Welcome, 2009

2008 has been an amazing year for me. This year has been full of so much joy. I'm kind of sad about seeing it go, but expect that 2009 will bring joys of its own. I am excited about what is to come in 2009- as of right now, I only have a couple of things on the schedule: 2 weddings in the late summer/early fall, my 27th birthday in February and our one year anniversary in October. :)

I gave up on resolutions, per se, years ago, but here are some things I would like to accomplish over the next year of my life:

1) Save money. We are getting pretty serious about this now. We have set a budget and are taking steps towards this goal. Perhaps in the new year, I will provide weekly tips on budgeting that I've learned (I've been researching a LOT) and an update on how its going for us. I will say that our first "major" step has been to lessen our grocery trips to 2-3 times a month instead of 5-6. That means that when I went to the grocery on Monday, my cart was overloaded and I spent a heck of a lot of money. BUT, I went with a list (at least a list in my head) of what we might eat over the next month. The fewer times we go to the grocery, the less likely we will "impulse" buy (how many times do you "run into the grocery to pick something up" and end up with a cart of 10+ items?) and we will also be much less likely to say "we have nothing to eat,let's get a pizza..." at least for a few weeks. :)

We are trying to save money because we want to be financially better off when we have kids. We want to build our savings to $5000. Right now, I will humbly tell you that our savings is $7.22. So, we have a long way to go and are therefore trying to get serious about money. I've heard it several times regarding money, "there's never a 'good' time to have kids." Our response: "there has to be a better time than right now."

2) Eat better and exercise more. The above-mentioned grocery shopping will help this! We will be less tempted to stop for fast food knowing that we have a boatload of groceries waiting for us at home. I'm hoping that I can figure out my schedule enough at work to get into a regular exercise routine. I'm hoping that my bff and I can begin having our own "weight-watcher" type meetings in the new year which we've done a couple of times in the past.

3)Not let my work schedule consume me. I bend over backwards a LOT at my job and I will tell you that making my schedule work for everyone else has taken a toll on me and made me feel very out of control of my life. The new year will bring new craziness to my job, but I'm going to attempt to get into a more regular schedule and be firm about sticking with these scheduled hours. Once I can get that under control again, I look forward to using that time to spend with friends, exercising, relaxing or balancing our budget. :)

I hope 2009 brings much joy to your life. Have a wonderful New Year's Eve and be safe because...people are crazy, especially tonight.

122508

Here are pictures from our Christmas. It was a wonderful Christmas, one sure to go down in the books. We got to spend lots of time with our families and each other, got really fun gifts and gave gifts that people enjoyed as well. Here are some of our day's highlights:

Lots and lots of presents around our lovely tree :)



I received one of the coolest gifts EVER from Scott's parents- my very own dollhouse. :) It needs much work (like our actual house), but I'm totally up for that challenge! It's so cute! And, I was completely surprised- so, even better.





I made Scott business cards- its a joke between us- that he loved and has been passing out. Next time you see him, ask him for one!



This is the gift I worked hours and hours and hours on. I'm very happy with how it turned out & more importantly, Scott's parents loved it! Yay! I'll have to get a picture once its in its new spot.




Hope your holiday was wonderful :)

Some Pre-Christmas Pictures

These aren't from Christmas day, those are on their way and they are very fun. But here's some pre-Christmas funzies!




*Yes, Scott's mom was Santa for a fundraiser, thus, this picture. :)

Yumdiddlyyum.

I'm off work until Monday. AND my boss took the on-call phone so I'm SEROIUSLY off duty. YAAAAAY.

I am excited to get a good night's sleep tonight and then tackle the many things I have on my to do list which I shall share with you now:

*Cleeeeeeeeeeeean our house. It's kind of yucky in a major way.
*Finish handmade projects. (I really wanted these done on Sunday!)
*Bake amidst cleaning and projects and give cookies to our neighbors that watched our house while we were in Jamaica.
*Finish wrapping all presents.
*Take pictures once all presents are under the tree.
*Watch Dr. Phil (just because I can).

I'm going to post pictures of some of the projects I've been working on in the next few days.

Wishing you a wonderful (and SNOWY!) Christmas!

I'm glad I'm busy.

Christmas is crazy.

It just is.

I cannot even begin to imagine what it is like for my friends that have kids.

The thought of Christmas with kids is kind of good birth control for me right now. :)

Anyway, I'm wrapped up (ha!) with projects right now out the wazoo. Lots of things started and some getting finished (the big beast of a project has only about an hour left and that will be spent mainly peeling off the visible hot glue that isn't doing anything except being an eye sore and cleaning the project up (its dirty, you'll know what I mean when I post it) and then of course photographing it. I'm very pleased with this big project and I hope that the intended recipients will love it.

I feel like I've had a crazy productive day. If you know me well, you know that I neeeeeeever feel like I get anything done (probably because of the amount of projects I wrap myself up in!) But today I've returned items (after my gift ideas changed), ALMOST finished Christmas shopping (only like 3 more things) and nearly finished this big project. I watched a quarter of the Bengals game (who dey!) and the tail end of Home Alone. And I went to the grocery. And I've got the whole night ahead of me to finish the rest of my Christmas projects and bake cookies.

I hope your season is going splendidly!

Rejection

I haven't felt "rejection" in a while, but tonight my heart hurts a bit. I didn't get the dance teaching job. Unfortunately, the position I applied for (adult tap teacher) was not the position they actually needed filled (beginning hip hop teacher...so not me). They explained the classes they have open and we agreed that they weren't a good match for me (I wanted to teach tap, no tap is open). I guess its not rejection but it still feels that way. I'm sad. I'm glad we still have a week 'til Christmas so I'll have time to cheer up. I got to have dinner with my Dad and Scott and that was definetely helpful. It's nice to have people around you that you know care no matter how crappy you are feeling inside.

I have no idea how it went.

The end.

Thursday is it!

My interview for the dance studio is Thursday at 4:30.

I'm nervous, but excited. But I've covered that.

I just keep trying to remind myself that either I'll have a wonderful early Christmas gift or that if I (heaven forbid!!!) fail, I will have tried to do something that I love and not all that much would change from my day-to-day life since I haven't taught in a few years. (...But I would be so, so sad!) Hopefully I will have very good news to report to you very soon.

Annnnnnd I'm reaaaally glad the interview was not tonight. I worked an 11 hour day and feel very crabby/tired/not like I could interview remotely well. Or blog well for that matter. So I guess that's it for the evening. More soon.

A Livesay Family Christmas

Here's our family photo- Livesay side- for 2008. Note: there are 7 dogs and 6 people. 2= ours 3= Scott's parents and 2 are foster dogs. :)

Only a week and a half until Christmas day!

I'm hoping for a nice sprinkling of snow over the evening. Nothing too crazy as we will still have to work tomorrow :)

My top 5 revealed.

I must admit...these have changed greatly throughout the last few years of my life. But here they are, my top 5 celebrities I'm allowed to have an affair with should the opportunity ever present itself. ;)

#5 TOM BRADY

Ladies...if you aren't watching football, you really, really should be. The game is great as is, but is made even more great when quarterbacks like Tom Brady grace the field. (Sidenote: He's out on injury this season, I miss him greatly). Of course, I really actually don't like the person that Tom Brady is as I think his team cheats, but I mean...the uniform...well...him in it, that's all that I really care about.



#4 MATTHEW FOX

He's been a regular on my list since my obsession with Lost began. While I don't really get into the whole "wilderness" thing, it so works for him. He's so savage. Jiminy Christmas...




#3 ZACH BRAFF

I like quirky guys with personalities. If I went to high school with Zach Braff, I probably wouldn't find him attractive. But I didn't, and I think he's funny and sexy at the same time. Even those gigantic lips. Maybe ESPECIALLY those gigantic lips. He has recently replaced Dr. Cox on my list- not sure why, but that's just how the cookie has crumbled.




#2 ADAM DURITZ

Adam has recently lost his LONGHELD title as my number one. Maybe this is just a temporary switch, but I've sort of moved on... I mean, moved on enough that he's number 2 instead of number 1. Not moved on entirely...that'll never happen. His passion in his music and unique style are a big yes in my book. And I've always wanted a song written about me ie Angie Begins.




#1...drumroll please...

He's never even made my top 5 list before.

And he's now number one.

JASON SEGEL

My crush began when we started watching How I Met Your Mother. Then movies he's been in. Now Freaks and Geeks (grrrreeat show!). And I might have had a dream about him the other night that may have lead him to the number one spot. He's so stinkin' cute.

Nervous Excitement

I'm so excited to be sharing with you that I've heard from the dance studio that I applied for and we are trying to figure out a time for an interview.

I'm SO excited. So nervous. So excited.

I have been out of the dance world for a few years, and I can feel it in every bone in my body. I have lost every ounce of flexibility, most of my leg/ankle strength and probably lots of technique as well. I like to think that its all going to come back and I think most of the technique will (like riding a bike). The flexibility...that's something I had been working on for years and years. The strength...also a product of years of dance. I'm hoping that all that I've ever learned and taught has "stuck" with me so that I can pass it on to others.

Ideally, I would've been keeping up with dance stuff- ie practicing a couple of nightsish a week since I left it a few years ago. That hasn't happened. I've gained lots of weight since I had a heavy teaching schedule, and that very much frightens me. I know that I'm still a very capable teacher, but I feel like its VERY hard for people to take you "seriously" in the dance world when you are overweight. Its odd, because looking back, I had several overweight dance teachers and never really thought twice about it. So maybe, just maybe, I'm making this a bigger deal than it is. I'm going to try to think that. It's a weird little thing...I know that I would/will lose weight if/when I get back into dance BUT I'm scared of getting back into dance (because of what OTHERS may think) because I'm overweight. I think the bottom line is that I need to dance again in some way or another.

Did I mention that the studio that I'm applying at is one of the top 50 in the NATION? Ummm...extra-intimidation.

But I feel reassured by my lovely support system. :) I texted the owner at the studio I used to work for and asked her to be a reference and she said "Sure, but I'm jealous. I want you back here." It was such a nice statement and made me feel like I'm worthy of this.

So...please send me positive energy. :) I'm nervous and excited and nervous and excited. I apologize for not making lots of sense during this post. My emotions are so up and down right now!

My Color Quiz

The answers that were on were DEAD ON... Kind of creepily so.

I took the free ColorQuiz.com personality test! "Seeks success, stimulation, and a life full of exp..." Click here to read the rest of the results.

I think this is pretty fun...

I happened upon my old dance studio's website yesterday evening and found that my pictures are plastered on the main page! Fun! I've never even seen these pictures before, and not that they are supergreat or anything, they just take me back to those days (and that weight) of my life. Ahhh...





PS I have no idea why I have flip flops on, but it kind of bothers me. :)

It's Tagtastic. What?

I have been tagged by my bestie, aka ellesto. So here they are, 7 random facts about me.

1. I think the most uncomfortable situation on the planet is when I step in puddles and the bottom of my pants are wet and thus my non-socked feet are freezing for the rest of the day. Ugh, I feel yucky just thinking about it.
2. We have two Christmas trees. One is white (my "decorative" tree) and one is regular (our traditional tree).
3. I taught dance for 5 years and once had to make 15 costumes a week before our recital because the costume company didn't get our order to us. That specific situation was craaaaazy, but I miss dance terribly. (PS..big news... I applied at a local studio!!! Wish me luck.)
4. The first CD I ever owned, as a naive 13 year old, was Murder Was the Case by Snoop Dogg. This was an accident. I don't really know how it happened, but my parents got it for me, I tried to just go with it and listened to it, felt very scared by the words, and the CD was exchanged for Alanis Morisette's Jagged Little Pill. A much better choice, even if I wasn't bitter enough yet to quite understand why Alanis was so mean to men.
5. From kindergarten through my senior year of high school I told EVERYONE I wanted to be a teacher when I grew up. My senior year, I had a bad experience with a student teaching program my school did and therefore changed my proposed major to communication. I really, really wish I had majored in education and gotten my teaching license. It would've opened up lots of opportunities & I may someday go back to get it...
6. My favorite movies to quote include The Sandlot ("You're KILLIN me, Smalls!") and Christmas Vacation ("You serious, Clark?")
7. My car battery has died twice in the last month due to me leaving the overhead light on whilst applying make-up before work. Ooops.

There's some Angie trivia for you. Most everyone I know has been tagged, so I'll just tag my blogging husband! :)

My horn of plenty is extra full this year.

2008 has been one of the best years of my life, hands down. It has been a pretty crazy year and filled with lots of emotions at times, but it's been a great year and I feel very very blessed.

And here is my thankful rant...

I'm so thankful that I got to marry Scott. He makes my life wonderful. He has made me the happy girl that I am today. It wasn't all that long ago that I felt pretty yucky/unloved/bad about myself, and he has changed that. He has brought a smile to my face every day since we met. He makes me laugh all the time. He makes my life easier by putting my needs in front of his own. He shows me he cares in thousands of ways. He's awesome and I am grateful for him every day of my life. I'm thankful that I'm married to the guy who is able to put everybody at ease, be the life of the party and can still let me know that I mean the world to him. Makes me feel pretty special. :) I'm excited about our first Thanksgiving as man and wife.

I'm thankful for my family that has grown exponentially this year. My dad continues to be a major part of my life. I feel lucky that I'm his daughter. He loves me so much and helps us out whenever we need it. He really, really helped us with all of the wedding craziness. He insisted that they day be perfect and it was. He's one of the most kindest and generous people you could ever meet.

I'm thankful for my new family- the Livesays. They were pretty much my family before we got married, but are now legally so and I can honestly say I have awesome inlaws! Scott's mom and I are so close, and I'm SO thankful that her cancer is GONE! There will probably be some emotional times about that tomorrow, because it was a scary time for all of us. But she's doing just fine, maybe even fiestier than before. :) We are all so relieved. Thank you, Livesays, for welcoming me into your family the way you have. I can't wait to give you grandbabies!

I'm thankful for my friends- both the "old" and the "new." I have had some of the same best friends for 10 years, and I love that. I love that these girls know me inside and out and know how to put a smile on my face on a lousy day. I love that our friendships have grown and that we know how to support each other when times get tough. I never would've made it through some of my life's events without them and I'm thankful that with their help, I am where I am today. I'm thankful for my new friends, too. I've inherited a lot through Scott, but also found lots on my own since the big move. I look forward to years of friendship with these newbies and am thankful that they have entered my life. I'm thankful for the way all of my friends make me feel- like I'm a special girl with lots to offer the world. I really appreciate that.

I'm thankful for the many changes this year has brought to my life. First of all, marriage! Our wedding (in my humble opinion) was the perfect kick-off to our marriage. I know we haven't been married long, but so far, so good. :) My work duties have changed pretty much totally. I'm thankful that I've been stretched and know what my boundaries are, what I like doing and what I don't. I'm thankful to have a job in these terrible economic times. I'm thankful that Scott and I are learning what it means to budget (ok, we are trying!) and become financially better off. I'm thankful for baby Crosley that has entered the world. I'm thankful for getting to see my family members at our wedding that I haven't seen in far too long. I'm thankful for our newest addition to our family- Biscuit (don't get too excited there ;). She is a sweet sweet puppy and we have fallen in love with her (even though she's constantly loud). I'm thankful that I'm learning to keep up with cleaning and that I have a husband who does his share. I'm thankful that our country has elected a president that I feel like can change the way the world sees us, even if just a little bit, for the better. I'm thankful that Britney has normalized a bit. I'm thankful that I discovered 30 rock. I'm thankful that I've continued to create new things and will have much more time in 2009 to do so.

If I only lived my life this thankful every single day...

If we all did. I guess the world would be a better place.

Enjoy your special time tomorrow.

& the Monday after...

1. I cuddled with Crosley and he's such a lovable baby. I can hardly wait to go back to Richmond to see him and his Mama!


2. My hair has changed. I got about 3 inches off (which seems like a lot considering the length of my hair.) I also now have red low lights and updated blonde highlights. Here's a self-portrait.



3. I attended a surprise party for our friend Dan on Saturday night and made this banner (that I found out later didn't photograph like I would've liked, but I guess worse things have happened.)



4. Our upstairs bathroom is clean! Here it is, very sterile looking BUT with a new shower curtain!



5. Sugar's nails are trimmed. Biscuit didn't quite need it like I thought. Here Sug is in her adorable bandana that I had a hard time taking off of her because of the sheer cuteness!




6. I took Scott to breakfast at IHOP on Saturday and he made us delicious omelets on Sunday. No photo evidence of either of these events. Please take my word for it. :)

7. We went to a 30th surprise party for our friend Dan and it actually worked. I feel like most surprise parties never quite pan out as planned, but this one did. He was pretty stunned! We got to hang out with lots of our friends all together that evening. I also got to hang out with Laura yesterday for a few hours and it was great. We haven't been able to spend much time together recently, so that was definetely a wonderful treat! :)



8. Thank you cards aren't finished. They will be tonight, if I can get my computer to print... I think printers have way too much emotional influence in my life. Anyone else? :)

9.We did watch The Office (and LOTS of 30 rock!!). I'm so glad Toby is back!

10. I started knitting Crosley a hat. It's coming along, photo to follow. Not sure it'll end up being a hat because I'm not sure how its going to turn out. But that's my intent.

How was your weekend? I'm SO excited about Thanksgiving! I'll be doing a "What I'm thankful for" post over the next few days.

Weekend To-Do

Here's my plan for the weekend. Half-day Fridays are my favorites!

*Visit Katie and snuggle Crosley. (And Katie, if she's interested. :)
*Change my hair style. Tomorrow 1PM. I say change because I'm not sure what I'll have her do...
*Make gifts/crafts/projects, some of which I've already started.
*Clean our bathrooms. Ew. My least fave.
*Get our babies nails trimmed. This is a chore. The last time Sugar got her nails cut at Petsmart they put a mini-muzzle on her. God love her...
*Make Scott a yummy breakfast on Sunday morning.
*Enjoy the company of good friends.
*Finish mailing out thank you cards from our wedding.
*Watch our DVR'd episode of this week's The Office.
*Sit on the couch and knit.

Should make for a full weekend. I'm headed to Richmond now! Welcome to your weekend!

Funsies!

*One of my besties just had her first baby! Crosley Bartlette Evans was born on Weds. night (I must be a bad friend because I don't know the exact time...but it was around 7:30 PM. I was there so I really should know when it happened. But alas...) I can't wait to get back to Richmond to spend some time with this new little family! Go to Katie's blog to see pictures!

*I've updated my blog's look. I've been meaning to do that for some time and decided that at Saturday morning at 7:00, that was going to happen. I hope you like the changes! I'm a fan :)

*My husband is now blogging :) His blog is linked on the right (Just My Blog). He's a funny man.



*I have a new show that I'm a big fan of: Thirty Rock. Does anyone else like this show? I LOVED Tracy Morgan's Bill Cosby "Impression": "I'm Bill Cosby. Jello, Sweaters." LOL...If you haven't seen this, I highly recommend it.

*I have LOTS of creative projects in mind right now! I can't wait to put some of them up for sale! When I do, I'll provide the link.

If you are Katie Evans...

Look no farther!!!!! You will see what is below in the very near future.








Seriously, Katie, NO LOOKING!






Everyone else, have a looksie at the gift I made.




















This is a guest book for all of the baby's visitors to sign! It has lots of nooks and crannies and will be made perfect only when it is filled with notes and wishes for the new little family. I made one for Scott's mom when she had her hyspterectomy last week and she is already treasuring it, which makes me feel very warm inside. I hope that Katie, Chad and baby will do the same! These are fun and (RELATIVELY) easy to make (UNLESS you have annoying sewing machine problems!) But alas, it is finished and I am pleased. Can't wait to take it to Richmond sometime in the next week to meet my new neice or nephew!

When all is said and done...

Some of my thoughts, do with them what you will. They are nothing more than my personal thoughts and opinions, so please don't take them as anything more than that.

As an Obama-voter, I'm happy with the way the election turned out. I understand that there are millions and millions of voters who do not feel the same way. It's been said (probably been said too much) that the beautiful thing about our nation is that we can have different opinions and that we get to have a say in how things turn out. I hope that voters on both ends of the spectrum will now come together, show each other respect and make our country the nation it can be. Whatever the results of the outcome might have been, we knew that we would soon have a different president who vowed to make things better. Our country is in a hard time, and I think in order to pull ourselves out of the mud, we have to stand united like all of the great presidents of the past have said in their finest moments. A new era awaits us and I hope we will all choose to make the best of it.

You, my friends, are cordially invited...

I finally have my scrap/craft room the way I [kindofalmost] want it to be. And I would like YOU to come over and have a holiday craft fest with me. I think it'd be really fun to have people over and create together- I'm sure we all have holiday projects a'waiting! I'd love some girl time and what could be better than laughing while we make things together. Multitasking! So anyway, for real, if you are out there and remotely close, let's get something on the calendar this month before the season gets crazy. (PS, there will be plenty of room around my home, we will not have everyone crammed into this tiny area. :) He doesn't know it yet, but I plan to kick Scott out for the evening and send him on a man-date. :)

Yaaaaaaaaay for Updates!

Scott's mom's surgery was yesterday and went very well- the doctor is confident that they got all the cancer out but is doing additional tests just to be sure. Teresa is doing well and in good spirits. She had lots of guests today and was up and moving around, which is something the doctor wanted. So, we are feeling good.

In craft news, I made her a guest book for her hospital room and am very happy with how it turned out and she loves it {which is the most important part}. I will sneak it away from her in the next couple of days and snap some photos once its good & filled with autographs and notes.

Thanks for all your support during a yucky time.

Update- Scott's Mom

Hi friends,

Good news- Scott's mom did all the tests and the cancerous cells are only in her uterus. They believe that they will be able to get the cancer out by removing her uterus. The hysterectomy has been scheduled for tomorrow. Scott and I and other family members will be able to be there with her before and after the surgery. They will know if they officially got everything out after the surgery, so again, please continue with those prayers and positive thoughts for her during this still-scary time.

Here she is...

***See Below***

Happier Subjects

Crafts.

Always a picker-upper for me.

So I made this.

Here are the step-by-step pictures, because I always find that fun on blogs.

Above you'll see the finished product...I'm very pleased with it!

ETA*** I'm an idiot and posted the pictures in the backwards order. Oopsie!

Lightning strike.

Just wanted to inform all of you about some bad news that we got yesterday afternoon. My mother-in-law (Teresa, for those of you who have met her) was just diagnosed with cancer in her uterus. The doctors are very, very confident that she will be absolutely fine because they believe that the cancer is contained in her uterus and they believe that a hysterectomy will get all of the cancer out. But we are obviously still upset and worried. So, if you would we would appreciate those prayers and positive thoughts once again. I think her surgery will be scheduled for some time in the next few weeks.

Home at last.

We are home from Jamaica! It was a wonderful way to spend our first week as husband and wife and we had a lovely time. I'll post pics very very soon.

The wedding went splendidly. In my opinion, the day was perfect. Every wedding has their hiccups and ours was no exception, but I do think we lucked out in that those things didn't take over the whole day. It was a beautiful evening and I was so happy with how all of the hard work that went into it came out. Pics of that to follow as well.

It's so late.

Here I am heading to my wedding, though :)

Things I need:

Just some things I need to make my wedding day perfect (or darn close)...

1) FALL FOLIAGE! This is kind of a big one and in order to have it, we need rain. So rain, please fall in Ohio!
2) Enough sleep. I had a dream last night that I looked exhausted on my wedding day. I really don't want that.
3) An extra 29876 hours to finish everything. I'll have to cross my fingers on that one.
4) Several more trips to Hobby Lobby and Wal-Mart. I went to Wal-Mart FOUR times yesterday and I know there are going to be many more trips ahead in my week.
5) To be more tan! I'm not happy with my level of tan-ness yet- I had to take a break due to the sun poisoning. But, it's gone and I really want to be more dark!
6) COLORED TEALIGHTS THAT ARE UNSCENTED...We really really need these and to this point, I'm not sure they exist. I've looked at my usual stops plus more and NOTHING. Any ideas?
7)For people to be patient with me. So far, so good...but I tend to lash out a little bit when I'm feelign under pressure like this. I apologize.
8)Our final head count. To anyone planning to be married in the future, expect lots
of people to not respond despite your best effort to obtain those little reply cards. And then expect to be very frustrated by that.


So there we go. That pretty much sums up my life right now. I'll put pictures up soon when I get a second to do so. For now...I think I'm going to go tan :) (even though I SHOULD go work out. Tanning sounds better!)

hey... part 2

hello friends of mine.

Thank you to those of you who have read my blog, it's a fun way to communicate and I truly think it has therapeutic capabilities.

It struck me a bit ago that I've been kind of grovelling about the stress of the wedding, and that's the wrong attitude to have and share with others. I'm very, very overwhelemd by all the little details about the wedding and how it will all come together. BUT, I know that it will all fall into place and at the end of the day, I will be married to a truly wonderful man who shows me love every single day, makes me laugh and whom I know will be a great husband, best friend and father in our futures together. Those are the facts that I'm trying to remember and hold on to when I get stressed and even begin lashing out (just a tad ;)So, all that being said, I do want to say that I am enjoying this process and MOST of it has been fun and I'll a little bit miss being "engaged" once we are married. There are so many choices and so many options that go into every choice...it can be totally overwhelming but it can also be a fun time for creativity. My advice to brides-to-be would be to PLAN EARLY so that the end doesn't make you a little bit zany. I'm thankful that my friends and family have encouraged me to remember that at the end of the day...we'll be married, and that's what matters. They are absolutely right. Once our big day is over and we are looking back, I'm sure I won't remember that I was stressed out about which scents of candles to use (ok the real question was "Which one smells more fall-y?) Note: we went with the pumpkin spice. But even right now, I'm thinking about how I might return half of the candles and get the apple-smelling ones. That was a brief glimpse into my current mind as a bride. But again...Marriage = What Matters :)

So...I guess I shouldn't stress out about the random rash that appeared on both my feet this morning. :)

just to say hey...

Hey.

Brief notes about my upcoming week:
*Today marks 13 days until our wedding...which means everything is pure craziness.
*I'm picking up my dress from the tailor (who did a heck of a job- I know longer look like marshmallow man...at least I don't think...) tomorrow night!
*I have to keep an eye out for my eye (HA!). Laura's dad is awesome and got me in to see him so he could remove a very tiny benign cyst that had positioned itself right next to my eye by my nose. It was just not something I was interested in having for wedding pictures. So he snipped it off. My eye could still bruise, so I must ice and neosporinize my eyes a couple of times a day. Not much bruising yet, so we should be in the clear! (PS I really like to refer to this event as my eye surgery. It makes me feel like a big deal).
*I will be out of town Thursday through Saturday for a conference for work. Its probably a little crazy that I chose to attend this conference a week before my wedding...BUT I get to earn comp time while I'm there which will be helpful for next week and its a much easier way of earning hours than my normal work. :) Plus, I'll be taking projects to Columbus with me!
*The Bengals are playing the Browns today. Kind of a big deal game. WHO DEY!

So if I'm absent for awhile, you'll now understand. Who's kidding who, I might post tomorrow.

I really hope it rains a lot today.

You won't believe me when I tell you, but...

Scott, my beloved fiance, was just diagnosed with mono.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

We are down to 18 days 'til the wedding. In a weird way, we are lucky because Scott has been feeling not quite right for a couple of weeks now, so hopefully that means that he got mono a few weeks ago and it will be gone before the wedding. The docs think he's had it for a while...so I guess that's helpful. But, I mean, come on...

SERIUOSLY?!?!

So, life is stressful and will be until we are laying in the sand in Jamaica!
Please send us any positive energy, well-wishes, prayers, whatever floats your boat. They will be much appreciated :)

Happy Anniversary to Us :)

Today marks our second anniversary as a couple! We celebrated by dinner out at Max and Ermas (which is ironically the same restaurant we chose last year). It was a lovely evening filled with much wedding discussion. Three weeks from today we will be married. Craziness! Anyway, here is a picture of us (self-portrait) at dinner and then a shot of the flowers Scott got me for the occasion.

Licensed to Wed

Scott and I officially are super-official. Not that we weren't before, but now have, in our possession, our marriage certificate. Of course its not really made official until it is signed, but still... we've seen it and that makes everything feel so much more real-deal! As the day gets closer and closer I'm getting more and more overhwelmed by my seemingly-never-ending to do list, but also more and more excited for our special day. Obtaining the marriage certficate felt like the first piece of "proof" that I'm going to be a married woman in 23 days.

In other (but much-related) news, I have my sparkler back on my finger! It went for a major cleaning and redipping and looks gorgeous. I love this ring x 10985. It's pretty much perfection in my eyes. Good job, love of mine, if you are reading this.

So yeah...I've said it before, but once again.... it's pretty much all wedding all the time around here! I'm excited to be headed to R*town this weekend for a baby shower for the mama-to-be, Katie Evans. I'll also be trying on my dress for a fitting (my weight loss is at a plateau- totally my fault...ok maybe I'm even gaining some of it back...but I've still lost 10 pounds, and I'm happy about that...this should be another post...). Anywho, my dress should fit and I'm HOPING to be able to get my veil finished (this is a VERY lofty goal) by Saturday morning so I can take it to my fitting. We'll see if that happens. I would say I need a good 6 more hours to work on it before its finished. And I'm excited to hang out with my bff and have a maid-of-honor shopping extravaganza. I need so many things!

That's all, have spectacular weekends.

(ps...today is the first time that I realized and thought about how the letters A & S are right next to each other on the keyboard. It warmed my heart...)

More + My future career as a fashion photog

I think the top photo could be an abercrombie ad (assuming we could photoshop in some guys playing water polo behind these two...plus girls wearing bikini tops for no real reason).

Adventures in photography

I officially had my first engagement photo shoot today and it was a blast. I'm so thankful that Val and Greg entrusted me with this and let me experiment on them. I am very pleased with several of the photos and, more importantly, I think they are too! I love getting practice...so if you or anyone you know wants a (FREE) photo shoot (engagement, baby/child, maternity, seniors...etc...), let me know. Here are some of the highlights of the session.

mini-spa

Tonight was the night that I decided to put all stress behind me... at least long enough to enjoy a bubble bath and pamper myself with various new lotions and scrubs. The bubble bath was indeed a treat, but truthfully the rest of the pampering is an effort to get myself looking the best I've ever looked for the biggest event of my life so far that will be occuring in THIRTY days. It all felt nice, but trust me... this is business!

Here is a picture of my little escape + one of my favorite beings on the face of the planet. I'm off to continue my evening off by continuing the organization of my craft room. Is it weird that I find that relaxing?

Umm...YIKES

Before big events in my life, I have traditionally had nightmares about everything that could go wrong with each event. This happened before school started (nightmare: I forgot pants and somehow missed a class for an entire semester and then randomly showed up the day of the final and had to take it. This happened before dance recitals (nightmare: I would be at the recital when it dawned on me that I had somehow forgotten to teach the students a routine to perform AND I had forgotten to order them costumes).

So, its no shock to me that I'm now getting these nightmares 32 (but who's counting) days before my wedding. Last night, for instance, I dreamed that our wedding started at 4:30 PM and as of 3:30, I wasn't at all dressed or showered AND we had forgotten to get music to our organist (we don't even have an organist) and so she was rehearsing all sorts of music that we did NOT want. It was at that time that I decided I could grab a bike (think pedals, no engine) and bike to the nearest music store that would have sheet music and purchase music for the organist to practice. The bike kept growing taller and taller and so I of course got into a major collision...with 7 other people riding their bikes.

Dream #2: We are at the wedding waiting for the reception...and for some reason it takes so long to make that transition that people leave before getting to have cake or dance. Heartbreak!

There was another dream already- they are coming frequently. But that one is escaping my mind. Will share if I think of it.

I am stressed all the time...even in my dreams!

During...

Here's my space midst-redecoration. :)

And now, I must finish a project for some friends (thus the mess on the desk!) I'll show the finished project... if I like it.