then the man next to me began his attempts to help, bless him, but he knew no English. In the end multiple people told us that this was not the last stop and there was another station in Santos close to the beach. There was little time to make a decision so stayed put. As soon as we were pulling away I began to guess we'd made a mistake. The station had a large sign on the other side and its name was Santos. Then I saw a clock and it had been exactly and hour and 15 minutes since we'd left Sao Paulo. When we had to sit through the first stop on our way to Sao Paulo from Rio Gui had been very clear that we were not to get off on the first stop. He had not done that this time. The bus continued through the city letting people off at random places. Soon enough we were the only ones on the bus, looking at each other saying, "ummm...oops?"

It turns out the second station that everyone had mentioned to us was not a real station. It was simply the bus company's station that was rather small. However, it did stop (END) here so at least we didn't find our selves heading back to Sao Paulo. We were on the beach when we got off the empty bus (knowing the driver was looking at us and thinking, "stupid gringos!") but none of us were panicking. We could tell the city wasn't that huge. I even said to them that I mainly felt bad because it had been nearly an hour since we were supposed to arrive so Carla and Gui were probably freaking out wondering where we had ended up. We found a phone booth and began dialing all of the toll free numbers the two of them had given us since we arrived. It took several attempts but finally I heard on the other end, "Rita? Are you there?" It was Carla. I'm not sure who was more relieved.

Carla knew where the other "station" was and said she'd be there shortly to get us. Gui lectured us later for getting lost and said to me, "Think... Just lat night I was talking to Mr. and Mrs. Dixon telling them how safe there daughter was and that I would take care of her. What was I going to tell them when I lost you?"

We ate out at a great Japanese Rodizio restaurant and enjoyed lots of sushi, Tumaki, caipirinhas and more more more (including coffee for me--I can't get enough of it here!). Carla's house was wonderful and her Mom had a room all set up for us. She even had chocolate gifts for us all. We have been so blessed with the wonderful people who have been hosting us on our trip and blessed that, so far, missing our bus stop has been the biggest disaster we have faced.

All The World's A Classroom

2010-06-09T12:30:00.000-04:00

Sorry, Shakespeare but you had it wrong. Maybe the world is a stage but it is most definitely primarily a classroom.

Lucky for us, Gui was off work today and after letting us sleep in (and waking us up by singing the American National Anthem to us) he gave us a day out and about in Sao Paulo. Honestly, we were mainly driving but I don't think any of us minded. There was a lot to take in and endless questions to be asked.

We first went to the Soccer Museum which is housed at the home stadium of the Corinthians (pronounced "corin-chins" soccer club). The majority of the museum was in Portuguese but lucky for us we had our personal translator. For a girl who has never known much about soccer, it's quite amazing how much I have been surrounded by it in these past few days--terms, players, teams, historical moments.

Interesting, though, that Gui himself is not the typical hardcore soccer addict in Brazil. Basketball is more his passion (not that any Brazilian doesn't know his soccer), but melody and I picked up on a level of resentment towards soccer from Gui. Not because he does not enjoy it but because the weight that is put on a game in this culture. Everywhere we went today (and the entire time we have been here) we saw flags, signs, people in yellow, green and blue jerseys and shirts, food deals, paraphernalia in store windows. Melody commented on the national pride here and how cool it is but Gui corrected her quickly, saying you see none of this when it is not World Cup season. People live and breathe soccer but sometimes put it before the real necessities or what should be the priorities in life, he said. He told us he felt American's national pride is much stronger because it exists outside of the sports world and something I had never thought of, but he pointed out that he said part of that is probably because of the wars we have fought in. When noting the "pride" we were seeing everywhere we also asked of any major wars that had taken place in Brazil. We noted it is a good thing but Gui said he slightly disagreed. With having no history of fighting for what is theirs or to gain better rights or freedom, there is no appreciation for what they have; at least not like in America. It's something I never thought of--war as a strength in our history simply for what it does for the unity of the people and the appreciation of what is ours.

The day was full of these thought-provoking conversations as talk revolved around differences in languages and foods and traditions and cultures. The questions and observations back and forth never stopped. We got a close look at the favelas for the first time--the very poor areas of town where people nearly live on top of each other. We also got to see downtown Sao Paulo and many of the older buildings and museums.

Carla got to Gui's house in time for dinner and his parents cooked an awesome homemade traditional Brazilian meal and wow was it delicious. Amazing what all we have eaten here and this one--perhaps the best one yet--was free to us!

Five days in this country and there is no doubt in my mind I have learned more than I ever could have in a whole semester of class on Brazilian culture. It's amazing the amount of knowledge this world holds for us that we can so easily tap into if we simply use the resources we have at our fingertips--and for the most part, those "resources" I am referring to are our friends.

A City of Extraordinary Size

2010-06-09T00:22:00.000-04:00

Arriving in Sau Paulo was a complete change of scenery. I've never seen a city skyline quite like it. I really shouldn't even call it a skyline. It was more like a city horizon. It stretched on in either direction with endless skyscrapers. No center. No taller or more clustered looking area; just an endless horizon of buildings. Once into the city it only got more congested. Streets curve, go up, down; cars zoom in and out of lanes and finding anything green seemed nearly impossible. I admit, it was a bit saddening for this country girl. How can you have such a beautiful country--all that I had seen only hours before--and then surround yourself in such a concrete jungle? (as someone in Rio had referred to it.) I suppose, as said plenty of times before, it's just the country girl coming out in me.

Gui was already gone to his night event when we arrived at the Santo Andre bus station, so his kind, kind mother was picking us up who knows very little English. That did not matter, though, as she greeted us with open arms and a smile that no one could mistake for the smile she passed on to her son. She had the house all ready for us--each with a bed and a towel waiting and some food snacks--bread, bread bread! One thing they love here in Brazil. (not to mention the cheese...)

Tonight, as tired as we were, we attended the awards ceremony Gui was hosting/working. It was the "NBB" (Brazil's NBA) championship awards ceremony. The final games were the reason Gui was not able to spend more time with us in Rio--as the Media Relations manager for the NBB he had a lot going on. It was interesting to watch the awards being given out--keep in mind that soccer rules all in Brazil, so basketball isn't quite the hot commodity that it is in the U.S. so you don't have to blow this party out of proportion in your mind. It was also cool to see Gui the "working man". It's pretty incredible to be here visiting him in his regular real life seven years after he came to Casey County as a simple high school student. I see this life that he lives in a go-go-go, cram-packed city and I can't help but ask myself, "What in the world did he think when he arrived in Casey County and how did he come to love a lifestyle and a people so different from the one of his own?" I suppose it goes to show that there is something priceless about the love of a small town and the bonded community that makes it up.