Its been a long, long time...

Life has been insanely busy as of late. Wedding planning is more or so on hold until Christmas Break...yay 19 credit hours this semester...But I have been doing somethings here an there or just vegging out on WeddingBook or The Knot...

Though I am now back on the hunt for a wedding coordinator for the day of....thanks to this economy...which makes me really sad. I really liked Allison! Oh well, such is life...

So needless to say, I don't know what kind of price range I'll be in now in regards to the cost of a coordinator. People say, why not have a family member or close friend do it....I don't want to put that stress on family or friends....plus the wedding is at a museum and I want to make sure everything runs smoothly. So now I'm trying to find areas to cut corners so to speak. I'd really prefer to do my own food but my mom would rather have a caterer do it...I don't want to spend close to $5k on food...there are other things that I could spend some of that on, like actually getting the chairs I want, and I don't have to deal with tips and gratuity for waitstaff...plus I would save about $3-4k if I was to do it...I guess if she doesn't want to mess with it, I'm pretty sure I'll end up doing it on my own so....

Blarg...I must get back to working on this paper for my Vietnam class...oh the glorious things I've learned about Agent Orange.....

Its been a while

So I've been very bad, its been 10 plus days since I posted on here, but hey, I have a reason! I've been busy with my internship and my technical writing class. Plus I haven't done much planning wise anyways. The summer is almost over and I still want some things to do once 2010 rolls around.

The only wedding related stuff that I've done lately was taking my 2 future nieces to the Alfred Angelo store in Tulsa on Sunday. They didn't care that I didn't have an appointment, especially since it was so dead for the day after the 4th. The girls tried on their dresses and didn't want to get out of them. The oldest of the girls, Alana said she really liked the dress, but it was hard to breath in...lol. The other, Heather, kept going up to the mirror with Alana and then would kind of dance around. I love those girls. The joys of marrying a man who already has the nieces and nephews. I may try and post pictures of the girls in the dresses here soon.

Anyways, some other exciting news...tomorrow, July 8, will be the year and a half mark till the wedding. Yes I'm really starting to freak out. Plus this fall, I have to file for graduation in the Spring...everything is really starting to set in...wow..insane.

Well I need to go. I'm either going to go back to work on my technical writing stuff or I'm going to read Fade to Black by Leslie Parrish. She's a friend of my mom's and her book came out today!! But my mom received an advanced copy of it without the actual cover, but according to her, once I start reading it, I won't be putting it down for long... Yippee!!!

I am waiting to get the money saved up so I can put the money down on my wedding coordinator. I'm really excited to book her! Now if only that money tree would grow!!

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions....

So Friday, Jeremy and I got to meet Allison of Glass Slipper Occasions ! She was so easy going and actually answered a question that another coordinator avoided by saying that it would be dealt with when the time comes!

So now I begin the taunting task of deciding between the two that are at the top of my list....Stay tuned for a decision!

As time flies by...

Well, its been a while...like always. I've been busy with my internship. I'm really enjoying it. It's insane how quickly the day goes by as I'm processing my collection. I've come across some really awesome stuff in this collection, which is 2 part: criminal and civil. Oh the wonderful joy of the Cherokee County Court Records. The criminal part is what is the most interesting!!!


Ok...anyways..to the point.

Last Friday, the 12th, I met with the florist. All I have to say is OMG, lets just add the stress to me. Thankfully, I have just over/under a year to really finalize it all. I am really excited though about the arbor that will be built on site! And I had thought picking flowers was going to be easy..yeah...think again. But I don't have to worry about the centerpieces anymore! I'll be renting huge palace or Eiffel tower vases from them for half the tables and will then have for the other half of the tables have low centerpieces in cylinders with hydrageas and the floralytes! I actually came in just over budget for the part paid traditionally by the bride and her family! Woo Hoo.

Well this Friday, the 19th, I get to meet another possible wedding coordinator. Just from reading her emails back and forth with me and the vibe I get from her website, I truly can't wait to meet her.

On the 13th, I went to a friend of mine's wedding, and she was beautiful! I started to tear-up when she walked in! I remember when we worked together at Alfred Angelo, we had a countdown going till her dress would be in. Her dress was amazing and I truly wish I had a figure like her's to pull it off. I still love my dress though. Even my florist loves it!

Back on the 6th, I went to another wedding of a friend of mine. It was fun. Her sister Mel caught the bouquet, I got to play 'momma' for quite a while as the family was cleaning up from the wedding and reception. It scares Jeremy because I have the 'touch' so to speak...lol. I can't help it that my momma in me just comes out now that I'm older. I'm usually able to get Avery (Mel's beautiful baby girl) quiet in about 10 minutes or less if she's fussy! But then last week, I got word from another dear friend of mine, that she is pregnant. It's her first baby!!! I'm so excited for her!

Anyways, away from the baby fever and back to the wedding stuff. The one great thing from going to weddings now is that I can learn from the other brides. I know that if I was having a wedding in Oklahoma outside, I would have a back up to the unity candle. Now it made for some way awesome memories of the mothers trying to walk down the aisle with their candles lit, but then trying to relight them once they got down the aisle was hilarious. Oh mighty mighty Oklahoma wind, how you blow! But thankfully, I'm getting married inside, but doing the sand ceremony because the History Center doesn't allow open flames.

I hate the guest list part of planning. I'm the type of person that I don't want to step on anyone's toes by not inviting them...but I don't know how we might be able to swing it all. I had everything budgeted for 250 people, but I'm at 239, not including Jeremy and I. AAHH!!!!!!!!!! And I'm not sure how many of those would actually come...I forget the rule of thumb on how many will actually come, but then I'm afriad of people showing up that rsvp'ed no or we couldn't get a hold of.

I need my brain to shut down for just a little bit..arggg. BUT...only 571 days to go!!!!

Where have I been....

Wow, its been just over a month since I last blogged...I've been busy with life, but also wedding planning stuff. A lot has happened, both school wise and wedding wise.

I passed the semester with 3 A's an 2 B's...and most of all, I passed Historical Research with a B!

But anyways, on to the wedding stuff...I'm going to make a list on what I've gotten done...woo hoo for checks!

Things done so far:
-Dress ordered and received
-Photographer booked
-Venue picked and booked
-Bridesmaid dresses narrowed down to 2
-DJ booked
-Possible wedding coordinators looked in to...
-Met with one, meeting with another June 19
-Appointment scheduled with florist for June 12
-Created mock up of final invitation!

Things to do:
-Have a bridesmaids get together to formally ask the girls
-Decide on and book wedding coordinator
-Search for the cowboy boots (mine and Jeremy's)
-Order stuff to make invitations
-Book with the caterer officially
-Schedule appointment with rental company
-Put deposit down on rental items
-and many others

DIY projects:
-Monogram
-Invitations
-Save-the-dates
-RSVP postcards
-Photo card box
-Table name cards
-Oklahoma shaped chocolate favors
-Programs
-Centerpieces
-Pearl necklaces for the girls
-Rehearsal dinner invites
-Probably my tossing bouquet


Other than that...I've haven't been doing really much, besides re-working the guest list, the budget, and how I want the centerpieces to look with the branches...lol

Where has this semester gone????

Wow...its been just over a month since I last blogged...dang. Well school has been insanely busy. I had one interview for my summer internship...got it!! So I'll be back out at the History Center working for OHS in the Research Division!!! This Thursday, I go to Guthrie for another interview to do the other half of my internship hours at the Oklahoma Territorial Museum Complex.

I'm really ready to be done with my Bachelors (next spring!!!) because that means I'd be one semester away from being married!!!! But I'll probably be in the midst of my graduate work by the time the wedding rolls around.

Anyways...on the wedding front...I haven't gotten much done really. There's really nothing I can do right now. I'll probably pick it all back up majorly anywhere between July and December. Though, I have been buy things left and right. I bought a good portion of the floralytes that I need. I got the rest of the big square glass votives that will line the stairs. I bought my Walmart out of the blue Easter grass to use for centerpieces..I was inspired by a fellow OK Knottie! I just need to find the vases...lol. I bought organza sashes in silver and blue that will be used for table runners. I also bought these cute cap sleeve robes on sale at Garden Ridge, along with the bm totes, jbm tote, fg tote, and the mothers' totes.

Other than those purchases...nothing else major has happened. I keep waiting for my pocketfolds to go on sale..We'll see if that happens. Who knows, I may just go to like Walmart and get the kits...It'll be cheaper anyways...

I know I'm going to have to make a lot of scarifices on things. I'm thinking about asking the caterer how much it would knock off the price per person if we just did fruits and veggies...no sandwiches and what not....and if we could provide our own cookies...I'll need something to keep myself oocupied during the week of the wedding or I'll be a nervous wreck. But the lady said she would work with what our budget is. But right now, I have no clue what my budget is..my mom told me to give her an estimate...I did, and she was like "well I thought it would only cost X amount...." and I'm like no...and thats with me cutting the corners. So I may be cutting even more corners. Or I just need to win the lottery!!!

Oh...other things that I've been thinking about pertain to my bridal portraits!! I really can't wait to take those during the fall of 2010...I already have ideas of where to take them..I'm ok with using the State Capital...but its getting a little overdone. I'm willing to pay the fee ($50) to do them at the Overholser Mansion...hey, the people who run it are non-profit and any amount of money they can make to help pay the bills, I'm fine with. I've heard some brides complain that it costs. But I don't think they understand those things about the Mansion. Oh well. But I'd also like to do them at the Harn Homestead...once again...another museum. Geez...I'm such a history nut. I wouldn't mind taking them Downtown either. Maybe I can take a pic with one of the statues at the Bricktown Ballpark. Oh why must I be so into historically things (is that even a word??? lol)???

Hmmm..I can't think of anyother places off the top of my head...and I realized that I have to be up in just over 4 hours...this is what I get for sleeping in late the last too mornings, and going to bed really late the last 2 nights..I so couldn't help Friday night, I was at the bar, celebrating the end of the stinking paper...whew...

Night...

Where has time gone???

Ok...so it's been a long while since I've posted. Life has gotten pretty hectic. School is driving me up the wall like no other and I have surgery tomorrow morning on my retina...oh joys. But that being said, I did get some wedding stuff taken care of. Jeremy and I met with Erica, of Erica Weddings out of Tulsa. She's amazing and the work her company does it awesome. Since I'm looking for just day of stuff, I don't need to book them right away. I can wait till probably July to October and be fine.

I did order a black Effiel tower vase, that should be here tomorrow, even though I don't get to play with it and the branches since I'll be all nice and drugged up but it will give me something to look forward to once I'm all healed up. I also got some of the floralytes and I bought all of the square candle holders and half of the stones to fill them with to line the stairs that I'll be walking down. I'll need to break those out at some point and take a picture to post. Other than that....that's all of the wedding things that I've done. Oh...I have started making my table name cards....yes table names. Instead of having table numbers, the tables will be named after famous Oklahomans, like Mickey Mantel, Johnny Bench, Will Rogers, and others. I still need to come up with like 10 more names though...oh well.

Well I need to finish some homework thats due soon so...laters

Break Time...

So I'm taking a little bit of a break from writing about Gov. Murray and oil proration in the early 1930s. I'm going to post pictures of dresses that I'm considering for my girls, plus the boots that I'm looking at for me!!!

Here is the first dress I'm considering, Alfred Angelo #7006

Here's the second dress, Alfred Angelo #7014. Instead of that kiwi green, I'm thinking probably ivory on both dresses

Here's the third dress, Alfred Angelo #7015. I actually bought this one for me in black, and its really cute for a cocktail dress.

Here's the fourth dress, Alfred Angelo # 7016.

Here's the fifth dress, Alfred Angelo # 7019.

And last but not least, the boots I'm looking at getting, I just can't decide right now between the two. I may try to see if I can have something embroidered in blue on them, since they are black.

Ok...I'm going to go for now, though I think I'm going to tweak my blogger for a little bit.

What a week....

So this week has been filled with ups and downs, but way more ups than downs. After I got done with my MARC course at the History Center, I was going to talk to the events coordinator, Cyndi Lu (who I've talked about a lot on here). Well she was talking to someone else, so I was waiting outside the office and she looked up and saw me. She proceeded to call me into her office and told me she had a question for me. She asked if I would like to work for Events part time. She thought I would be a good fit and would help me with getting things figured out for my own event (the wedding). I can't believe I've been offered this chance. It looks like if I do take the job, I'll be hired April 1. The joys of working for the state..lol.

In other news, while at the MARC course, even though I was the youngest participant, I had people telling me that they'll be picking my brain and what not, and I even got to talk up the Museum Studies Program. All I can say is wow. I think because of the contacts I made at the MARC course, I may have my foot in else where too!

Other than these happenings later in the week, nothing else has really happened, thankfully. But today and tomorrow is will end up being filled with lots of studying and writing. My first draft of my paper for Historical Research is due on the 13th and I have a midterm to make up on Monday (one that I missed to go to the MARC course) and then study for a midterm that I will be missing on Wednesday because of an eye appointment.

I may be back on later, it just depends on how much I feel like procrastinating today. I think I may do a post with the dresses that I'm looking at for the BMs. I did get the other mock up for the invitations, I just need to print the wording and put it all together. I might do that today as well.

What a day....

Well, today was an interesting one. I did find out that I will need surgery to try and fix the retina issue, so that means eye lid lift is off for now..blarg.

But on the upside, I had a wonderful meeting with Cyndi Lu at the History Center. She also introduced me to the lady, Beth, who is in charge of the in-house catering. I will be getting more catering information either Thursday or Friday while I'm at the MARC course at the History Center. Beth also gave me the card of their pastry chef who does wedding cakes aside from her position with The Catering Company (the in-house caterers). I will be contacting her probably in the next couple of months, I think. I'll be getting with Cyndi Lue at some point between now and the end of summer (thank God for my internship at the History Center...lol) to get some business cards for DJs. I think I'll be going and talking to the florist to get a ball park for what I'm wanting flower wise at the end of Spring Break. I took pictures after the meeting today (and I'm booked!!) of the space we'll be using, so I'll share! Because I have so many that I took today, I've created a "Space Inspiration Board."

I'm go run away now and do some studying for my Archival Management midterm that is tomorrow night.

Inspiration time....

Well, tomorrow is the day of several things. One, I meet with my 4th eye doctor, the Retina doc...woo hoo. But then Jeremy, my mom, and I get to go meet with Cyndi Lu finally!!! I've been busy talking about things with Jeremy and coming up with alternatives to save money for the centerpieces. I created several inspiration boards over the last week or so and finessed what I had. Here are 2 of my boards so far.







Well this is enough for tonight. I'll report on how tomorrow goes and what progress is made then. I'm really excited.

So the list(s) begins...

Well there are several lists in the making. One is list of questions to ask on Tuesday (woo hoo)...another is the compiling of things to be done (oh yay)...and last but not least, the guest list. It will be interesting to see how many people the list ends up with. I think right now, we are sitting at like 200..eek. I just know come October/November, we will have to sit down and find out who is a must keep and who can get x'd off. This will be an interesting feat none the less.

I'm thinking I'm going to tell Cyndi Lu that we are looking about 200 so far for the wedding and reception. I've got so many things that I need to talk to Cyndi about because I don't know if it can be done or not. My head is spinning. I'm truly truly glad that I'm not trying to get all of this planned in less than a year. I do wish though, at times, that it would be January 8, 2010, not 2011 that Jeremy and I would be getting married. Oh well.

Well I'm going to go for now. I might come back later.

I think I'm on a roll!!

So I promised a picture of the invitation as it is now. So here it is.....drum roll please........

Anyways, back to business.... Well, I believe I have found my wedding coordinator!!! She did the wedding of my track coach to his wife. It was beautiful! Plus Erica (the coordinator) is young and understanding, especially since I'm in school and have a lot going on. She does great work and has great prices. I'm so glad that I went with my gut and contacted her to see if she does weddings outside of the Tulsa area, and she does...**doing happy dance again**... http://www.erica-weddings.com/index2.php ...<---that's her website, give it a look!

So now, I have almost 2 checks off of my list of vendors to get. I'll have another partial check come March 3rd.
The next big checks that will need to be done include: the caterer (will have to have an idea sooner or later so I can let Cyndi Lu know), the cake baker, the florist (but I know who I want to go with, just haven't gone to talk to them yet), and rentals (that will be determined after the meeting on March 3rd, well partly, and what the caterer provides).

At least I already know, well for the most part, what I want the guys to wear. I have no clue on the girls. I just need to get with them and start playing with dresses on the web. But first, I actually have to truly ask them first before anything else can be done..lol. I'll probably end up doing that over the summer or something, or just before school starts. Don't get me started on Jeremy and groomsman..lol.

I think I'm chugging a long at a good pace since the wedding is now at 683 days away. I still feel like last week, the countdown was at like 700 and something. But I need to start writing lists so that I know what I have done and haven't done so far (plus put tenative dates for when I hope to do those things by).

Ok..I think I'm going to get off of here and try and do some Historical Research stuff. bleh..lol

Invitations...and other things...

So, I'm excited..I have finally designed an invitation that I'm in love with! But I'm up in the air now about whether to do it as a panel card or as a pocket fold card. I'll have to post a picture of it tomorrow. Jeremy and I found what will probably be the vases for the centerpieces. I haven't really gotten anything else done really.

I don't want to study for my test on Tuesday...bleh. Can I be done with school yet..lol

Well I'm going to go. Hopefully I'll get photos uploaded tomorrow.

Wedding Randomness and other things...

So here's the picture of that shirt that I got Jeremy for Valentine's Day. And what is funny to me, is the bride totally looks like Princess Peach from Super Mario...and I used to always be Peach when I played Mario Kart 64....I miss that game..I need to find my N64 that is buried in my closet.

I'm trying to avoid getting back to studying for a quiz that I have tomorrow in US History since 1877. Why couldn't that chapter be shorter like the last one..lol.

I thin once the rest of the lilies that are a part of my V-Day bouquet finish blooming, I'll take another picture and post it. That reminds me, I need to take a picture of the wonderful silver branches hiding in the garage...I really need to start toying with how they're going to be set up. Maybe Cyndi Lu at OHC might have some ideas. I need to start making my list of questions that I have for her to take to the appointment on March 3rd.

I'm sure that I really need to step it up and start looking for a wedding coordinator, since that is a requirement that has to be met so I can get married at OHC. There are a few that I have looked at, contacted one back in the fall, but there's another that I need to contact to see if she does weddings in Oklahoma City, since she's based out of Tulsa.

Well I guess I'm going to get back to studying for now. I might venture back on later, but I doubt it.

Caution: Slow Moving Wedding Planning Ahead...

So I have finally scheduled a time to go talk with the events coordinator at the History Center. I get to meet with her on March 3rd in the afternoon! She's a really really great woman, she even has her degree in history!!! So, the wedding planning process is still going...just really really slow, since as of today, there are 689 days to go. It seems like forever, but when I think about how quickly time has flown from when Jeremy and I got engaged back in September to now, its insane. Its like..uhhhh could a I have a few more days back maybe..lol. I know that at this time, come next year, I will be in my final semester of my bachelor's degree and at the just under a year mark. Needless to say, stress will be at a max, kind of like it is for me right now because of Historical Research.

I still need to upload the picture on Jeremy's shirt that I got him for Valentine's Day. Even his mom got a kick out of it..lol.

Happy Valentine's Day...

So I hope everyone is having a good one today. Mine started a little rough by having someone call me, no clue who and didn't even leave a message...mmmk. But I did get woken up by my dear fiance Jeremy. Before he left my room this morning, he left 2 little cards and a Reese's cup..yum...So yeah, those cards were the beginning of a scavenger hunt...I got lots of candy, including an entire bag of Reese's cups...Dove melt-a-way chocolates... Warheads!!!...and Andes Mints!!!! But my biggest gift this morning was a beautiful arrangement of white daisies, red roses, stargazer lilies, and a pretty little red/orangish flower. I'll have to go investigate what the one I don't know is. I also got the new Madagascar!!! So I feel like I made out like a bandit this year! Considering last year (our first V-Day together), I was sick and Jeremy had to take care of me.

For Jeremy, he got Zack and Miri, a pair of comfy shorts (considering the fact that I steal his baseball shorts all the time), and an AWESOME shirt that he couldn't stop laughing about. I'll have to post a picture of it when he's wearing it. But the shirt has a groom and a bride on the front of it. The groom has a ball and chain and is frowning, the bride is smiling and underneath it says "Game Over." Jeremy likes to play video games but then, technically "game over" since he's taken..lol. He said he's going to wear it today for when we go run errands and go meet up with his mom, but he will change shirts for us to go to dinner. I'll grab a picture of him in it and post it later...lol

I'm thinking of re-doing the blog, but I'm not sure how I want it to look and what not...so..we'll see what the blog comes to be over the next week or so...**but to go with today..the blog is pink..so help me..lol**

Also, I'm going to try and blog a little bit more, especially pertaining to wedding stuff and not so much of ranting about personal things...

I'm out for now...

A little bit of wedding stuff...

So today, I went and looked at some more wedding stuff and ended up getting a good amount of stuff for $15 from another newlywed. I ended up getting 2 wicker baskets that are already black (I just have to change out the bows to blue) that will be used for the programs. I also got some framed Oklahoma stuff would have cost me about $15 for just the frames, plus I even got an Oklahoma shaped basket. So I got some stuff done today, but I've got time to get things figured out. Kirsten also gave me some great ideas for favors and how to set things up. I'm so glad that before buying the branches from her, that I had actually met her years ago. But she's been so helpful already.

Anyways, I'm ready for the weekend. Yes I'm excited that tomorrow is Valentine's Day, but I get to sleep in for once!!! I may take some photos of the branches and the stuff that I got today and post them some time this weekend. If I don't get to it, I may do it next week.

I'm just ready to get out of the funk that I'm in...blarg....

A week that started off good..has now gone down hill...

The last couple of weeks have been insane. Historical Research is making me want to pull my hair out. I'm finally through a major hoop as of Monday but still have a few more to go...bleh. So much of me is ready for this semester to be done with for so many reason. The first reason being that I'd be done with Historical Research for good and won't have the stress of having to write a major paper until I hit graduate work. But the other reason is the fact that I'm tired of my semesters being rocky due to my eye...

I had my last eye appointment back on Tuesday. My cornea doctor was pleased with how well my cornea graft is doing, but he was worried that my vision has not improved to where it needs to be. So I got sent to have scan done of my retina because while he was looking at my eye, he saw what looked like inflamation. So off to the second floor I go. I get the scan done and stay positive since I was getting to meet my plastic surgeon about what he can do to fix my eyelid. It was really interesting how much better my peripherial vision will be come time for that surgery. It won't be perfect but it'll be better than what it is now. At least I won't look as much like Rocky Balboa or the Hunchback of Notre Dame when the time comes for E-Pics, Bridals and the Wedding.

Well during my visit with the surgery scheduler, the wonderful Oklahoma weather struck...oh joys. So we were finally able to finish the paper and got my surgery scheduled for the last Friday of my spring break in March. I wasn't going to miss any school for this surgery..yay. Fastforward today...I forgot my phone in the car while I was in class and missed a call from my mom. I listened to the message and called her back. Well after my cornea doctor looked at the scan, he passed the word on that I now have a retinal fold. Yeah, thus the reason why my vision is still so blurry. So now on March 3rd, I get meet my 3rd acutal eye doctor, but my 4th doctor overall at Dean A. McGee Eye Institute...

And as it stands, I'll probably end up having to pushing back doing the eyelid lift, which I was looking forward to, and have to deal now with the possibility of my 4th surgery on the eye itself. I'm 22 years old, I shouldn't be having these kinds of surgeries...but Murphy's Law...or Clary's Law as my cornea doctor now calls it. I just wish I could have a normal life that wasn't full of eye appointments and restrictions...blarg..I just want to give up.

I've now hit the point that I'm not caring about my body again. I haven't done Turbo Jam in like 2 weeks now. I hate depression. I hate how everything is going good and then it turns to shit. I was hoping that for once, I would have a semester that wasn't interrupted by a surgery that wasn't during a break.

I think I'm just going to crawl into a black hole and cry myself to sleep and hope that everything just goes away. I haven't even touched anything wedding related for myself in weeks now, jsut checked around on the Knot and on WeddingBook, as well as picked up the silver branches that I bought for $40 and will be looking at some more wedding related stuff, just nothing major.

I guess I'm going to stop rambling and try to go to bed. If I can't, I may be sneaking into Jeremy's room and cuddling with him for a while to maybe soothe my nerves and maybe help me get to sleep some how. I'm just glad I only have an 11 o'clock on Tuesdays and Thursdays...

Grumblings for the day, after being iced in for almost 2 days..

Life has been some what of a blur as of late. Classes are finally picking up and things are having to be done. I'm enjoying all of my classes but one, Historical Research. Yes, I know that this is a class that I need to do well in, especially when it comes time for my Masters, but its stressing me like no other, even Jeremy, who's taking it with me. Because of the stress from this class, I've been snapping a lot more lately, which is no bueno. Right now, the major stresser is one of the two professors teaching the class. But don't get me started.

But other than the stress of Historical Research, things are going pretty good. Saturday, I get to go pick up like 20 silver branches that I'm buying for $40 from a newlywed. Which of course is saving me a good amount, compared to what it would cost me if I was going to do it myself. I can't wait to post pictures of a bundle of the branches so that it will be easier for me to describe some of my ideas for the uses of these branches as centerpieces and other things.

Turbo Jam is once again kicking my ass. We moved up to a different routine and man, I am so fricking sore, its insane. My abs are killing me like they did when we first started the Turbo Jam program last week. But today we actually had a workout that focused on the abs...I think I used ab muscles that I haven't used in years...Also, we're starting to see more results. I'm ready for the 3rd of February to get here so we can do our next round of measurements and what not.

Well I'm gonna go for now. Tomorrow will be a long day, as I have to go to another Library at another university about 45 minutes away to get some more research done after I go to my only class for the day. Oh the joys of being a commuter student.

~Night~

And the inches are working their way off...

So, I'm proud of myself, as well as Jeremy. We've completed week 1 of Turbo Jam. Though my weight (which I know isn't the best indicator for showing results) has been up and down like crazy. I do find it kind of weird that my weight on Friday, January 16, was the same as yesterdays..lol..but both of which were higher than the Monday's weigh-in weights..who knows. But we've got the workout schedule figured out till the end of May..lol..but this will make us stay motivated. We kind of did some early measurements a little bit a go at our waists, and we've seen the tape get a little smaller already!! Woo Hoo. So needless to say, I'm ready to do more and more..lol. Ok...enough ramblings for now..lol..I might post our before pictures sooner or later..maybe once we have a workout # whatever so the difference can be seen. We'll see though.

And so the motivation continues....

Well, so far, Jeremy and I have worked out twice at the school's wellness center, last Tuesday and Thursday. We ended up not working out between our 2 pm class and my 6 pm class on Wednesday because we were running behind. But today, instead of going to the gym, we used Turbo Jam for the first time cause it came in the mail today!!! We even did before pictures of ourselves so we can see where we were at the starting point with using Turbo Jam and the gym.

I had no idea the Turbo Jam Learn & Burn was going to kick my ass like it did...but then I haven't done a workout video like that in ages. I just have to remember to remind myself and Jeremy to "tuck it" during each move. All I can say is that my abs are killing me and my legs are still burning 2 and half hours later...lol. We're going to try and follow the workout plan in the little book that came with it. So tomorrow night after my 6 pm class, we're going to give Turbo Jam another run through on the Learn & Burn. Thursday and Friday are going to be really interesting because we then move up to the 20 minute workout...so we'll see if we're still functioning come Friday morning.

I'm really pumped up about getting back into shape. I hope that I can stay motivated enough to keep going even when I don't feel like it. But I do know that I'm going to be printing out the before pictures so that they stay as a constant reminder as to how we started out and to help keep us focused to not look like that again. I hope the only other time I start to look like I did in those pictures is 1, when it comes time for me to have kids and 2, if I have another major eye surgery that knocks me on my butt for a while.

I hope that by the 10th workout, I can post that I've lost inches and pounds. But I can't do it with just exercise, I have to do it by being more aware of how I eat and how much I eat.

Wish Jeremy and I luck as we keep moving forward to healthier us'.

And so the workouts begin....

Well, Jeremy and I made it through our first workout day. We had planned to do it this morning but I had a rough night so we decided to do it after I got out of class, which worked out well. We'll be working out again tomorrow between the 2 pm class we have and my 6 pm class so. I'm still waiting for my Turbo Jam dvd to get here. I'm actually really motivated to use it. I really need to get healthier so. I plan on taking "before" pictures of myself as well as measurement come this Sunday.

Well I'm gonna go for now, I need to pull stuff together for tomorrow's classes and maybe read some of "The Prince"....oh joys..lol.

Night

Incoherent ramblings....

So yesterday, Jeremy and I began our resolution to become healthier and what not. I'm getting back into the habit of keeping a food journal and Jeremy's slowly getting used to writing down what he's eaten during the day. We plan to get up and go work out before my class at 11 am tomorrow morning so we can get back into the habit of being way more active. I even ordered Turbo Jam, well got it off of EBay, so we'll see how that goes. I'm really excited for it to get here! I think I'm slowly getting the motivation to get the ball rolling. I hope that I'll be able to stick to this plan and make my goals.

In other news, Jeremy and I's one year anniversary is on Saturday the 17th!! Yay. I can't wait for it to be here. Jeremy and I spent part of tonight just reminiscing about things that happened just over a year ago and where we are now.

What else happened today...hmmm...Classes started up again. It was weird having Jeremy at the same school as me again. I've missed being able to kiss him between classes. Plus it helps that we have a few of the same classes, joys of having history related majors!

Earlier today, I was messing around on WeddingBook like always and came across a post about how to take engagement ring photos. I loved the photos that the poster had taken of her ring at work, and in fact I had to add her to my following list on here! So I checked out the link she posted and decided to get creative myself. Unfortunately, while at school and between classes, I was limited as to posing the ring with objects but I played some more this evening. Here are my just a few, well my faves at least.


Well, this is enough posting for now. I may end up posting some tomorrow....we'll see what the new day brings...

Frustrations......

Yeah, its hard to believe that 2 years from today I will be married to Jeremy. The night started off great with going to dinner at my fave steakhouse and our server ended up being a bride that I had worked with when I was a bridal consultant. When we got home, things were still going good, that is until I asked him a question. After I got his answer, I just want to give up. I try to do something for "us" and then it goes to hell because of something I thought I had made clear to him wasn't clear enough.

A few months ago a came across a thread about different things to do instead of a unity candle or a sand ceremony. One poster brought up a Dutch tradition about having a a chest of sort and place within it a bottle of wine, 2 glasses, and a letter to one another. During the ceremony, the couple and their mothers would each place a nail in the top to seal it. This would then create a keepsake for the couple to use as a emergency kit so to speak for their marriage if things started going down hill for one reason or another. But if it wasn't opened because of an marriage emergency, it would be opened on the couple's 25 wedding anniversary. No matter when opened it would be opened, it would serve as a reminder as to why they loved another and why they married.

Well me, being the creative one, I thought it would be cool to take that idea but do it for a different purpose. My idea was to put it together and then have it opened on our wedding night, kind of a gift to each other that we could both enjoy to help wind down the evening. Well I originally had thought that we would put it together on January 17th of this year on our 1 year anniversary. After telling Jeremy about it, and him liking the idea, I came to the conclusion that it would be a better idea if we were to do it on January 8th, as in today. Jeremy liked that idea even better.

Fast forward to last week, I had been asking Jeremy if he had written his letter yet and he kept telling me that he hadn't had the chance to sit down and write it without being bothered. Ok, how many mornings has he been not bothered in the mornings the last couple of days while Papa was out running errands? Hell, if I had needed some quit space, I would have gone out to the car and do it. Oh wait, I did that back when I lived on campus and the roomies were being loud. Anyways, back to the issue. I was still under the impression that he knew that he needed to have the letter written to me done today, eh wrong. He still thought that it needed to be done by the 17th....HELLO, I've been working on my letter for like 2 and a half weeks trying to get it just right. My letter was written, but needed to be rewritten because the page tore when I was pulling it out of the notebook. Needless to say, I shreaded the letter to Jeremy in front of him. Because of the way it was written, it needed to be put together with his and the glasses today. It wouldn't make sense if we were to put it together on the 17th. So now, I don't even see a point in putting the damn thing together.

I'm broken hearted and hurt. It doesn't help that mother nature has stuck her head out and makes me even more emotional than what I normaly am. I just don't know what to do.......

Ramblings of insomnia

Once again, I'm having one of those sleepless nights. I really need to get my sleep schedule back on track. For some reason, my sleeping schedule gets better when Jeremy's here. So needless to say, I'm ready for him to get down here for the semester.

Plus it does not help that my mind is constantly working, constantly thinking. Its like I can't turn it off at night. I have to be thinking about something. If I'm not thinking about school, I'm thinking about the wedding. If I'm not thinking about either of those, I'm thinking about how Jeremy and I are going to afford some sort of place to live in hopefully before we're married. And if I'm not thinking about that, I'm thinking about how I'm going to find a job and what not once I'm done with my bachelors. But then I have the dilemma of try and find a job or start on my masters right away. I just have no clue what to do. I don't want to delay starting my masters for too long after the spring of 2010.

I can't really do a whole lot of saving right now. I'm not working due to my class schedule and the hell that I went through back in the fall semester with my last employer. I've practically spent almost all of the money that I had saved up from that job to pay for things that I need, and Christmas didn't help either, and I'm in the midst of paying a credit card off. This summer I probably won't be able to work because I may end up doing my full 6 credit hours of internship (which equates to 40 hours a week). But the thing is, its not paid, unless I can get a paid internship.

I'm really starting to stress over everything. Trying to plan things out, trying to figure out my school plan, I just want to pull my hair out. And I know that I've got to be better with how I handle money. I do good with my spending habits for a while, but then I fall back into my old habits. I'm just aggravated with myself and these habits I have. I just don't know what to do anymore....

So many things running through my mind....

Ok, so I'm back to post more but this time its about wedding stuff. I'm in the midst of trying to cut my budget down from what I was hoping it would be. There are some things that I'm going to just shell the cash out for myself. I'm just going to buy stuff here and there. I've already started doing that to a certain extent. I've already bought some of the card stock for the programs. I've already bought our vase deal for our sand ceremony and the little corked vases that we're giving to our parents that mimic the one we'll have after all is said and done.
I've basically got my centerpieces figured out so that I don't have to have flowers for the reception. I'm not really going to have much decoration for the ceremony, just 12 vases that will line the aisle that will have flicker lights in them. I'm really glad that I don't have to have much decoration for the ceremony due to the backdrop of atrium, the state capital! I know that I need to get started on figuring out how I want to do the memory table for Jeremy and I's loved ones and important people in our lives that won't be there due to their passing.
I already have the photographer booked and I can't wait to start working with Kriea! I've got to go talk to the Event Coordinator at the History Center sooner or later, just not sure when right now, especially since school starts back up on the 12th! I want to go see the florist I want to use to see about pricing for the things I would like to have.
I guess I just need to sit down and start making coherent lists of what I've done and what needs to be done since I've got 2 years to go. Part of me is wishing that the wedding would be January 2010, not 2011, because then I know I'd have things done a lot quicker. Darn Jeremy and I being responsible people and waiting till we have our bachelors' degrees and hopefully good jobs, but we'll see if that happens thanks to the wonderful economy. I think Jeremy will have better luck since he's going to be a teacher. Me on the other hand, its a whole different ball game.

Enough rambling for the night now. I have to be up in just under 6 hours so woo hoo!

Starting the year off on the right foot....

So the count down begins...In 6 days I will be starting my New Year's Resolution with my man.

Starting on the 12th of this month, Jeremy and I will begin our getting to the healthy us program. We have 2 years and 2 days until our wedding day and we want to be in the best shape and for that day and for the rest of our lives.

I had tried back in the fall to motivate myself to work out on a continued basis but I lost motivation and ended up having another eye surgery so that put me back on my butt for a month, but I got cleared today at my eye doc appointment!!!

We've set goals for ourselves and have a reward system to strive towards. I'm thankful that I have him by my side this semester. We will be able to motivate one another to be healthier people.

Our plan is to workout at the school's wellness center 3 times a week, and if we have time between studying and writing historical research papers for a class, we'll do extra such as the Wii or maybe I can get him to buy me DDR and he can learn to dance for the wedding..JK. But we've also got fall back plans if we can't make it to the wellness center for reasons.

Besides writing about wedding planning and every day life, I hope to try and note how our program is going. We are also each keeping journals that will help us keep track of when we work out and what kind of work out we did and for how long, as well as keeping track of our weight and what we eat. That will help us keep each other accountable for what we do and don't do.

I may post more later about wedding stuff but for now this is all that I feel like rambling about.