Wedding Bliss

I've seen the movie 27 Dresses twice now and while most of it is cheesy fluffy girl movie (which I enjoy) there's one particular quote that has hit home both times. It's the perfect way to explain the feelings on my own wedding day.

"That day I woke up and put on my 28th dress.I went to a wedding where no one asked me to hold the bouquet, fold a place card, or hold their dress while they peed. Everything was perfect, and I didn't care, because right then the only thing that mattered was the person waiting for me at the end of the aisle. And he was looking at me the way I'd always hoped"

While I haven't been a bridesmaid 27 times I've been to a lot of weddings. I've helped in the kitchen, I've served at the dinner, I've gone early to decorate. More recently I've helped take care of their music and sound.

But that day I wasn't asked to do anything, everything was taken care of for me and it was perfect. And I really didn't care. Nothing meant more than the way Brad looked at me.
L

On Single Life

So I read a similar blog post recently that made me consider my own time as a single adult. Here are the facts I came up with.

From the time I moved to Calgary until June of 2007

I’ve had 23 roommates,
24 if you include Brad
I’ve lived in 4 different houses
In 5 different wards in 2 different stakes

23 roommates is pretty impressive I think, so I thought I’d come up with a few lessons learned from them.

• “Can I talk to you about something?” never has a good ending
• If your roommate is engaged when she moves in don’t expect to see her... ever
• 2 fridges make kitchen life so much more pleasant
• If something breaks, no one will fix it
• The garbage will be ignored for as long as possible until the person with the least willpower finally gives in and takes it out.
• Don’t let roommates leave unwanted items behind... someone is eventually responsible for them and it will probably be you.

And the most important lesson,
Brad is easily the best roommate I’ve ever had. I think I’ll hold on to him.
L

Bad Day

The morning started out all right, we slept in a little at my parents house and woke up rested and relaxed. We had an enjoyable breakfast, then we noticed the time and realized that we were now running a little late. So we sped off to Cardston to Jane and Ken's wedding, speeding a little. We would have made it too but the police officer took ages giving us our speeding ticket, so we missed our session and ended up having to kill two hours in Cardston before the wedding. Not an easy task.

We figured we'd just go to the 1:30 session instead only it turns out there is no 1:30 session so we'd have to wait until 3:30. The session didn't happen, we came home instead, we'll go back some other time.

On the bright side, Jane and Ken's wedding was so nice, such a wonderful ceremony and they looked so happy. Here are a couple pictures to commemorate the vent.

Congratulations Jane and Ken! We're so happy for you.
L

A Few Wedding Photos

If these three weren't enough and you're interested in seeing a ridiculous number of our wedding photos you can go here. It really is a crazy number though... even I was a little bored and they're my photos :)
L

"The Sun and the Moon"

Wasted time.

I cannot say that I was ready for this.

But when worlds collide,

and all that I have is all that I want.

The words seem to flow

and the thoughts they keep running.

And all that I have is yours.

All that I am is yours.

Ohh...

Painted skies.

I've seen so many that cannot compare

to your ocean eyes.

The pictures you took

that cover your room,

and it was just like the sun

but more like the moon.

A light that can reach it all.

So now I'm branded for taking the fall.

Ohh...

So when you say forever,

can't you see you've already captured me.

- Mae

Overflowing

At Brad's request I'm posting the poem that I read at our wedding.
It was written for us by our good friend Jane Kearl

Overflowing
I watch as water rises over the rim of a glass
And spills down the smooth side
Pooling silently on the table top
You are my water

I sip of your smile and savor the way
I am reflected in your lucent eyes
So clear and comprehensible
So attentive and forgiving

I sure footedly slip in to you
Your warmth encompassed in a kiss
Where I am dissolved
Now I am your water

Every day I drink you in
And, in return, offer a taste
Of perfect imperfection
And an impermeable promise

I shall never thirst again my love

July 8th - still special

Well, it's my last day of work before the wedding which means I'll not have access to internet until July 9th. Thought I'd leave one last blog entry.

Now don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed this engaged time as much as I think it can be enjoyed but here's a list to leave you with.

Reasons why I'm happy this wedding is almost over :)

1. No more ridiculous little details to make decisions over
2. No more sending Brad home at the end of the night
3. No more wedding favours to put together
4. I'll finally have some time to plan a house warming party
5. No more panic attacks that I've forgotten something
6. Hopefully I'll have something else to blog about now
7. Mexico here I come!

L
(As a selfish little reminder, don't forget
about my Birthday on the 8th :)

Blogging Woes

Sadly, I must admit. I have become one of the things that annoys me most... an infrequent blogger. I've just not been able to keep up with everything I need to do, blogging and the creativity it demands has been the first to go.

So here I am, 4 days before the wedding. Mostly everything is done, there are little things here and there but I feel basically on top of things. I do have this crushing fear that there's something major I've forgotten to do. I have a bit of a cold that's slow to let go and I seem to not be able to sleep anymore... my racing mind keeps me up until all hours. I look forward to Puerto Vallarta and the ocean and the paradise and no more wedding planning. Here are a few pictures to instill a little jealousy.

Hope to see you in 4 days :)
L

Engagement Brunch

What a fun weekend!

Brad and I had an engagement party down in Magrath (my home town), it was so much fun. Exactly how I’d wanted it to be. I’ve been gone from Magrath for a long time so I didn’t feel like I needed a full wedding reception down there but I did want to see those people, most of them wouldn’t drive up to Calgary though. The engagement brunch was the perfect solution. It was super casual, at my parents house. People came, ate, visited and then left, having lots of time left in the day. It was perfect.

The food was so good! We had pancakes cooked on a griddle, there were different toppings to choose from. Butter pecan with ice cream was my favorite. But the apple cinnamon with whipped cream and caramel sauce was incredible too. There were mini muffins, and scones with different flavored butters. Mini quiche and homemade sausage rolls. We drank orange juice and had lots of fruit.

It was fun to see so many people that I haven’t seen in a long time.

Thank you so much everyone who came and everyone who helped. Like I said, it was perfect. Exactly what I wanted.
L

Stories too Embarrassing to Share

So I know that entries are few and far between lately but in my defense, I started an entry yesterday but it ended up being so boring I deleted it. Really, it was no good. It was about this site, it makes for a good read if your bored.

So I had thought that I'd share a story from a awhile ago and was trying to come up with something when I remembered I happen to have my journal at work. So I pulled it open and thought I'd find a good gem or two. Boy was I wrong! That thing is embarrassing! I think I must destroy it! It's all about what boy I'm interested and their every movement that could even slightly be interpreted in my favour... there's no way I'm sharing any of that. It's also become apparent that I only write in my journal when it's about boys. I think I'll make an effort to change that.

So Let's just say that I've grown up a lot. I was silly and a little boy crazy and clingy and needy... thank goodness I learned to be independent and much more mature. Sorry to all those boys I hung out with back then, I'm a much better person now :)
L

By Request

Oh sigh... the cufflinks...
Thank you Andrew for opening up a wound I thought was healed...This story will make Brad sad when he reads it, especially with the pictures...

After Brad and I got engaged I made the usual decisions, wedding colours, what I want the groom to wear, that kind of stuff. I knew I wanted Brad to wear cufflinks so we started doing some internet searching for a pair we both liked. After not very long we found these ones both Brad and I loved!

They were perfect. The right colour, an interesting style but still simple. They were a great price too £9.99, about $30 with shipping. So Brad ordered them. He got an email confirmation saying his order had been processed and then a second email saying his order was on its way. We were excited. Not too long after he got a third email though... this email said that the company didn’t actually carry this style, they wouldn’t be sent to them and his credit card was refunded. They weren’t on backorder, they wouldn’t ever get more. Didn’t carry the style? But we bought them off the website, there’s a picture! (There’s still a picture and we found them back in April!). We were unimpressed and really disappointed. We couldn’t look for days because nothing compared to the jet engine cufflinks. We would see some perfectly nice ones but compared to these they were awful.

I had a brilliant idea. There has been more than one occasion where Jenn has told me about the google searching powers of her friend Meenah. I figured someone else must make these cufflinks and I was sure if they were out there Meenah could find them. I sent out a plea for help. Jenn also passed the message on to Andrew who, apparently, is also a google master. I really was sure that it would be a mere matter of hours before the 3 of them found something.

Andrew showed the most promise... he found us these and was able tell us that we think the reason we can’t find the ones we want is because they’re a knock off of the ones he found. The problem is we prefer the knock offs and the real ones cost £45, about $135. That’s grossly outside our cufflink budget.

So there really was nothing left to do but forget about our perfect jet engine cufflinks. Brad took a couple weeks to let the memory fade and when he resumed he found, ordered and received something he’s quite happy with. I can’t remember what they look like or where he ordered them or I’d post a picture but I do remember that they’re nice :)
So there you have it, the painful cufflink story.
L

Cell Phone Pain

I know, two posts in one day, I should save this for tomorrow but I’m posting it now.

I very nearly cried...

This month my cell phone bill was $174! The last two months it’s been $140 so this month I really tried to make an effort to be careful... I failed, miserably.

It’s all this wedding stuff. I have these long conversations with my Mom and I have people to call, things to take care of... I can barely afford to eat after this pain though :)

So I’ve done what needed to be done. I called Telus and come Monday I’ll have a land line as well as my cell phone. It’s just a basic phone, the only feature I got was call display, we’ll get an answering machine and be good.

The best part though... I have my old phone number back again! The really easy one to remember that I had for 7 years. So if you ever had my home phone number you’ll have it again come Monday. And if you could do me a favour... please call the land line from now on, not the cell. At least until after the wedding and things get back to normal.
L

The Ring

I have an update on Brad’s ring... I blogged about this on the wedding website, I’ll add the original post so you can get caught up...

“Brad and I went shopping for his wedding band a while ago and found something we loved. They only had it in yellow gold and we want white so we ordered the white gold band and began to anxiously wait the 4 weeks for it to come in.

Last night I called them and they told me it was in so I went to pick it up. I gave the girl my claims ticket and she pulled out a little envelope and shook the ring onto the counter. A first glance was all I needed to know that this ring was absolutely not the one we picked out or ordered. This one has three diamonds on it and in summary was pretty darn ugly. So I told the girl that wasn’t the right ring. She looked it up on the computer and the product number they gave the manufacturer was right but somehow the manufacturer made, and sent the wrong ring.

You can understand my concern... we’re getting married in 4 weeks and that last ring took 4 weeks to get here. They were super nice about it and assured me the ring will be here on June 11th so let’s cross our fingers that they’re right :)”

Okay, now that you know the whole story I can continue it. Karen, the manager called me today to let me know that the ring is in! Yay, right? Well, there’s a catch. The ring we ordered was supposed to be 4 millimeters thick, the one that came in is actually 6 millimeters thick. I’m pretty sure we’re not going to like the thicker band... so Karen called the manufacturer and the right ring is on its way... will hopefully be here next week and will actually be the right ring this time.

Despite this whole mess I still have nothing but good things to say about Charm Diamond Centre. They’ve been so nice and so helpful and so apologetic. I would refer people there as long as you’re not in a time crunch :)
L

Words Can't Express...

So it’s official, I’ve moved.

I now live in this great little apartment almost overlooking downtown. There are tons of trees in the area and beautiful big houses, a park just up the street and Eau Clair Market just down the hill. My favorite breakfast place, Diner Deluxe, is a couple blocks up and I can walk to work. Love it.

Getting to this point was neither easy nor fun.

Wednesday was designated as moving day so I took the day off work and Brad arranged to have his Dad’s trailblazer and a flatbed trailer (with sides) to help. Tuesday night we packed up the kitchen, I’d already packed up the living room. With some help from our friends we packed the trailblazer full of boxes. Wednesday morning I did some more packing and Brad and I loaded up the flatbed. We then headed to the new place. Brad had a dentist appointment we didn’t want to reschedule so he was subbed out by Barb (his Mom). Her and I unloaded the rest of the Trailer and the Trailblazer. We even had time to unpack most of the kitchen by the time Brad came back. We took a break for lunch and then Brad and I went back to the old house to resume packing.

We had some really fantastic helpers that came by later to load and unload the furniture. Here’s my question of the day... how do you properly thank someone so they know just how much their help meant? Remember, this apartment is on the 4th floor and there’s no elevator, Brad, Barb and I had already made a ton of trips up those stairs so the fresh legs were more helpful than they can imagine. Byron, Brent, Al, Amber, Jared, thank you so much! I was almost ready to give up and just wait for Brad to come back from the dentist cause it was too overwhelming when Barb showed up. I don’t think she could have been a more welcome sight. She really came through and gave me the energy to keep doing those stairs, best Mother-in-law I’ve ever had :)

So to those who helped, a Thank you doesn’t cut it, your help made all the difference. Thank you for not making me lift the couch, chair, bed or entertainment unit. When the place is ready we’ll have you over for dinner (in small groups) in an attempt to repay you. Let me know when you move, Brad and I are there.
L

Thank You's for Everyone

Thank you Kim for throwing me such a fun wedding shower, I had a wonderful time. It was fun to see friends I hadn’t seen in a while, I’m so glad you came Shelley.

Thanks you everyone for coming, I loved visiting with you and I loved the gifts.

The beautiful wooden bowls and yummy chocolate from Bernard. The really great lights that Brad and I love. The cozy blanket and cuddle kit. I’ve been trying to get people to play Yatzee with me all weekend, so far I’ve been unsuccessful. My plans to make muffin tops were postponed but definitely not forgotten. I’m excited to take the bathtub in my new place for a test run will my yummy soaps and lotions. Brad was so excited to see the onion soup dishes and we can’t wait to try out the awesome picnic basket. We scrounged for food yesterday and it wasn’t until we were sitting down to eat that I remembered the pasta kit... that would have been perfect. Another day for sure.

Thank you again, I hope you had as much fun as I did.
L

Move

Things I will not miss about the duplex

1. Roommates (don’t get me wrong, I love them, just ready to have one eternal one)
2. Collecting rent money
3. The clothes dryer that leaves little burn marks on my unmentionables
4. The spider problem that appears in my room every spring
5. The Really tiny bedroom
6. Paying to heat the house - we wore a lot of sweaters
7. Having specific cupboards in the kitchen for each girl... having all the cupboards will be such a dream

Things I will miss

1. Doing laundry for free, coin operated is going to be an unwelcome change
2. The storage space
3. The hard wood floor upstairs
4. The regular size oven (as opposed to the apartment size I’m about to have)
5. The summer coolness of my basement bedroom
6. Dave for a neighbor

The Apartment that Almost Wasn't

So remember the great little place we found, the one with the ugly green carpet? Boy what a drama it’s been.

So we go see the place with the owner Brenda, she tells us it’s ours and all is good. We’re supposed to go give our damage deposit to Jennifer the resident manager on Monday.
So Monday comes and we head over to see Jennifer. She has no idea we were coming, doesn’t know who we are and has us fill out an application! Application? But we were told it was our apartment! Jennifer calls Brenda who does not clear things up and has Jennifer complete the application with us.

It’s official, we’re concerned.

So we wait the next day hoping for a phone call but not surprisingly neither of them get back to us. It’s now Wednesday, and we don’t know where we’re going to live, we’ve missed out on a week looking if we don’t get this place and the cherry on top... we put that address on 500 wedding invitations!

So Brad calls Brenda on Wednesday, she tells us that we postdated our cheque and she doesn’t want that and we need to go see Jennifer to fix that and “a few other things” whatever that means. So we go see Jennifer. Once again, she has no idea we’re coming and as it turns out doesn’t even have our cheque, Brenda still has it. So she calls Brenda... ha, Brenda thought Brad was someone else when he called... our cheque looks fine but no decision is made. She has our application. So we wasted our time going over this apartment to come up with no results! Argg!

So we go home and call Brenda... starting to feel pretty nervous and stressed at this point.Up until now we’ve felt pretty sure that Brenda hasn’t ever remembered who we were so Brad walked her through the entire encounter we had with her. Reminding her that we’d asked for the apartment number so we could put it on our wedding invitations. She finally remembered us but wasn’t at our office so she told us to call her tomorrow morning. She does tell us that it’s 99.44% sure that the apartment is ours so we’re feeling a little relieved.

Brad calls her this morning, after numerous phone calls she finally makes time for him and tells us that she wants Jennifer to redo our application... What?! Why!At this point Brad’s slightly frustrated and asks why were weren’t told that last night when we were there?!

She got a bit defensive saying she wasn't in her office last night and they already have another application for that suite. Then she realized that Jennifer and herself are to blame for our situation, not ourselves and she's "putting it through". Brad asked when we'd find out if we have place to live, and she replied "I just said I'm putting it through, you have it."

So finally, after some stress and ridiculous management we have a place to live!
L

I made up a really simple floor plan so you have an idea of what our apartment is like, the area I left plain is filled with the awesome carpet :)

Favorite Sister-in-Law of the Month

So last night was that special day all engaged couples get to look forward to. The invitation stuffing day!

Due to some unforeseen complications we ended up only having one night to stuff our invitations, we'd been hoping to be able to do it all week but it just didn't happen.So when we knew last night was the night I tried to call a couple friends and get us help... unfortunately for us the ones I called happened to have plans. My favorite roommate of the week was there and was a wonderful helper but Rosie, my future sister-in-law was such a trooper. She was there the whole time with us, staying late to help stuff.
She's easily secured the prestigious position for the whole month :)
(To give the others some credit Rosie was the only sister-in-law that we called)
L

Celebration

We officially have a place to live!

Brad and I have been becoming more and more concerned. I gave my notice to move out of my place so come the end of the month I was going to be homeless.

Brad has been so good about finding us listings to look at so we’ve gone to see a bunch of places and called about even more.

Here are a few highlights

1. The all inclusive $600 basement suite
   For $600 dollars you got:
   - Utilities
   - Satellite tv
   - Internet connection
   - A bathroom practically in the kitchen
   - A “kitchen” with no cupboards or counters
   - The all in one, space saving unit... picture it, 2 small burners, a sink directly attached to that and below... any guesses? An oven you say? No silly, it’s obviously a mini fridge. (I tried to find a picture, I wanted you to see it but I couldn't find anything close)
   
   
2. In the basement suite that smelled like live animals, upon noticing the hot plate and the toaster oven the landlady says, “A toaster oven and a hotplate, the same functionality as a oven. Right, cause I can make a cake in a toaster oven :)
   
   
3. The tiny, tiny apartment. We walk into the bathroom... wait, there’s no sink? Don’t worry, it’s sunk behind the door, completely invisible when the door’s open, but it’s there.
   
   
4. The Landlord who refused to let us move in because he wanted a single person. He didn’t want complains about hot water running out, and you know, one single guy is much quieter than a married couple.
   
   
5. The basement that made me cry. Not quite crappy enough to dismiss immediately.
   
   
6. The super ugly green shag carpet in our new place that’s getting us a $50 discount
   

So here’s to our new to us, small but cozy, 1 bedroom, perfectly located, ugly carpet possessing, 4th floor, balcony off the living room apartment.

We’ll have to have you over for dinner (in small groups, I mentioned it’s small right?)
L

I'll Miss Someone

I have this fear... I’ll plan a party, invite everyone I love but in the end discover that I missed someone. Or I’ll want to serve really good food at said party but I don’t want to make a ton so I try to limit the amount of people I invite. I’m not very good at that.
What if they hear I had a party and weren’t’ invited, then they’ll feel bad. And I love them, I want them to come. So in the end I normally just make lots of food instead. I prefer it to the other option.

Normally this problem affects no one but myself, if I want to throw a big party then it’s fine, I can provide for them. No big deal, I’m prepared to deal with the masses.

It’s coming time to have some wedding showers. I’ve had some wonderful people graciously offer to host and I so appreciate it. I’ve made up guest lists for them. Uh, they’re kind of big. I’m really trying, I swear... I just don’t like leaving people out.

I’ve cut a few people here and there but how do you decide to cut someone? There are people that I want there... I’m doing my best, I’m sorry if it’s inconvenient.
L