Plans Go Awry: Which is how we have The Slinky

I've been printing off invitations lately. Actually, I've given my man a project to accomplish and he undertook the task with amazing effort and zeal. He was so proud of himself for how much he was accomplishing, he would exclaim about it every so often. He was (is) adorable, The Office was on in the background, and things were lovely.
Two days later, I showed my mother the progress we're making and low and behold--A MISTAKE.

(The Slinky was also a mistake.)

In printing off the invites, I am using a template so I can print off three at a time--Microsoft Office 2007 is awesome, I know. However, if (and when) you make a correction on one of the three, you MUST input the alteration on the other two to avoid . I did not. The shock of it all has taken away my gumption for what we had accomplished and I have ignored the issue at hand until tomorrow evening. It's been one week. I've printed off 25 pages with three invitations on each page, with only the first on each page actually being correct.  You do the math because you should suffer a little as well.

However, that hiccup allowed for my man and I to bond over the discussion of our Reception Theme.
And we do have to have one, because, if you have to ask, you have no idea who we really are.

For our first Halloween together he made his own dinosaur costume and I was a Jurassic Park Ranger. Then we were Jack Bauer and Chole, complete with headsets, badges and protocols. Last Halloween we were the ever so classic couple Bonnie and Clyde--thrown together in the span of 15 mins from what we actually had in my apartment at the time. And yes, there was a Tommy Gun. So naturally we have fantastic ideas about what our theme should be.

It started out Vintage--each table having an assortment of trinkets, maybe cira 1940 to go with his Army uniform he'll be wearing. Now the theme has somehow hyper-actively hijacked the prim and proper focus and morphed into a struggling to be politically correct: Travel/History Cira 1940's/1980ish(think Berlin Wall)/Jurassic Park/New Zealand: As Seen In LOTR.
We're such nerds and we can't break away from it. Which is why I am embracing it and loving it. Also because of the irrefutable wisdom from TheKnot.com:

Fact #1: They'll like the wedding that you like

The best weddings are the ones where the bride and groom did it their way. Formal and ritzy? Great. Casual and festive? Also great. Do what you want. Your guests won't judge. Okay, some will. But remember what you learned in kindergarten: If they judge you by your cake display, they're not your real friends anyway.

Thank you ever so omnipotent Wedding Consultant Bloggers, you have saved the many who strive alone in finding the prefect decisions, details and dresses.

Planning for Love

More often than not, I have Tuesdays off from work.
This can be such a lovely happening since it allows me to take a WHOLE day and PLAN.

Today I will write out my TO DO LIST
and then eat some breakfast and contemplate the LIST while I vacuum.

Having a clean space is essential for me to be able to be productive. 

I wish it wasn't such a big deal, but I have fallen victim to a touch of OCD.

Some of you understand when the dishes & laundry taunt you.

Therefore here is a bit of my LIST for me to accomplish today-next Tuesday:

1) Clear out my Wedding box-it's a big, intimidating box.

2) Finish Invitation Template (I need my Army Love's computer for this)

3) Write out a Wedding Budget--Apparently you need one...which is a problem for us.

4) Send out Bridesmaids cards...Sometimes I wish I could be a man and just text them.

 

5) Filter through bookmarked favorites&decided on centerpieces! (Etsy.com will be the end of my productivity)
 

Not too bad of a LIST, as of now, right?

NOW, according to theknot.com, I have 179 things left to do and only 116 days in which to accomplish them. I cannot even rationalized this. Which is why I am marrying a more logical Man.  Panic feelings begin to creep in and this is where I will leave you, in search for some breakfast and my vacuum cleaner.

Hope that that To-DO LIST will have somethings crossed out--such a great feeling!-- the next time we chat.
Until then here's a sneak peek of things to come (Now who doesn't love Engagement photos?):

 
 

Here's the thing...

It almost always seems that when  I'm at the end of my rope, when the walls are sliding down around me and I'm clinging to the tether that's to save me from imminent peril over the mountainside, something comes to my rescue. 
Like in Jurassic Park 2 and the T-Rex mom is very upset, I'll come to find not all is lost; that the dinosaurs won't eat me.

And here's why:
Because I have friends who remind me to hold on while they help pull me back up. To remind me to laughand to not take these crazy moments too seriously.

But here's the thing,
I wouldn't have these friends, these lifesavers, that rope thrown down to pull me back up unless I were to admit the glass beneath me won't hold me. Can't hold me. That there are too many cracks for me to control.  Giving up that control isn't easy. We're told to be successful for ourselves. To be successful enough to help others who are unable to help themselves. After a while though, we run out of luck, we run ourselves down and unless we recognize the need to be helped ourselves, we might as well baste ourselves in steak sauce and give ourselves over to the dinosaurs.

So here's to the moment when we realize we're in trouble, that the forces outside are more powerful than we can assert control over. Here's to that moment when we can call out to our friends, hold tight to that rope and wait for the storm to pass.
Here's to realizing we can't always save ourselves, and the power to find the friends who love us enough to take that chance: