Christmas Spirit...

Getting into the Christmas spirit is a tricky thing. Sometimes its as easy as a snap of the fingers (or the jingle of sleigh bells) but sometimes that spirit is just not so easy to capture.I remember when I was younger & I would just wait (for what seemed like forever) counting down until it was time to put up Christmas decorations - lights inside & out, the massive tree that would barely fit through the front door, arranging the figurines in the nativity set just so. My family would always go to a local Christmas tree farm to have our tree freshly cut. Since we had a vaulted ceiling in our living room our tree was usually between ten & twelve feet tall so at the farm we were usually the last to get off the wagon waaaaay in the back (where the trees were to big to fit in anyone else's house.) There was always the great debate whether to get hot chocolate or hot apple cider to keep you warm while our tree was getting the needles shaken out. Then it was the monumental task of getting the tree in the house, lit, & ornaments put on the tree in one day so Sunday could be spent concentrating on decorating the rest of the house.

I miss those days. It just isn't the same now. I know part of it is growing up. Everyone looses there ability to believe in the magic & the wonder of Christmas to some degree as we grow older. Now it seems more of a hassle. We have to carve time out of our busy schedules, try to fit time in to decorated the house & enjoy the lights & sounds & festivities of the season. I know I feel this way (or have in the past few years) because of working in retail. This will be my 8th holiday season working in retail, and every year I say this is going to be my last. We (like a lot of retailers started playing Christmas music November 1st. Yes, that's right. Hadn't even had time to recover from the Halloween party the night before & all the sudden Christmas is here smacking you in the face. Our Christmas display (trees, ornaments, decorations etc) in the store was up in September!!It is sad that I am so burned out & tired of Christmas by the time December actually gets here (the people, the music, the traffic every where) that it makes it difficult to enjoy the holiday season.

This year my family has decided on a scaled back version of Christmas - less gifts = more time. We still plan to spend Christmas morning together just as always. We still plan to have our Danish Kringle that we order each year from Wisconsin. We still still have a hunt for the pickle ornament on the tree. Maybe this year since we wont' have to focus so much of our time on shopping for gifts I can actually go back to enjoying the other sights & sounds of the season.

A girl can always dream, right?

What good did worrying ever do...

So I have been a horrible slacker. Obviously it has been a great while since I've contributed anything. I apologize. Life is kind of up in the air right now. I feel as if the wedding plan has come to a stop. It seems that we are down to definite decision making time about some things & they just aren't being made. Major decisions like the honeymoon, the cake, the invitations. These are the ideas that we've tossed around & investigated & discussed for a while but we can't seem to ever make a decision. I know we have about 6 1/2 months to go. I have this feeling that I will blink & that's going to fly by & we will be no further along than we are now. And that thought just scares the daylights out of me. I plan to make a much better effort for all the planning now, I have no choice. Wish me luck!!!

I'm also a little stressed about the selling of my place right now. My future husband & I are going through what I assume many people go through, especially those who wait a little longer to get married. We have both been out on our own. So in turn we both own our own homes. We have discussed many times that we wouldn't trade our life experience for anything. I am glad we will be 27 & 28 when we get married. We both feel that for us personally there is no possible way that were mature enough to be ready to marry when we were younger. It is great for some people, I am not disputing the fact that some people marry younger & it works out great - just not for us.

I know we will get through this & everything will work out in the end. We had both just hoped & prayed that we would not have to carry both mortgage payments, that my condo would sell before the wedding. As of now it appears that we may not be so lucky. It will be fine, it will make us stronger - or so I keep telling myself. My fiance is the optimist. Me, not so much. I am trying my best to have faith that it will all work out but I am a worrier. There is no point in denying it. It is the truth. I worry, I stress, I think, I analyze.

Thank you Mom for passing that trait on to me, I appreciate it!!

Dress #2 has arrived

Today I pick up MY dress (for the second time.) We had to order a smaller size after trying on the first dress that was to big. However, I have been on vacation since then - where I proceeded to eat anything & everything I wanted & I admit I have not been exercising nearly as much as I would like to have been or that I know I should have been since getting back home. Oh well. Not much I can do about that 2 hours before I am going to try on this new dress. I guess if it doesn't fit than I will just have extra motivation to make sure that I am exercising & eating properly. :)

Save The Dates - project of the weekend. I just know deep down that my soon-to-be is SOOO sad he has to work & is going to miss out on all the fun!!

Wish me luck...

Back to the real world...

Unfortunately back from vacation means back to work. I would be perfectly happy to spent my days alternating between perusing antique shops & relaxing at the pool / beach. Now that we are all back in the real world like it or not not only do I have to go back to work but I am also starting to feel the weight of the wedding. Before vacation everything was fine & could be pushed back - with the excitement of the trip who could make decisions??? NOT ME. I can barely make decisions on a normal day.

We have 249 days. Yep that's it. You can see it for your self in the pic - 5.21.10. Scary (and exciting) thought. Good news is we have quite a few of the BIG decisions have been made - the venue (both ceremony & reception), catering is provided through the reception venue, the photographer has been chosen, colors for the bridesmaids dresses have been decided, I have THE dress (the second one has just come in so I still have to try it on.) My groom & his brother are going tomorrow to check out options for the guys wedding day attire - tuxedos vs a lighter more linen type of suit. Some say that I am the one who needs to make this decision since it is "my day." I disagree. It is OUR day. I would never let my groom choose my attire so why should I automatically be expected to choose his? I trust him & his decision making. If he narrows the search to a couple of options & them asking my opinion that's fine but I would be greatly appreciative for ANY of the decision making to be crossed off my to do list. Save-the-Dates are the next major item on the list.

On a separate note, we had our engagement pics taken while in Florida. My sister did us yet another favor (a million thanks to her for the countless things she does for me each day) & took the pics for us & I touched them up on the computer. I think they turned out wonderfully. I couldn't have asked for better, even if we did have a professional photographer. Here's a peek...

On the Coast of Somewhere Beautiful...

This is probably my favorite time of the year (well, at least it's up there with the Derby Festival.) One week from today I will be on the beach!! I love counting down until we leave for vacation. I love making the lists of what to pack, making the lists of what I need to buy & making lists of what songs need to be downloaded for my ipod.
The beach is one of my favorite places. I am not a person who goes on vacation for adventure. I don't go on vacation to hike through the jungle or do repairs around the house. I go on vacation to do nothing. And that is exactly what I plan to do - NOTHING! It is a wonderful feeling knowing that the biggest responsibility I will have for 10 days is deciding where to go to dinner. This is the one time of year that I can drink mimosas on the balcony overlooking the ocean while eating peanut butter banana pancakes for breakfast. The one time of year that I can enjoy crab claws. (Not crab legs, not the same thing.) The one time of year where I purposely don't have my cell phone attached to me at all times.
The best thing about vacation - my family. I love the fact that I'm 26 years old & my family still takes vacation together. I think it's great that we still enjoy each other & genuinely have a good time together.

Margaritaville here I come!!

Dress Saga

Yesterday was supposed to be THE day. The day that I got my wedding dress!! There was all the excitement & the feeling that this is now real. I get to the store & was quite disappointed.
Let me start by saying that each experience so far while dress shopping has been wonderful. Every person has seemed happy to help & more than willing to go the extra mile. That was until yesterday. I arrive to pick up my dress and am stuck waiting for over ten minutes before someone finally grudgingly greets my group. I tell the sales person I am here to pick up a wedding dress & this person is just overwhelmed with joy at the prospect of helping (can you sense my sarcasm??) So Little Miss Sunshine goes to get my dress. She comes back & seems perfectly content to just hand over the dress & be done with me. Seriously!? Is there anyone in the world who would honestly just walk out of the store without trying on their WEDDING DRESS to make sure it fits? So I convince her that I would like to try the dress on. At this point she has pretty much ruined my wedding dress high. I try to convince myself to get back into the "savor every moment" mind frame. I put the dress on & there on the front of the dress near my right hip is a spot. Granted, it is tiny & logically I know that no one would probably ever notice that it was even there. However, this is brand new, it should be perfect right? In addition to the issue if the spot I am quite confused by the size. Every time I have been dress shopping all I have heard is how the dress I order will be smaller than the dresses in the stores because the samples have been tried on by so many people. As I am putting my dress on & expecting to be overcome by this magical feeling because my dress is supposed to fit like a glove I realize that it doesn't fit at all. The dress is too big. Oh the disappointment. Yes it can be altered but none of us (my mom, sister & future mother-in-law) remember the dress being this big.
Well, in comes the manager to save the day. I tell her about the spot, she assures me it will be taken care of. Then she asks about the size. I tell her my concerns & she immediately brings me a sample of the next size smaller & TA DA - the magical feeling is there. Dress number 2 fits great! So now I am having my second wedding dress ordered.

Never thought I would be the difficult bride. Glad I shopped early!

Where does the time go?

Busy day today. Actually it seems as if most days are like that recently. I know people talk about how life seems to speed up as you get older. I can't imagine it getting any faster. Right now I barely feel like I have time to breathe. On the other hand when I do actually have a few moments to sit & relax a bit then I feel like I'm being lazy. Is this normal?

I feel like my life is divided up into these tiny sections of time & as the current week goes by the next weeks time slots just seem to fill up until there is barely room for sleeping. I feel like I am constantly running from one place to another - work, work # 2, work # 3 (when I can find the time,) my fiance's, home, dinner with friend's, softball games, house sitting / pet sitting (which I am available for if you plan to be away & need someone to look after your furry little family members. I have references!) The list never seems to end. Since T & I are both generally off work every other weekend it seems that those time slots of life fill up the fastest. It is currently August 6th (technically it's after midnight so I guess it's really the 7th but you get my drift) & as of now I am booked for something each of my weekends off now through the end of October. That thought is a little overwhelming.

So if you need me I may be able to find an available slot of time for you the second weekend in November (then of course we're in to the holiday season.) Oh wait, that's right. I work retail. So consider me busy from November through mid January....