Food..

Food is important.. it makes a statement because part of the whole wedding is the fact that you feed everyone. Yesterday we had our last tasting. It was with a company called "The Food Guy". We were not impressed. The woman new what she was doing but the food just wasn't right. They also had extra charges for all kinds of things that the one we've really liked so far did not. My mom is there for going to contact Occasions By Sandy and setup a contract with them. We are all very happy in our final decision. The one plus of the event yesterday was that we finally got an idea of what kind of flowers we'd like to do. Stealing from a suggestion the woman made and the pictures of previous events. I hope it looks nice on the day!

In other news Achilles is doing great as is Higgins, our cat. They are starting to interact a little bit. Achilles is really happy here and he is taking to the house breaking but still slips up. It has only been a week though. Only 1 accident since we let him out of the kitchen this morning though!
We found out he could be called a Boxador. Haha but they have good temperments and are smart. He already is pretty good at sitting. We've started to really train him on using the kennel. We leave him in there for short periods of times both when we are here or going out. Otherwise he if we have to work or go out for over an hour or so then we leave him in the kitchen. We gated off the kitchen with a baby gate that has doorway so we can get in and out without taking it down and he can't climb over it. At first we tried blocking the way with things we had around here and learned Achilles is an escape artist. He could climb over his kennel, push boxes out of that hold 42" tvs with a chair behind them out of the way! It really baffled us. The gate works wonders though!

Mmmm Donut!

Hope everything is going well with all of you!

Wedding Things:
-need to go back and officially get my dress
-need to get cake setup
-need to get save the dates out
-need to get photographer booked
-need to get invitations out
-need to get flowers sorted out

Always more and more to do..

Family

Family is a very broad term. To myself pets are included in family. Today Chris and I went to the Humane Society in Boulder on our lunch break to look at a puppy they had their named "Imp". Tomorrow, said puppy shall be coming home with us. Imp, who shall hence be known Achilles, is a 3 month old Boxer/Lab mix. He is that almost ugly so he is even cuter kind of dog. We put a hold on him today and intend to go pick him up tomorrow. I'm so excited! Chris kind of caved in under my pressure of falling in love but he did too.

I'll post pictures tomorrow!

To Resize or not to Resize

I keep going back and forth about getting my ring resized again it fits perfect right now. That is where my concerns lie. I am fine with it exactly as it is right now but what about in the summer when it gets hot out? My fingers tend to swell a bit and thats why the rings I wear on my right hand are a bit bigger. I don't want to have it be too big for part of the year on the off chance my fingers swell for maybe 3 months out of the year. >_<

I have 6 months before they'd charge me again so I guess I'll just wait and see.

I also wanted at this time to mention that I will probably start blogging more about non-wedding things as well as the wedding plans. Getting married isn't my life its just part of my life, and I do plan on continuing this blog after the big day. Watching House on Monday made me realize that I'm someone that wants to share all kinds of bits and pieces of my life at random on here so you will see more. It will just show you more about who I am and what kind of person I've become over the years.. as well as how I adjust to being Mrs. Green..

Weekend Update

Happy Monday All!

It is technically still the weekend for me because I do not work on Mondays. I've had a wonderful weekend!

We were able to get all our bills paid and the DJ got his deposit. We just owe him the rest on Oct 31st. My Mom and I went to Dina's Bridal Saturday morning for our appointment. It was so much fun! I tried on all kinds of dresses. Including a ball gown! I've always wanted to try one of those on! I felt like a princess, but it wasn't me and it wasn't right for my Wedding. Trying to stay in mind with my personality, figure and the fact that I am getting married on Halloween and want to have a little fun with it I think I have found my dress. They knew it was my first time looking so I may go somewhere else and look as well but most likely I'll be back there for that dress. IF/When I go back to get it I am going to get Kimi and maybe even Donnamae (Chris's mom) to go too so they can see it too. We were allowed to take pictures but we hadn't brought a camera so my mom took photos on my blackberry. They came out a bit fuzzy but I was able to Show Kimi and my best friends some of the details and stuff on the dress. I really loved it! I'd post pics on here but Chris reads this and I want it to be a suprise for him!

After the dresses my Mom, Chris and I all went out for lunch and then to the mall to pick up my ring. It is so nice to have it on my finger now! Kay Jewelers did a great job although its a tiny bit snug. They told me it is guaranteed for 6 months so I'm going to let it be for now and try and loose some weight as I am, if in a month its still the same I'll take it back and have them increase the size a little. I don't want to make it too big because I worry about it then being too loose but I want it not to be quite so snug. It almost looks like its squeezing my finger!

That afternoon we traded in several PS3 and Wii games we do not use and picked up Wii Fit Plus and New Super Mario Bros. I looove both games! Wii Fit Plus is a million times better than Wii Fit was. It counts calories, and lets you make work out circuits so its not one activity and then stop and you have to select the next. It flows much better. We can also weigh Higgins!

We then went up to Kimi and Justin's for a BBQ. It was a lot of fun! We stayed till about 10:40 (we had gotten there around 4:30) so we were home in bed by about 11:30ish. I admit I don't drink a lot anymore and so the beer I had did leave me hurting a little on Sunday. BUT I still did the Wii Fit plus for about an dhour and 45 minutes. I just did yoga in the morning and a real work out in the evening when I was feeling more myself.

I hope that we do a lot more with Kimi and Justin in the future.

Today we have workouts, cleaning, and are going to try and go see Alice in Wonderland. I figure every weekend we have off and every Monday even we'll have at least one wedding related activity until the big day. Today Chris wants to go to the travel agent and start getting our honeymoon planned!

Gotta go clean!

TLC

I keep watching these shows on TLC .. "Say Yes to the Dress" and now "Wedding Perfection". The first just makes me think people pay waaaay too much for wedding dresses. That isn't to say they are not gorgeous dresses but seeing them go in to the boutique with there 5,000 dollar limits for dresses makes me just frustrated. Haha but I'm sure I can find a dress that I love that I can afford. I think I've found one I love looking at at the location I'm going to on Saturday with my Mom. I know its just to test the water but if I fall in love with this dress on me then I'll figure out how to pay for it. If thats the case I'll have to take Kimi with me another time so she can see it too. I want someone else's opinion aside from my mom's and mine when I actually purchase anything!

The other show, "Wedding Perfection" just makes me wish I could afford a wedding planner. I feel guilty because my mom is basically taking on this roll and I know she doesn't really want all that stress on her. Thats why I've stepped up for the DJ and my dress. We just need to figure out the flowers, which Chris's mom has offered so graciously to pay for, and find a photographer. Anyway, I loooove this show. They do outrageous and sometimes amazing things. It is about a company in NYC that plans weddings. I've been watching it before work in the morning. I love TLC!

Wedding Traditions & Superstitions: 50 Wedding Facts & Trivia

Wedding Traditions & Superstitions: 50 Wedding Facts & Trivia

I found this artical very amusing!

some of my favorites include:

-The groom carries the bride across the threshold to bravely protect her from evil spirits lurking below.
-Brides carry or wear "something old" on their wedding day to symbolize continuity with the past.
-A Swedish bride puts a silver coin from her father and a gold coin from her mother in each shoe to ensure that she'll never do without.
-Queen Victoria started the Western world's white wedding dress trend in 1840 -- before then, brides simply wore their best dress.
-Ancient Greeks and Romans thought the veil protected the bride from evil spirits. Brides have worn veils ever since.
-In Japan, white was always the color of choice for bridal ensembles -- long before Queen Victoria popularized it in the Western world.
-The "something blue" in a bridal ensemble symbolizes purity, fidelity, and love.
-In Denmark, brides and grooms traditionally cross-dressed to confuse evil spirits!
-The bride stands to the groom's left during a Christian ceremony, because in bygone days the groom needed his right hand free to fight off other suitors.

The Dress..

With about 8 months until the big day its time to start shopping for a dress. This scares me more than any other aspect of planning this shindig. I have lots of questions running through my head right now. I am officially starting my search on Saturday. I have an appointment at 10:30am at Dina's Bridal, which is here in Superior. They have gorgeous dresses and are probably way of my range. Which brings me to my first question.

How much should I be spending?

I can't help but be intimidated by tv shows like TLC's "Say Yes to the Dress". Which clearly is showing the more high end shoppers. Our wedding and budget are small. So how much do I really put towards the dress? I know how much I personally can put towards it, and since we are paying for the DJ I'm hoping if I find my perfect dress and its outside that range that my Mom will be able to step in and help a little but I don't want to really do that. So my next question is..

Can I find a nice dress that doesn't look tacky/cheap for, well cheap?

I am hoping this is possible. I am hoping to find a real wedding dress too not just a dress to wear to the wedding. It is my day, you only get married once! Originally my mom was saying I don't really need a wedding dress. That actually upset me more than when they told me we had to keep it all small. Small is fine with me I'm not an extravagant person and I get nervous in large crowds so small = good. That being said I still want to shine on my day. I don't want to regret things. So yes, I will have an actual wedding dress! *fingers crossed* I don't have to settle.

I'm being a bit traditional. I don't want Chris to see or be involved in my Dress at all. I want to wow him on the big day when he sees me walk out the door and down the aisle.

I hope that Saturday is a great learning experience. I'm not expecting to walk away with a dress but if it happens then yay!

Day 2 of Wii Fit and I'm sore haha. Sore is good though! Sore means I'm making a difference. Getting fit is for me as well as for my wedding day (again the whole wow factor comes in to mind), so I need to keep at it and stay motivated! Wish me luck!

243 Days..

That makes it sound like it is farther away. 243 days or just over 8 months really. 8 months sounds much closer.

So I got the contract from the DJ. I had to leave a very silly message on his voice mail though. I spaced out and started giving his number, which I had up on my computer screen, instead of mine and realized half way through. >_< That is totally me though ah oh well. He called back that afternoon got the info he needed and we now just need to send him a check on Friday with the signed contract!

When we attended the Bridal Show we signed up for a chance to win some China. Well the people we signed up through called us yesterday. To get our 2 free Champagne Flutes we have to attend some 90 minute presentation on Saturday at 4pm where they will give us a little food and our free flutes. The guy on the phone said we do not have to buy anything and in the spirit of trying new things Chris and I agree and had him put our names down. It will be over by 5:30 so we can still try and do something that evening.

So those of you who know me, know I play video games. I am a casual gamer but the other day our PS3 stopped working. It turns out it had a date issue. The programmers told it 2010 was a leap year but it isn't so it crashed the network! They finally fixed it last night but in the mean time I took the initiative to hook up our Wii. We had to replace our tv about a month ago because it broke (it is a very long frustrating story) I never reconnected the Wii after the new TV arrived. Yesterday I did and I pulled out the Wii Fit board and replaced its batteries. Chris and I both started using it today. Its my motivation to get to the gym. Which I never did yesterday although we did take a walk. I know that in 8 months I wont loose all the weight I'd like but I want to look and feel fit at least on my Wedding day. Getting moving has always been my downfall so hopefully I can do it! I am thinking of picking up the Wii Fit Plus and maybe one of the other workout games for the Wii. If anyone else uses them please give me suggestions!!

I've requested a change in my work hours and if that goes through I'll be able to go the gym in the afternoon which would be easier on me then trying to get up at 6am to go. So until then I'll stick to the Wii fitness games in the morning and maybe try and get to the gym on my days off.

Lists and more lists...

Good Morning All!

I love Monday's because I do not have to work. I do have plenty of other things to work on though so I am kept busy and may as well be working it seems.

So this morning Chris and I sat down and hashed out an official guest list including a few people we could cut if need be. It is so hard to make a guest list! Especially when you know that every extra person you add may cause problems. We are definitely working on a budget. Originally we were told around 50 guests, but then we realized a few things and we've raised it to 65. The list I just made, including kids had 76 (counting Chris and I).

This is under the understanding that some may not come, also we have about 8 I think we can take off that list. Mainly work associates we are not close too. I have a lot of out of state family too that may not actually come but its a gamble. Inviting people assuming they wont come and then they RSVP saying yes could tip us over the edge. I emailed the list to my Mom so she can either approve it or tell me I need to cut a certain number of guests. This is why in the long run we planned to do a party outside the wedding itself so we can invite local people we cannot have at the actual ceremony.

My other things to do today include:
- calling the DJ so he will write up a contract
- getting to the gym!!
- cleaning the house
- looking up bridal shops and trying to set an appointment for Saturday

My Mom wants to start getting ideas for wedding dresses this weekend. So she and I are going to have lunch and go to one Dress shop so we can see whats out there and figure out what style looks good on me. That way in May or June we can start seriously looking. I'm hoping that Kimi will be able to go with us when we start seriously looking so we can find her a dress as well.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Monday!