Sometimes the Sun shines here.

& I can drive with the windows rolled down.

Times when the sun warms the landscapes with its amber glow as thick lazy clouds pocket the Azure skies. With the windows down, the seasalt breeze sails through my car, tangling my hair & with that perfect playlist to melt me into the horizon, how can I not love driving with the windows down?

Living in Washington, it's a rare occurrence though.
I used to drive with the windows down all the time back home.
After a stressful day, I'd take the long road home,
blast my pandora playlist of Vampire Weekend & drive the coast...





Luckily, Washington decided to be kind. On the long drive home the too often absent sun fought away the grey & was brilliant enough to open the carpool's sunroof. With the raido frequency fitting our oportunistic moods, I captured the world as we enjoyed this rarity.

So much women happened & it was good.

Sometimes women are difficult to read & sometimes chickflicks & being girly can take so much out of me emotionally that I tend to hide from my sisters.
Now that we all aren't living in a dorm together where a secret knock on the living room wall can either relate a "goodnight" or a "come.over.right.now.you.have.to.see.this.!" moment, it's far easier for me to disappear into the daily demands of living with a man & working a full week, & sadly forget the reason why women have banded together for centuries. Sure, men have their nights at the bar, their morning tee offs & even a weekend devoted to Comics, but it is Women who band together & bond in a way society has created doctorates out of.
This weekend, was one of those moments.

Saturday was spent with an Enrichment seminar through my church.
As my husband suspected, even though the start time was a bright&early 8:30, the chattering over clinks of breakfast plates didn't quiet down until 9:00. Our speaker was a wonderful Southern woman by the name Jane who openned with the fact that her new baby grand-daughter refuses to be lulled to sleep by skinny women & that she knows how to speak English, however she talks Hillbilly. This woman woke us up with laughter & brought us into the lunch hour savoring on her tidbits of the fact that Women really do NEED each other.

At this seminar, women were asked to stand by generations, to stand by likes & dislikes, & to stand to share how they were impacted by a time when they really needed a sister. This showed how we all are different, but still share a desire to connect with each other--it was a fulfilment that only another woman could provide. A sense of sisterhood with a depth of wisdom.

Sunday's sisterhood had me travelling to Portland for a belated birthday celebration.
I carpooled with a dear friend whose conversations are filled with ponderings at men & delightful stories of the happenings since we've been apart. Our 2 1/2 hour long car ride also took us through many types of weather-Sunshine, Rain, Sleet, Snow, Hail--repeating this pattern on the drive home as well!
Once arriving at the location, I was surrounding by crafting materials & crafting ladies--in a normal situation, I would be too self-conscious to be able to relax & discover a craft for myself, however Heather provided a hub for creativity to blossom. All the lovely ladies were initiating their innovations while the store's odds & ends allowed for me to escape into an idea. It was a wonderful afternoon spent with uplifting women & it was a terrific weekend of remembering the importance of sisterhood.

Paperbacks are terrific companions.

To read more & watch tv less is my goal. I mean, we don't even own an tv, so it should be an easy habit to cultivate.

My friend had spent a week posting about books.
I had forgotten how much I love reading. Her blog postings make me ache to get back into the hobby of it.
Netflix, Hulu, & the fact that I get into bed before sunset (8p.m. is pushing it for me) has made it harder for me to dedicate myself to the art of reading.

I used to not be able to stop reading. I would get in trouble at school--all the way through freshman year--because I would sneak a book behind my school books or from under my desk to read. In the car, I'd read until it was dark & then hold the book up, using the headlights from other cars to light up the pages.

Now I turn on a show to get ready to go in the morning, turn on a show at break time at work, turn on a show at home to make dinner & do chores, then I turn on a show to fall asleep to..I have come to see this as an ugly trend in my life, but I do happen to love these shows & enjoy watching them, however I see now that they have replaced books in my life.

My friend shared that her family would read together after dinner & that struck me. Growing up my family sat in front of a tv. We tried sitting at the table, however the tv always found a way to sneak in & show up. Take-out food served on trays, fanned out around the tv is my childhood. It has become my grown-up life as well.

My husband is always surprised at how quickly I can devour a novel.  He has never known the reader in me, & it makes me really sad that I have let that part of myself go. I want to rediscover that bookaholic & let her wreack havoc.

Love Letters-there's an art to it.

Every man to be able to be inspired to write a Love Letter to the love of his life.


In honor of Valentine's Day, I bring to you, Sullivan.

This is a great article that can help all men (and women) profess their love. Don't let the moment escape when you could take a few to write out your love & create a treasured memory that will last for an enternity.

Listen.

Eye Contact & Gumption

In the good ol' days, women & men weren't hussies out in public & the simple act of tossing a glance from the corner of your eye was enough to lock in a man's attention for at least a tasty lunch date & introductory conversational tidbits.

Today, aim to dress with practicality, go about your day with gumption & let your eyes connect with others to communicate your thoughts & emotions. See if it creates a difference in your day's interactions.

Cowgirl Accessories

What an ultimate rockin' way to blow-dry your hair:



This makes me want to listen to songs sung by Country woman out for revenge.


Pistol Annies inspired, discovered on Estsy.com
        

Home Depot commercials make me want to own a fixer-upper.

To be able to have the time & opportunity to be able to love a house enough to get it into shape & take care of it.

For who could ever learn to love a Beast?

A Living-room.

a living room with enough room for all aspects of living.
Along the lines of dreaming up a house for a home, the living room is one of the toughest.
I like to rearrange fruniture about every three months
or when I'm stressed,
so my living room's entity much be able to be flexible enough to function in many different positions.
I want my living room to be a slight expression of my life--Photos on walls, lamps, & decor need to represent the love my house has to offer.


I am a fan of couches. I might even be a couch snob.
I don't really mind what the couch looks like, of course thoughts should always be towards a color scheme,
however what really matters is what your momma told you, "it's what's on the inside that matters the most.".
My couch has to be nappable for two to four people. I like pile-ons and cushions.
My couch is where I end up when I'm feeling sick & where I want people to gather for themed movie nights; so there must be a TV available & table stands with coasters.



I love the windows in this place, I really would love to live in an old house, by the city or sea, it seems so romantic.

This couch is adorable.

I love the depth & color of this couch. Also, as much as I am not a fan of these types of backgrounds, it allows a sense of folly and falling away into a soothing book. I would need a sountrack of wind through trees to play.

I love everything about this couch.
The colors, the size of the couch, the fact that it's a corner couch & it has matching drawn shades.


I also love eveything about about this room-It has such a warm glow & the colors stand out against the white lounge couch, but not too boldly. The tan & brown of the wooden lights cast a romantic glow.

This is the ultimate entertaining couch & living room.
I now know I want two living rooms.
There is a DJ station, & a minibar area, low lighting with plenty of seating room. I would love to have side french doors to open up to a covered outdoor dance floor. Or a rolling glass garage door to open up to rool up to reveal the outside. Perfect.

Fantastic colors & comfyness.

Who has a yellow couch? No one has a yellow couch. Or a french wall holder. I want one.

Also, who has a swing in their living room? It could be smart & be able to swerve around to face out a bay window or to face the indoor couch.


I also want Knooks & Knacks to compliment the majority of my living room.
Chairs a tucked a bit out of the way, into a half library, with blankets tossed accordinly:







I want to decorate my Fireplace. It needs to be fanciful for when there isn't a fire going in it.
There have been many options--including even putting a mirror in it's place, which looks pretty, and then stack the mirror up on top while toasting the room. The mirror will create the fancy illusion of more space.

I really love the thought of simply putting candles into the place it create a soft glow with sweet smelling scents:

I cannot wait to have my ideas of my home transform my house.

There's no place like Home.

Where ever I am living, I usually refer to that place as "Home", so it usually doesn't matter the type of place in which I am living... however, as I am growing up, I am finding myself wanting a place in which I could paint over, or remolded, or demolish to build back up upon.
It would be nice to have my own House to call "Home" & be able to have it reflect me.

Therefore, I have started collecting snapshots of what I would love to have as my "grownup home":

Featuring My Kitchen:


I want an Island in my Kitchen. I have started to embrace the practice of preparing food rather than microwaving a cardboard box & I find I need lots of counter space.

I want to paint my ceilings. It gives me such an enveloped feel without becoming too claustrophobic.
Then I do not have to worry about painting 4 walls-just one ceiling.


I want to put personalized photos in my kitchen.
I love food & I love my family & friends. It's a great combo.


Shelves over the sink can save lots of space & time in trying to set the table.
This way my cabinets can house my pots & pans & crockpots.
Also, I want themed soap & a little basket to hold seasonal & holiday themed dishtowels.


I want to have a pretty colored set of cook ware that I can display.
A travel theme will be whimsically inspirational for the kitchen.


However, if my kitchen sink has a window, I can't put up shelves.
So I will then want to take the doors off of my cabinets to showcase my cookbooks & pretty plateware.


I want an airy & simple feel to my dining area.
Thin chandlers, colabotrating colors & house plants create a gentle open atmosphere.


I want to hang things around my light fixtures.
It might be love letters, or recipes, or photos of travel & food,
but I love how it works for this dining area.

I want to be energized when I eat.

I want to have a vintage looking stereo with a turntable so I can play music in my kitchen & dining room.
Therefore, I will need a floor to ceiling bookcase to house my collection.

I also love the idea of having my entertaining plateware amongst trinkets
by the table ready for use. I want to always be able to have company drop by at anytime.


I cannot wait to have a house to be my home.

My Mrscarriage...

You should know that this is a post of the past. However, I believe it is important to not forget or erase your history, less you forget why you are who you are today & why you are as you are & not be inspired to improve.

I tend to hide away, the cancerous hermit crab that I am. I have noticed the tendency about myself to hide away during the months of September into October leading up, until December's Christmas charm can console me out.
But this year has been a particularly difficult time in which to climb back out:

"I will explain because you are dear friends that even in absence are present when you read what I share. So i feel that even if we aren't sharing in close proximity, there is still an emotional bond that will tie us-like gifts held together until we see each other and unwrap in the joy and excitement of being able to hold hands and whisper secrets in person.
As I have said, I was to be and did get married in August. I really hope to load up photos to narrate the occasion sometime soon, it was really a lovely, lovely moment in my life.
Then there was our honeymoon cruise around Alaska--even more photos to share what words can't capture.
Then, in the entire month of October I was always moving.
I don't remember what happened to September. I might have photos to remind me though...
In October we prepared to move into a new apartment.
Then I spent three weeks moving my sister to NY for college (photos), and moving the rest of myself and belongings to home (not so many photos. Except for the cute trip to disneyland.).

Then changes started to really happen.
I hadn't been paying attention to my body and by now, the last weekend of October, I began to really freak out. Four pregnancy tests later confirmed what my tormented emotional state already knew what was happening.

And yes, I am the type of person to take four tests. Two months into this marriage and I'm pregnant.
So for those of us that suck at math, it was sometime in late September, and no, I don't really remember because we're that kind of married couple. Oh yes.
At least I know who the dad is. And what a wonderful guy he is.
He saw me so emotionally upset and panicked that he let down his walls of manly reserve and confessed that, yes, even he was a bit afraid, however--huge key word there--he was so excited to have me be pregnant. And he consoled and comforted me everyday about things and life.
He went with me to our preacher when I needed to reach out to someone who wouldn't judge that we were so quick!
He went with me to find books and to shop for food and he even wanted to start eating healthy too.
He didn't mind that I was too tired to do dishes some days because it took me TWO hours alone to move a dresser into our bedroom.
Growing something takes away every ounce of energy. No wonder God rested for a full day.

Now, here we are, in the beginning of November planning out our insurance, my nurse-midwife, and who we are going to tell. We have a few friends, otherwise it will be a secret-from our family and all others. As long as I eat exactly when I'm hungry, I have no symptoms. Oh, and I really can't be hugged too tightly as apparently your boobs get wicked sore... I want to tell all my bridesmaids, and was able to do so save for two, one was my sister in NY and another was traveling and this sort of news has to be said in person. We were going to surprise everyone at Christmas! We were making ideas and thinkings of cute "World's Best Grandma" type of gifts with a picture of our baby for our family's Christmas presents.
We started telling our close friends on Friday, with a trip down to Portland.
We celebrate another friend's birthday, share our surprise secret with friends and by Tuesday night have told almost everyone I want-save one friend.

(If you continue reading, I'll tell you right now-it isn't a very happy ending. And I'm still trying to get things to return to being happy)

It was on Tuesday that I start having pains, not unlike womanly-time cramps, and start spotting.
I'm not concerned-my book tells me that this can be a common occurrence for many pregnant women.
Wednesday morning I have more energy than ever and aim to move around a lot of furniture. In the late afternoon, I start spotting bright red. I know from my book that I'm to call my nurse-midiwfe immediately.
But here's the problem--we only knew I was pregnant for two whole weeks. We had to take time for insurance to kick in and for me to find a hospital, doctor/midwife I would feel most comfortable with. Reading bios and narrowing down a search takes time and a firm commitment. I'm not good with commitment, I was still getting used to the idea I was going to be responsible for another person for the rest of my life!
But I called the hospital I felt most drawn too.
I talked with the nurse-midwife on call who told me to come in the very next morning. They didn't care that I hadn't been in yet or that my insurance might not be inplace just yet. They only cared about me and my baby. I had an instant emotional bond with these people.

For this whole week, my husband had Army training and could not miss any time or else he would be dropped from receiving a certificate that equates promotion points. So he was unable to go with me to my appt. The only other housewife I knew who could go with me was my dear friend who is near-terrified of having children. And she had a cold at the time. But she bucked up and took me to the Nurse-Midwife clinic.

That morning in the shower, I knew what was happening. My body was already naturally taking care of something it deemed would not survive. And I knew this. That is when I cried. I didn't want a baby to begin with, I didn't want to be pregnant for a few years. But I did not want to not have a choice about the matter. It was my mishap that I got pregnant to begin with, why was it not my responsibility to decide? I had decided to begin bonding with the idea of a baby growing inside me just as my body chose to not do the same. Why put me through that emotional turmoil?

At the clinic, the on-call nurse-midwife was amazing. She was the emotional support I needed at that moment. And my friend is grounded and level headed and was able to look me in the eye and let me joke if I needed.

At first there was a manual exam. If that's what it's called. She wanted to be sure the baby wasn't growing in the fallopian tubes. Next she proceeded with two types of handheld sonogram type of device on my belly-one to hear if there's a heartbeat and the second, to hear if there is any type of movement at all in my uterus. Even though you for sure are able to hear a heartbeat at 10weeks, she and I hoped. However on both occasions we only heard my heartbeat, a slow and rhythmic pulse rushing life throughout only me. She determined I was roughly 9 weeks, the Thursday before Thanksgiving. My sister-in-laws' birthday.

She then determined I needed an ultra sound-to make sure things where alright, considering.
There was a lot of blood and she knew that I knew what was happening, even though it hadn't been spoken.
For an ultrasound, they wanted my bladder full so they could see my uterus as best they could--they don't tell you that halfway through this looking they need you to pee it all out, "and then some". We had an hour to eat lunch and for me to guzzle liquids. I could only manage a little bit of sandwich and pudding cup. Hospitals always seem to have the best pudding cups.
The ultrasound technician was comical. She talked and joked with us when I initiated it and this internal exam was not as uncomfortable as the earlier one, but it was longer and it did hurt at one point. Apparently most women's left fallopian tube is more sensitive to being prodded. She then told me that Nurse-midwives are notorious for not allowing the technicians to discuss results. At all. I was fine with that-who wants to have someone who is not their doctor try to explain something that isn't entirely their primary profession anyway? And I came for the emotional bonds that midwives provide, if there was to be bad news spoken, it was for her to tell me, not the technician.
Back to the clinic we went, and upon arrival it was as if everyone had an air of sorrow when they spoke to me. It was in no way offensive or felt oppressive, but as if they were all privately sharing in an unfortunate experience that happens. It was comforting to have people be sad, because I did not want to be so at that moment.

The nurse-midwife came in and sat with me to confirm that I was having a miscarriage. A Blighted Ovum.
If there was ever one type of miscarriage to have, I think that this one might be the less despairing. It means that the egg was fertilized, but the chromosomes were bad and so no baby grew. But what does grow is the sac that houses the potential baby. They don't know why it does, but it made my body convinced I was pregnant and had us all fooled. I was pregnant, but there was no baby. Cruel? Maybe. A miscarriage in itself is a cruel process, it doesn't really matter the type. But there I was, experiencing the first stage of a natural miscarriage and I was also a whole bra-cup size bigger. "One crisis at a time"-Dwight Schurte.

My nurse-midwife told me that I was going to have to pass something that would be sort of a grey-balloon. She said it could be painful and she could prescribe something for me if I wanted it. At that point in time, I was having a little bit of pain, but nothing I couldn't handle. She said there was to be a lot of blood & pain, but if there was "this much" then it was too much and I needed to go to the ER. Terrific.
My friend took me home and waited until my husband came home. He came home as soon as he could, out of love and concern and it was very hard on him to have me tell him what was happening. He did cry. It was completely a heartbreaking experience because my husband does not cry-I'm the crier in this marriage. We went to bed sad and woke up the same. Friday came and went and he came home just as quick to be with me.
On Saturday he went out for a surprise: flowers, popsicles, fudgesicles, christmas cookies to bake, and lego Harry Potter. My husband is amazing. By Saturday afternoon, midol, ib profen and a heating pad were not working to keep the pain from having me hunch over or stop talking in the middle of a conversation. I was having what I consider to be the beginning of contractions--I guess that would be the best way to describe it.

Now, I have had corrective bone surgery on my feet, until now, that was the worst type of pain I have ever felt. Contractions took my breath away and made me tear up. Mainly because they didn't stop. It is a wave of intense pain that you can feel coming upon you, causing you to cringe and hold your breath as it hits you and then relax and breath as it passes-allowing only a few moments in between each hit. It's torture to not have a break. I called my nurse-midwife and she called in a prescription of Vicodin--which I'm convinced did little to take the edge off. For my foot surgeries, I got Oxycodine & Percocet. That's right, I deal with the hard street dust, but she couldn't prescribe a narcotic unless I went to the ER. And she said that she would not want me to have to go through this experience in a place like that.

So from roughly 5pm Saturday until 4am Sunday I sat and read in bed while squeezing my husband's hand with each contraction. He tried to stay a wake with me as best he could, but I had my book of Christian romance to read through to take my mind off of things and I knew he was there if I needed him. He did his best to make sure I was taken care of as best he could. Niether one of us knew what to expect, so we did our best as things progressed. Vicodin is to be taken every 4-6hrs, but I could feel the full force of my pain about every 3 1/2 hours. Finally by 4am I was able to sleep until 11am. I awoke with a start of pain, intense pain like I have never known. Understand, I have never even had womanly cramps either! I was very lucky to be able to just be nauseous for one full day and be done with everything within four days. This was miserable for me to experience. I aimed to take a bath to try to have hot water relieve my symptoms, but nothing worked.

When I have a child, I will probably not take any type of pain medicine, but as of now, I was suffering for nothing. There was no reward at the end of this, no joy to soften the experience of pain. My nurse-midwife had conversed with me and my husband three times already that day and said I seemed to be near the end. I had to stop talking about every minute or so because I would have about 5-7 seconds of excruciating pain when I could do nothing but groan and mumble to wish it would just stop. My poor husband had to hear all of this through the closed bathroom door. I couldn't think as to what my neighbors were wondering what was happening if they could hear me through the walls.

I had to use the bathroom so I got out and on the toilet and then got stuck. The pain was so much that I could not stand up. This scared me to the point of calling my husband in--my husband of only three months was now getting to experience me stuck stark naked on the pot, doubled over in pain. I was really hoping to have kept this experience from happening until 50 years from now. At least I'm sure he loves me because he told me it was a relief to be able to be next to me, rather than hear me in pain through a closed door and not be able to try and comfort me. What a guy, right? I love him so.

Sitting there, my body just wanted to push, it felt better when i could brace myself and push-funny how the body just knows how it's meant to work. It had been almost three hours and my nurse-midwife told me it was fine to take 6-8 ib profen and then go ahead with another two Vicodin-that the end was going to be really soon and she would call in about a half hour to see how I was doing. To actually have a professional person care about me enough like she did on the phone was so wonderful. It gave me strength knowing that she knew it was horrible, but that as soon as things passed, the pain would be gone. Then, not ten minutes after talking with her and taking all that medicine, it passed, and the pain was gone--instantly. I could not tell you then or now how much it hurt. At that moment, I couldn't even remember hurting. Now I do, but my body has no echo of the pain-unlike the joints in my thumbs ache sometimes from being fractured, the pain of that 24 hours is non-existant.

I did however scare my husband with tremendous shaking and my lips turning purple-he said. He helped me off of the pot and into clothes and put me to nest on the couch with a heating pad, electric blanket and almost every available blanket in the house and sat with me until I stopped shaking and I looked somewhat normal again. He also Googled "blood-loss", as to what to do for me, and him with all his Army training! All they really do, he said later, is enforce the idea of a tourniquet until a real medic can get to you, and that he didn't know how to apply a tourniquet to my cervix. He was such a trooper and has been concerned with me ever since.

This was difficult for the both of us to deal with. We didn't want to go out anywhere, I hated my husband having to leave and go to work and he hated having get up and leave after such a horrible weekend. We only wanted to be together and not see anyone. But we did have to go out for Thanksgiving, and we stayed with he Uncle's family for a weekend and it was very therapeutic...for mostly him. I know he still worries about me. He knows from what I tell him and what he can sense about me that I still am not back to normal at all.

This all happened within a weekend.
It was terrifying and I felt all alone because I had no idea what my body was doing. I still don't. They said there were to be some bleeding afterwards, but they didn't specify. It's been almost three weeks and I really don't think I have much blood left in me. There are very large blood clots which are now just getting to be irritating and gross. The whole process doesn't have an end in sight--it would be more bearable with an end in sight. I don't feel attractive anymore because, left's face it, we don't put on our best outfits and do up our hair when we're on our periods. I don't have energy because I know I'm not taking care of myself. But with only one car, I can't drive out to go see friends during the work week, I haven't gotten over to the mini-gym in our apt., and I don't eat much or very well because I don't have the initiation to do so. I feel sad, and have been for weeks now and I know that the books say after a miscarriage your body will go through all the changes as if you actually had a baby-hormone swings and all. But I am thinking that if there actually was a baby, I'd have something to be happy about every so often. But I don't. I am by myself, in this experience and know nothing about it and feeling lonely has never been something I've sought out."

So now I have to think of ways to be happy. Of things to be happy about. And to motivate myself to be happy about said things. I know I at least owe it to my husband if I can't motivate myself to do it for me. To carve myself out of this experience that has pushed me so far into hiding--it's by far easier to turn down all those holiday invites and stay in bed.

Having a job...

leaves little time for traveling.
I sit here, headset set, phone at fingertips, behind a corner that blocks me from the sunshine splayed out across the lobby before me & I contemplate the gnawing desire to simply get up to move into the sunshine.
I want to travel into something, through something, & as of right now, that sunshine stream is the most ascertainable entity.


I want to encounter a sensation different from what my body knows right now.
I am stationary and my feet ache to walk for miles of unknown discoveries.
My heart pounds at my head to relate, to have it understand the pull & pulse
the romantic notion of awakening in a strange bed, in a strange place.
signs written with curls in sharp angles & voices that flow in a melody resembling rocks tumbling through a muddy brook.
Garbled with confusion is a venturous & romantic state of mind.


The golden glow that broke into my foyer has glitter away beneath the Pacific horizon.
Only fragments glint off of the elevators, allowing the fluorescent bulbs to now flood the room.
In a reflection from the glass paned door I can see the last of the day vanish as a blazing beauty.
I know it’s one of the few breath taking sunsets that glow only up here in the northwest but I am trapped indoors.
I feel trapped, enclosed. Close to forgetting what I want.

In moments like this, I crave to travel.

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: