Weekend Bliss

I'm excited to drive out to Chino this weekend and spend time with my love!! The weeks always seem long until I get to see him.

I'm finally on the up-and-up after being sick all week, hooray! I spent my time sleeping, watching tv, sleeping, making a cd of possible first-dance songs, and more sleep (though not enough).

My Aunt Pam caught some photos of the proposal so here's a good one I wanted to share...

And, here's an unedited shot from the wedding Michael and I shot last weekend...

Eye-Opener

Today before Michael went back to Chino, we saw 'Tangled' at the Regal. Pretty darn cute, Disney. I liked how Regal was so dead on a Monday evening, it was awesome.

When we were leaving I refilled my soda and the girl at the concessions stand complimented me on my ring. She was so nice and genuine about it, I talked with her a little more before we left. Ever since then I've been deeply struck by something I've thought about a lot over the years.

People in the church (and throughout the world) get engaged ALL of the time. For some reason I expected the fairytale of it to happen to me at any moment when I was 19 (wow, naive). It hasn't happened until now and I'm almost 25. I kept trying to remind myself that everyone has their own story, but I wasn't very convincing. When my relationships were struggling, I looked at these engaged couples with envy and jealousy, so much that I had a hard time being happy for them. What a brat. It wasn't until I actually went to a bridal shower or two and talked with these girls that I could calm down: they deserved it, they were good people, they loved somebody and they wanted to be with them forever and make that commitment, good for them.

So here I am, engaged and truly happy about it, and this girl in concessions talks to me and is nice to me about it just because. And it really struck me how much I want to be like her. I've been stuck wasting my time fighting off feelings of envy not specifically directed at the people who get married, but at the situation that I didn't have. I'm definitely recognizing people who are just like I was (not happy for 'the engaged') because they don't talk to me about it, or don't talk to me at all. For the first time ever, I'm happy and I'm not showing it as much. I want to, but I'm not because I want to be considerate of those people. However it's a big downer that that envy is there. I'm not saying I'm completely cured myself, I'm saying I'm still working on something I've wanted to get rid of for a long time and just be happy for people, and I wish more people would try to do that too. I'm also saying I'd have a few more friends, closer friends, if they'd take down the same wall and be happy with me.

Wedding Preview

Alrighty, here is an unedited wedding photo preview. We'll post more when the bride and groom have a chance to see them first. :)

Fun continues

I bought a sudoku book that says it has 'medium' puzzles. They sure are supremely puzzling to me.

We booked the honeymoon: Hawaii! Thank you Dad for covering the airfare with your frequent flier miles. Just imagining it seems so surreal. Being on our own somewhere new. Weeeeeeeird. But very very exciting!

I'm hoping a lot of people will come to the wedding. How many should you expect after you make a list? I've heard cut off a third, cut the list in half... so what is best? I'm worried it'll be over capacity, and also worried it'll be under our minimum requirement. There's always a few people who don't respond and leave you in the dark (awesome).

I can feel my arteries clogging after eating some amazing macaroni and cheese.

You guys will like our save-the-dates.

Planning

I'm trying to get the majority of planning done before my last Masters class starts. It's fun, and naturally runs stressful if meetings run long. I went with my dad to talk to Green Acres today because I remember them catering a wedding and it tasted great. However, they're over $1000 more expensive than a country club's catering because they want gratuity. That realization wasn't the painful part - it was waiting through a sales pitch from a guy that asked us for every single detail "in case" he'd provide tables and linens (which he wouldn't because we told him the venue does). It's useful for future reference and helping my friends but attention to detail is important - if the client says they don't want/need it, they don't.

Because we're having the reception at a venue for my family instead of a church building, cost isn't very low. However, I WILL save over $1k on the florist because I'm getting help from church members, we're having friends do photography and hair, and we're making the invitations and save-the-dates ourselves. It helps to have a fiance who is also a designer :)