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.