59 Days and Counting...

The time is flying by....

There is now less than 2 months left until the wedding! Things are going well, but I will not deny that I am getting a little stressed out. I just want to make sure that everything goes okay and that people enjoy themselves.

The last of the invitations went out today, so keep your eyes on your mailboxes!

Wow...is it really already July 7?!

Holy Cow!

Alaska...Here We Come!

I bought our airline tickets for our honeymoon today!  It is all becoming very real now...the wedding is less than 5 months away now.  It's funny how time flies when you're working like a crazy person.  

We also bought our wedding bands a few weeks ago, and I must confess that it is taking every bit of willpower I have not to wear the thing around all the time!  It is absolutely beautiful!  

Many of our St. Louis friends have just recently bought their plane tickets and reserved their hotel rooms for our wedding.  It makes us both so happy to know that these people will be with us on one of the most important days of our lives.  

Before I get too sappy, I should probably go.  More later.

Wedding nightmares

Over the past few weeks, I have started to have some pretty crazy dreams (and nightmares) about the wedding.  The most recent one involved my sister announcing her engagement during the wedding ceremony...EEK!  I just mention that I would be thrilled for my sister should she and Josh get engaged.  I would not, however, be thrilled if they chose my wedding ceremony as the perfect time to announce their engagement!  I am not one of those people who thinks "this is MY day, all the attention should be on me, etc.", but I have to draw the line somewhere!  

In this same dream, the person in charge of keeping me hidden until it was time to walk down the aisle totally screwed up.  Now, in the dream I did not see the person's face, so I do not know who she (I do know that it was a woman....or else a man who enjoys wearing dresses) was. Whoever she was, she opened the door (which is totally unrealistic as we are getting married outside in a garden) way too early, and I was mortified when everyone saw me before they were supposed to.

Again, in this same dream, instead of playing "Here Comes the Bride" as I walked down the aisle, it was "The First Noel".  I know, I know!  I am not sure what the deal is with this dream (and the others), but it is totally freaking me out.  In the dream prior to this one, I totally forgot to send out invitations.  I realized it the day of the wedding when no one showed up!

Speaking of class...

Really?  On your wedding day...a day where you are supposed to feel beautiful and romantic...do you really want a picture taken of you with a cigarette hanging out of your mouth and holding a beer?  I guess at least she was drinking the beer out of a glass and not a can!  I can only hope that I will be half this classy on my wedding day!

(P.S.  The picture is from tackyweddings.com)

Is it May yet?

This post isn't so much wedding-related.  It is more of a vent so that I can maintain my mental stability (what's left of it anyway).  Although this semester is less than 1/3 completed, I am already feeling overwhelmed.  I really could use about 48 hours in each day in order to get everything done that I need to get done.  This week has been particularly brutal, and it will only get worse.  Today was a clinical day, so I was at the hospital from 7:00 until 3:00.  I actually enjoy teaching, but it is still time-consuming and somewhat stressful.  Tomorrow, a friend of mine and I are presenting a lecture...well, actually two lectures, to the staff of the CICU, 7W, and some others at work.  The content isn't necessarily difficult to understand or teach, but it is still stressful.  We want to do a good job, particularly because these are people with whom we work on a daily basis.  The fun continues on Thursday evening when I have to teach a class at Goldfarb School of Nursing.  Thursday evening, Trenton and I will be leaving to drive to SC.  The weekend in SC will be filled with seeing friends/family and completing some wedding tasks.

Whew!  Just talking about all of that makes me tired!  I just have to keep telling myself....there are only 88 more days until graduation!

And we're off...

Let's all hope this isn't the way I'm going to have to get Trenton to the altar.  

We mailed the Save the Date cards out on Thursday.  I guess that means there's no turning back now, right?  Of course I'm only kidding...I don't think either of us has had a second thought about whether marriage is right for us.  We are both very excited about getting married and celebrating with our friends and families.  

Now that the Save the Date cards are out, it feels like the wedding will be here before we know it.  It's less than 7 months away!  I remember when people would ask about the date, and I would answer, oh...it's not for a year and a half...next September.  Well, now it's this September!

How are the wedding plans going?

Every time someone asks "how the wedding plans are coming along", I freak out a little bit. 

Don't misunderstand...I greatly appreciate the fact that people are interested (and kind) enough to ask about the plans, but I freak out because I worry about getting everything done.  I know that I have the majority of the plans already set, but there is always something else to do (at least that's how I feel).  

I am trying very hard not to stress out too much about planning.  One of the reasons we decided to have such a long engagement is so that planning (while working full-time and going to school full-time) could be fun rather than a hassle.  I think that for any other person this would not be an impossible feat, well...at least for any other person who isn't as anal retentive as I am.  

You may be asking "exactly how anal retentive are you?".  Those of you who know me (especially those who work with me) are quite aware of how crazy I am with organization.  For the rest of you, however, I will give a great (and somewhat embarrassing) example.  Every two weeks (sometimes more frequently), I do the grocery shopping for us.  I spend about an hour or so looking through recipe books to decide what meals we will have for the next couple of weeks.  Before you start to gag, I don't necessarily say...Monday=X, Tuesday=Y, etc.  I just make a list of meals for us.  Then, I make the grocery list with the "menu" (for lack of a better word).  You may be saying..."hey, that's not so bad"...well, I'm not done yet.

The grocery list is separated by categories, you know...vegetables, fruits, meat, etc.  Now, some of you may know that I am a coupon maniac.  It's not necessarily that we need to shop with coupons, but it makes me happy to save money.  So, after the list has been made, I have to identify which things have accompanying coupons.  Those items are highlighted.  I know, I know...but just think about it for a minute.  How many times have you clipped coupons and forgotten to use them?  

It sounds nuts to some (or most) people, but it works for me.  Now it should make a little more sense about me stressing over the wedding plans.  What's a girl gonna do?  I have to either find a way not to be so OCD or just deal with the stress.  Pretty sure option A is impossible, so I guess I'll take option B.  It's okay, though, I have a great stress reliever...WINE!

p.s.  Sometimes I even type the grocery list and print it out.  The coupon items are printed in a different color....is there a support group for this?

Hello. My name is Laura, and I'm a Knot-a-holic.

Although I used to make fun of those girls who spent hours on The Knot, I realize that I have now become one of them.  I didn't want to, really I didn't.  It is so addictive!  There are actually some benefits to the site.  I mean...I love my friends, and they are great listeners, but I am not delusional enough to think that they want to hear about our wedding plans every day.  The Knot is really great for this, though, because I can talk about my wedding as much as I want.  Of course, the downside to that is that I also have to be willing to listen (or read) about other people's wedding plans.  Some of the women on the site are very catty, but most of them are actually very helpful.  (This is actually the way I found our officiant!)

Another reason why I like The Knot is because it is great entertainment.  The entertainment comes in many forms.  Sometimes it is because two (or more) of the women are fighting over some insignificant issue and acting like children.  You may think I'm exaggerating, but it is the honest truth.  Sometimes the entertainment comes from some very funny posts.  Many of these women are hilarious!  One of the most recent ones was started by someone who posted a picture of a "tacky wedding".  This got the other ladies going, and there were some really great pictures posted.  

This was one of my favorites.  (I am seriously considering adding this "artwork" to my dress.  I mean...nothing says class like airbrushed flames on the back of your wedding dress.)

New Ideas for Centerpieces

This is another idea...I think these could be very pretty.  I would use a red rose in the bottoms of the cylinders. 

 

 This is a simpler version of the centerpiece pictured below.

I am now thinking of going in a different direction for our centerpieces.  I should preface the description and photos of the centerpiece ideas with a brief description of the look/style/atmosphere of our reception location (or at least what we hope it will be).  The reception is being held at a bed and breakfast that is very traditional in its style and decor.  I don't want to do anything to detract from the natural beauty of the house, but I do want to make it more romantic and elegant.  The house is very traditionally Southern, with a large wrap-around front porch on the bottom level and a matching wrap-around balcony on the second level.  The food (we are doing heavy hors d'oeuvres) will be set up inside the house, buffet style.  The back of the house is where the bar area will be as well as the music/dancing area.

Rather than set up large, "sit-down" tables, we are going to have several cocktail tables set up around the house.  We will have some in the back, some on the front porch and some on the balcony.  Our hope is that guests will explore the house as they mingle with each other and enjoy the food and beverages provided.

Because the tables are rather small, I don't want large centerpieces.  I just want them to be simple, elegant and romantic.  I also want a lot of candles around to set a romantic atmosphere.

This  picture is of one idea of a centerpiece.  I would do solid colors, rather than a mixture (probably red), and wouldn't put petals around the vase.  I would, however, have candles around the vase.  

 

  (All images were "borrowed" from Google Images)

M.I.A.

I haven't made a post in quite a while, and I am sure to the 2 or 3 people who actually read this blog have been missing my wit and charm terribly!  Of course I am absolutely kidding.  Either way, I am going to try and be better about updating this blog.  I cannot make any promises, however, as school starts this week.  In addition to finishing my last semester of graduate school (WOO HOO), I am also teaching a pediatric clinical course one day a week and working full-time.  Needless to say, time will be a precious commodity over the next few months.  

Everyone keeps asking "How is the wedding planning going?"...well, it's not really going at all.  Fortunately, I did a lot of stuff right after we got engaged, so it's okay that I haven't done too much lately.  I was quite productive this morning, however.  I booked our hotel room for the night of the wedding as well as our hotel room for our honeymoon.

Speaking of honeymoon...I am VERY excited about the cruise!  Neither Trenton nor I have ever been on a cruise, and we are excited to be sharing our first one together.  We are also excited that we will get to see a little bit of Seattle before we leave for Alaska.  

I know this post has been basically a whole lot of words with not much to say, but at least it's a new post...right?