BOOO!!!

So a last week I ordered a paper sample from an online store for .35. I thought why not!? It looked like it was pretty darn close to the SANGRIA colour of the BM dresses and was called Sparkling Merlot....both alcohols! YEA!!! But they sent me Sparkling Sapphire! BOOOOO! That is not even close to sangria!!!!!!! I want my Merlot! Or my .35 back!!!!!! I will fight them!!!!!!!!!!!

Ah well.....so I play on a softball team. I say I only play cause Tom wanted to and it's his friends mom's team. But now I am slowly realizing that Tom RARELY makes it to games cause of work!! DANG! Boring!!!! Booo!!!!

Got us some free STDs!! And I need to go to the gym!

haha but the good kind.....so because the wedding is on the long weekend in May, we think it would be good to send out Save the Dates in the fall so that family and friends can choose us as their long weekend destination. I read about about a great site on one website I frequent (theknot.com) to avoid those around me from being forced to listen to me talk wedding. I find its good cause I get ideas can toss them out there and get answers. Anyways after reading great things about a company called vistaprint a MILLION times and how great they were and their sales and you should sign up to get their email updates, I figured hey why not. So I did. Only to find out that they actually give stuff away for FREEEEEEEEEEE! So I ordered some STD postcards today (that we may end up sending in envelopes but whatever) for only the cost of shipping - 10$!!! that is nothing! So we now have STDs coming within 21 days to be mailed out to most guests (if not all) in the fall.

Gym.......gym and i have not been on the best terms lately. I am so angry at myself for it and I hope this week I can kick my but back into gym mode. I got sick about a month ago and couldnt work out. Then my grandfather passed away so I was out of town. Then my family came for the weekend to go dress shopping and left my little sister here so I didn't go once....since then I have been twice!!! WHAT THE HECK! That is no good! So my goal is to get back into it. I always feel good once I do go it's just getting there. I always feel better when I go and I have noticed already that I have declined from where i was at fitness-wise. So tomorrow (if they are open!) I hit the gym!!! If not...TUESDAY! I just need to find a time that works for me. maybe I'll have to start being a morning person.......yeah right!

My first strolls down DIY Road...

So one of the very first things I wanted to do DIY was the memorial candles for our loved ones who will be with us in spirit. Since my grandpa died a month ago tomorrow, this was big for me. I bought everything and made my first one today for my grandma. I really like it and am excited to do the rest! I just have to decide the type of candle (floating, not floating, real not real, votive??) that will take time though. Also trying to decide if I want ribbon around the top and bottom or not. I like how it looks with it here around the bottom so I think i might end up putting it on the top and bottom.

I also made what I think is an adorable bracelet for my little fille de fleur! But I won't post pics of that so its a surprise for everyone.

Did I mention...

I ordered my dress??

So excited!! I ordered it when I went with Brown Owl and BMs (minus MOH) to David's Bridal......it was like the 3rd dress I tried on and there was something about it that when I put it back on I knew it was me. Simple but beautiful. A wedding dress not just a dress which some were!!

We also ordered BM dresses! So our colour is officially SANGRIA! Which means we must always drink sangria henceforth!! It's a beautiful colour that looks awesome on everyone!!!! So excited!!!

One year!!!!

Tomorrow is one year from the day I marry my best friend. The man I can tell anything to, who lets me cry (often), who helps me to smile, who helps me be the real me and who makes me the happiest girl in the world.

I can honestly not even fathom how fast the past 2 months have gone by! This makes me think the next YEAR will fly by with everything happening.

I have created a list right now that stands at 25(or so) things that I would like to do myself for the wedding. Growing up as Brown Owl's daughter I loved crafts and so it cannot be surprising to ANYONE that I still do love crafts. The idea of being able to do things for my wedding by myself appeals to me. Of course, somethings won't be cheaper do DIY so I'll be paying close attention to what things cost and making sure I am actually saving money.

The way I figure it, I have Mondays off of work. So 52 weeks in a year 25 ish projects to complete=1 project every 2 weeks (on average). Obviously some will be very labour intensive (ie. invitations!!) and require an assembly line of BM's and Brown Owl! So I think that if every 2 weeks I can knock something off that will be good! It also will help with the budget because if I pay for things as I go out of my paychecks that means we have more money in the down payment fund for a house!!

So alas this past Monday I browsed around and looked at what was out there (for like the 75 millionth time). I decided to buy the candle holders for our memorial candles to remember grandparents and aunts who have passed away. When my grandfather passed away just under a month ago I was hit in the face again with the importance of family and keeping in touch with those you love. I know that my grandma and grandpa will be with us on our wedding day and now they will be together! I miss them both so much!!!! So I knew I had to remember them in a special way. As well as Tom's family members who are no longer with us. So this was a great project to start. I bought the vases which will serve as candle holders for us. The plan is to then print of vellum paper and wrap that around the holders placing either a floating candle half way up or a votive at the bottom. The problem also - I lack a printer........next up on the to buy list for me! As well as some kind of Microsoft Office package including publisher so that I can tackle a lot of the DIY projects I have planned.

Below is my partial list of DIY projects. I couldn't include some things because they are surprises or gifts for people. So maybe it is ambitious but it will be fun that is for sure!! i might drive myself crazy yet!!

my diy list! (it may be ambitious!!!)

• Clothes line of pictures lining hall to reception
• STDs?? (maybe?? it is a long weekend after all)
• Invitations
• Memorial Candles (bought the candle holders for these need to pick up 3 more (in case I break one) and get the vellum to print on)
• Centerpieces of course
• Welcome sign for hall???
• Picture Book guestbook – get free because I bought my dress at DB
• Favours
• Share your pictures with us cards
• Programs? worth the time and money and trees???
• Menus
• Flower girl basket/pomander
• Seating chart
• Card box
• Garter
• Toss bouquet
• Initial door hangers
• Cake topper
• Table numbers (definitely stealing an idea that a friend did!)
• Bathroom baskets? maybe (the essentials!)
• Cake table decorations (words???)
• Guest book table decorations (signs explaining whatever guest book idea we actually go with)
• Thank you signs – to take pics of us with them on wedding day to send in TY cards

The Proposal

So back in the day when Tom and I first started dating, my birthday was a month into it and I was supposed to be leaving a month later for NET for a year. So for my birthday Tom had given me a survival kit for my new NET adventure. It was full of random cute little things like bandaids, letter writing supplies, etc. The last thing he included was a ring-pop and the note for the ring pop said “Just say yes.” Within days of meeting, Tom was asking me to marry him so it was a cute joke. It started when I made him coffee one day while we were working on the same group at camp. But then for our entire dating relationship he was ALWAYS asking me to marry him - so much that I put a ban on it many times because it was annoying and never true!

So on March 8, 2011 we were going to spend the day together because I have Mondays off and he had it off. He told me we were going to go on an adventure that he had planned. So I was all game! He told me it involved being outdoors and hiking so I told him I was going to wear my rubber boots (which he hates!). So we went out for brunch around 11 or so and then went back to my apartment before we went on the adventure.

We were sitting on my couch preparing for our adventure, when Tom hands me a letter. So I’m like ok….it was a year ago this week that Tom was first diagnosed with cancer. The letter was about the last year and everything that has gone on. Then at the end he said “so we are going to go on adventure today but first I have some supplies for you if you want to go on the adventure so let me know.” So of course I’m like “heck yes adventure!” So he hands me another shorter note. This note said something along the lines of, “when we first met I gave you a care package to prepare you for your adventure for NET. You didn’t like how that one ended (meaning with a ring pop). So today we will go on another adventure. One that I don’t know all of what we will need but I know how to start.” Then he handed me a little fanny pack and told me to turn the letter over. So I did and on the back it said, “Just say yes!” So I could feel in the fanny back that it was once again A RING POP! So I am about to get angry and he gets up off the couch, gets down on one knee and asks me what I can only assume was will you marry me but in reality I know I just froze and heard nothing!

For the first bit it was very surreal! And surprisingly I didn't cry which is what I always thought would happen right away! After about 20 minutes of asking “for real?” I cried a little. Then I called my mom and told her and then called my dad at work and THEN I broke down in tears.

It was a very ‘us’ day. Nothing fancy.

Wedding Planning Dreams

So I had thought that wedding planning would take me some time. I planned to make a list of things to take care of month-to-month and cross them off slowly. However, that is not the plan because we have crossed things off like MAD!!!! So far we have succesfully purchased or booked:
-my dress
-bridesmaids dresses
-church
-music for ceremony
-reception hall
-DJ
-flowers
-caterer
-photographer
-cake
The things we still have to book/do (that I can remember) are:
-limo (or some kind of transportation)
-hotels - for us and guests
-honeymoon (Tom's task)
-invitations
-decorations
-flower girl dress of cuteness!


So I guess there is still stuff to do. But it feels like we are off to a good start. Have sometime to relax and shop for BARGAINS for the DIY stuff I want to do (invitations, centrepieces, memorial candles, guest book, card box, cake topper, etc).

This will be fun i know! I am glad to have these 'big' things that needed to be booked out of the way! Now everything else will fall into place nicely (I hope!)