Last night was a trip down "it is barely a memory" lane.
My friend's daughter is getting married. (obviously this friend much be MUCH older than me...right?? Right? Well, she's actually a few months younger than me. Ug. I so don't want to think about that!) Her budget is even tighter than ours ever was, she started planning a few weeks ago, and she's getting married at the end of March. As in this March. As in a month and a half from now. Wow.
Interestingly, before she ever even talked to me, two of her colors are the same as ours (she was supposed to be at the wedding but got super sick the day before) so we have already handed over everything we had left that might work for her in those colors.
Last night I introduced her to Vistaprint and she picked out what she's pretty sure will be her invitations, and by the time I'm done helping her, it will create a consistent theme for the whole thing. Already have coupons for craft stores cut out and I'm ready to try to find the perfect stamp to match the theme.
Can you imagine trying to plan a wedding these days without a computer? Well, she's done an amazing job so far! Doing all she has with a full time job and 3 kids under 5 just blows my mind.
So by the time she, future hubby and the kids left last night, we all knew that we were in this journey for the long haul, and were excited to be there. We are here to help however we can. And in our own way, we will even be walking her down the aisle - she will be wearing Kandi's wedding shoes and my veil.
Let's plan a wedding.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Getting our groove back
We are soooo boring........
It's kinda awesome. Its funny how we're still finding our way back into routines. Laundry. Grocery shopping. All the things you just sort of do as you need to do have been things that I feel like we're just starting to find our groove with again. But it's been good. We still enjoy a bit of honeymoon-ish-ness now and then, but largely we've jumped right back into the idea of long term married life. Not a bad gig.
Our most recent adventure was one we've been talking about for as long as we've been planning the wedding - and possibly even longer. We desperately needed a new mattress. Badly. For a long, long time now we've woken up aching and sore - complaining about being old and wondering if it would ever go away. Then we realized - you know, it might be the bed? So we looked, realized how expensive mattresses were these days and decided that the wedding was the priority. Kandi woke up recently and said she just couldn't do it anymore. And so... we made our first major purchase as a married couple. Our bed.
Guess what? I'm not just old!!! When I woke up the first night and realized that I wasn't in pain I was shocked. I was afraid to move the wrong way or I'd somehow break the spell. It was a wonderful spell. It lasted most of the day. And then the "old" snuck up on me. Yea, I had a feeling it wasn't ALL the mattress. I'll totally accept that. Getting up to smack the heck out of the alarm without having the aches smack you back. Oh yea... good stuff.
It's kinda awesome. Its funny how we're still finding our way back into routines. Laundry. Grocery shopping. All the things you just sort of do as you need to do have been things that I feel like we're just starting to find our groove with again. But it's been good. We still enjoy a bit of honeymoon-ish-ness now and then, but largely we've jumped right back into the idea of long term married life. Not a bad gig.
Our most recent adventure was one we've been talking about for as long as we've been planning the wedding - and possibly even longer. We desperately needed a new mattress. Badly. For a long, long time now we've woken up aching and sore - complaining about being old and wondering if it would ever go away. Then we realized - you know, it might be the bed? So we looked, realized how expensive mattresses were these days and decided that the wedding was the priority. Kandi woke up recently and said she just couldn't do it anymore. And so... we made our first major purchase as a married couple. Our bed.
Guess what? I'm not just old!!! When I woke up the first night and realized that I wasn't in pain I was shocked. I was afraid to move the wrong way or I'd somehow break the spell. It was a wonderful spell. It lasted most of the day. And then the "old" snuck up on me. Yea, I had a feeling it wasn't ALL the mattress. I'll totally accept that. Getting up to smack the heck out of the alarm without having the aches smack you back. Oh yea... good stuff.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Let them eat cake!
Have you noticed the lack of blog posts? You might say it was on purpose.
When people asked us, so what are you doing after the wedding? Doing something special? Going somewhere? Our answer was the same - Yes we have plans. Plans to do nothing. Plans to sit on the couch. Plans to clear off stuff from the DVR. Plans to have no plans at all.
Well, the plans didn't happen quite the way we planned. We had some fun things we decided to do. WE had some friends who had some drama with a side of drama and as much as we said we didn't want go get in the middle of it - we found ourselves there.
After about 3 weeks we realized that it was about that time. It was time to go grocery shopping. It was time to do laundry. It was time to clear off the pool table with all the odds and ends from the wedding that haven't moved since they came into the house on the night of the wedding.
As of today we're at 1 month and 4 days. I've got the shopping done for the house, for groceries and almost everything we need for Thanksgiving (except the fresh stuff you get the day or two before). Kandi has done most all of the laundry. It's nice to have fresh sheets on the bed and more than one clean towel in the house.
We meant to have a special time on our one month anniversary but between one thing and the other - it didn't quite happen. So yesterday, our One month and Three day anniversary in case anyone was keeping track, we decided to do something special. We at our wedding cake!
We had completely planned to freeze the top layer of the cake. But no one told us how. And when I internet searched it I heard sooooooo many different versions of what to do. And no one said "i did this and it worked really well". What I heard most of on the bridal boards was "we did this and it tasted awful" or "we tried this so I'll let you know how it works in a year" which of course doesn't help me. SO many decisions to be made on something so little - and I was SO not in a mood to make a decision.
Ever wonder what a wedding cake looks like after a month in the fridge? Like this
We didn't say it would be pretty. But it was a nice memory. We figured we'd give it a shot and see how it tasted. So Kandi cut a few pieces. We figured we'd nibble at some now, and pack up the rest. After all, one of the issues was that we didn't have space for the whole square in the freezer - but in pieces, we knew we could keep up a space for awhile. And ya know what, it didn't look too bad.
Ok, to be honest it looked really good. We got so excited about it we boxed up all of the cake before we even tasted it. We decided to go with each chunk wrapped in saran wrap and in a plastic container. Then we could thaw just a portion of it to nibble on again later.
I'm thinking maybe one piece can be shared at the 6 month point and if it isn't horribly disgusting, then we'll see if we can save the last piece for our official 1 year anniversary. From what the boards said, most folks only ate a bit or two of the year old cake anyhow since it usually tastes bad, so that big chunk should be more than enough of the cake. We looked at it and we were proud of finally getting it done.
Then it hit us. We hadn't tasted it yet. Gotta say, the cake wasn't too bad. The whipped cream frosting - not so good.
But obviously, it wasn't that bad.
So there you go. Now we just need to clean up all the gunk on the pool table so we have a place to eat on Thanksgiving. If you're wondering how we eat on a pool table, you obviously haven't been to our house for Thanksgiving. We might have to post some pictures of it. After all, it is part of our adventure!
When people asked us, so what are you doing after the wedding? Doing something special? Going somewhere? Our answer was the same - Yes we have plans. Plans to do nothing. Plans to sit on the couch. Plans to clear off stuff from the DVR. Plans to have no plans at all.
Well, the plans didn't happen quite the way we planned. We had some fun things we decided to do. WE had some friends who had some drama with a side of drama and as much as we said we didn't want go get in the middle of it - we found ourselves there.
After about 3 weeks we realized that it was about that time. It was time to go grocery shopping. It was time to do laundry. It was time to clear off the pool table with all the odds and ends from the wedding that haven't moved since they came into the house on the night of the wedding.
As of today we're at 1 month and 4 days. I've got the shopping done for the house, for groceries and almost everything we need for Thanksgiving (except the fresh stuff you get the day or two before). Kandi has done most all of the laundry. It's nice to have fresh sheets on the bed and more than one clean towel in the house.
We meant to have a special time on our one month anniversary but between one thing and the other - it didn't quite happen. So yesterday, our One month and Three day anniversary in case anyone was keeping track, we decided to do something special. We at our wedding cake!
We had completely planned to freeze the top layer of the cake. But no one told us how. And when I internet searched it I heard sooooooo many different versions of what to do. And no one said "i did this and it worked really well". What I heard most of on the bridal boards was "we did this and it tasted awful" or "we tried this so I'll let you know how it works in a year" which of course doesn't help me. SO many decisions to be made on something so little - and I was SO not in a mood to make a decision.
Ever wonder what a wedding cake looks like after a month in the fridge? Like this
We didn't say it would be pretty. But it was a nice memory. We figured we'd give it a shot and see how it tasted. So Kandi cut a few pieces. We figured we'd nibble at some now, and pack up the rest. After all, one of the issues was that we didn't have space for the whole square in the freezer - but in pieces, we knew we could keep up a space for awhile. And ya know what, it didn't look too bad.
Ok, to be honest it looked really good. We got so excited about it we boxed up all of the cake before we even tasted it. We decided to go with each chunk wrapped in saran wrap and in a plastic container. Then we could thaw just a portion of it to nibble on again later.
I'm thinking maybe one piece can be shared at the 6 month point and if it isn't horribly disgusting, then we'll see if we can save the last piece for our official 1 year anniversary. From what the boards said, most folks only ate a bit or two of the year old cake anyhow since it usually tastes bad, so that big chunk should be more than enough of the cake. We looked at it and we were proud of finally getting it done.
Then it hit us. We hadn't tasted it yet. Gotta say, the cake wasn't too bad. The whipped cream frosting - not so good.
So there you go. Now we just need to clean up all the gunk on the pool table so we have a place to eat on Thanksgiving. If you're wondering how we eat on a pool table, you obviously haven't been to our house for Thanksgiving. We might have to post some pictures of it. After all, it is part of our adventure!
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
It's not over, but just begun!
How could we ever count all the blessings?
It was an amazing day. It was overwhelming. It was a blur.
We knew it would be so there were certain moments where we just squeezed each others hands and reminded ourselves that this was one of those moments we would want to remember forever. And so far, we still do.
It's kind of crazy to think about all the work that was done, all the people that were involved and to see it all pass by. There were things that went exactly as planned. There were things that weren't quite as planned, but all worked out just fine. And there were a few things that were lovely to the average observer, and yet were shockingly not what we had planned. But in the end those things were completely unimportant. In the last few days when we've talked all about the ceremony and the reception - no one talks about those things. They are just in the background.
There are so many memories. And yet - we know how many things we missed. So for the last few days we've been asking everyone for two things - their photos and their memories. For the photos we have created an "album" on a site called zangzing.com which is specifically made for groups where a large number of people are all taking pictures at the same event. Everyone can drop off their pictures, and if you see one you like that someone else took you can download it and have it as your own. No need to pay for a thing or get a print. Just download and it's yours. Have some pictures and want to be a part of the party?
To view or post to the album, go to http://www.zangzing.com/
To email over your pictures, send them to union@ourfabadv.zangzing.com
And as for the stories - why don't you post some of them here? We would love to see your comments with memories, stories and some of the fun details that we didn't get to see!
Over the next few days we'll post some of the things that YOU didn't get to be around for - background info, behind the scenes pics as well as the much requested meditation that Pastor Barb did during the ceremony. But first - let's see those pictures and hear those stories! We're all eyes and ears!
K&K
It was an amazing day. It was overwhelming. It was a blur.
We knew it would be so there were certain moments where we just squeezed each others hands and reminded ourselves that this was one of those moments we would want to remember forever. And so far, we still do.
It's kind of crazy to think about all the work that was done, all the people that were involved and to see it all pass by. There were things that went exactly as planned. There were things that weren't quite as planned, but all worked out just fine. And there were a few things that were lovely to the average observer, and yet were shockingly not what we had planned. But in the end those things were completely unimportant. In the last few days when we've talked all about the ceremony and the reception - no one talks about those things. They are just in the background.
There are so many memories. And yet - we know how many things we missed. So for the last few days we've been asking everyone for two things - their photos and their memories. For the photos we have created an "album" on a site called zangzing.com which is specifically made for groups where a large number of people are all taking pictures at the same event. Everyone can drop off their pictures, and if you see one you like that someone else took you can download it and have it as your own. No need to pay for a thing or get a print. Just download and it's yours. Have some pictures and want to be a part of the party?
To view or post to the album, go to http://www.zangzing.com/
To email over your pictures, send them to union@ourfabadv.zangzing.com
And as for the stories - why don't you post some of them here? We would love to see your comments with memories, stories and some of the fun details that we didn't get to see!
Over the next few days we'll post some of the things that YOU didn't get to be around for - background info, behind the scenes pics as well as the much requested meditation that Pastor Barb did during the ceremony. But first - let's see those pictures and hear those stories! We're all eyes and ears!
K&K
Friday, October 14, 2011
T-minus 31 hours
One day.
That's all that's left. Just one day.
Where did all the time go? What happened to all the vendors and planners we talked to who said "October of 2011? Heck, you have plenty of time!"? Where did the time go?
So, at 2pm today our coordinator Shelly is coming to pick up all the big stuff for the big day. Really excited for that as right now there are so many piles and boxes it looks like we're moving out. Almost every room that was cleaned, now looks half a wreck with half completed projects here and there. And we have just less than 6 hours to complete most of them.
But I had to take a moment and actually jump on here to chat about where we are in all of this.
We will love each other forever but have mutually decided that writing vows sucks. Too much pressure to say and do just the right thing. And trying to write vows while downloading music and working on seating charts and packing boxes is really not a good thing.
We love having friends and family around us, and we love how helpful they can be. But sometimes as much as we'd love to talk about old times or answer more questions about how excited we are - we really just want to get stuff done. And yes, it's awesome to be able to plan a few things where you step away from the madness and escape for a few. But it's even better when a group of folks work together to get stuff done. We had so much fun at our Wedding Craft-a-palooza and it will be on of our great pre-wedding memories. (I wish I'd taken some pictures that I could actually share pre-wedding, but they are all day-of goodies so unless you were working on them - no sneak peaks!) My personal lesson from this is that in the future I need to be better at volunteering to help others and not waiting to be asked.
We have amazing friends and family. So many folks have stepped forward and done amazing things to help us. We are so amazingly thankful. And the pre-wedding gifts have been absolutely out of this world. Writing about them is almost like having to write vows - so I'll put it off a bit longer...
Planning a night of bowling the night before you are going to have many pictures taken of your hands was not good planning on our part. Lots of others aren't interested in breaking a nail before the big day either. So with about 10 hours to go we are back to the drawing board on what to do tonight for reception dinner and event. It sounded like a great idea - but apparently, not so much.
While Hobby Lobby is an evangelical Christian owned company who would not be supportive of our Holy Union - we have grown to love their store. And their employees have been supportive even when we shared what it's all about. There are so many stories in corporate America where employees don't live up to the high levels of their corporate service model - but in this case I think they have officially exceeded it.
We have no concept of how long it will take to complete tasks. Can't tell you how many times we started a "15 minute" task and were still working on it 2 days later.
As I was writing this, Kandi walked over and I asked her if she had any special thoughts or memories to add. She asked what I said so far. When I read it to her she said what a great job I did, and what a great job I've done on so much of this. And as she looked at me, being so loving at supportive on something as small as a blog post, I was reminded that the thing I did the greatest job on was in finding and keeping her.
Forever and ever, baby. And ever.
That's all that's left. Just one day.
Where did all the time go? What happened to all the vendors and planners we talked to who said "October of 2011? Heck, you have plenty of time!"? Where did the time go?
So, at 2pm today our coordinator Shelly is coming to pick up all the big stuff for the big day. Really excited for that as right now there are so many piles and boxes it looks like we're moving out. Almost every room that was cleaned, now looks half a wreck with half completed projects here and there. And we have just less than 6 hours to complete most of them.
But I had to take a moment and actually jump on here to chat about where we are in all of this.
We will love each other forever but have mutually decided that writing vows sucks. Too much pressure to say and do just the right thing. And trying to write vows while downloading music and working on seating charts and packing boxes is really not a good thing.
We love having friends and family around us, and we love how helpful they can be. But sometimes as much as we'd love to talk about old times or answer more questions about how excited we are - we really just want to get stuff done. And yes, it's awesome to be able to plan a few things where you step away from the madness and escape for a few. But it's even better when a group of folks work together to get stuff done. We had so much fun at our Wedding Craft-a-palooza and it will be on of our great pre-wedding memories. (I wish I'd taken some pictures that I could actually share pre-wedding, but they are all day-of goodies so unless you were working on them - no sneak peaks!) My personal lesson from this is that in the future I need to be better at volunteering to help others and not waiting to be asked.
We have amazing friends and family. So many folks have stepped forward and done amazing things to help us. We are so amazingly thankful. And the pre-wedding gifts have been absolutely out of this world. Writing about them is almost like having to write vows - so I'll put it off a bit longer...
Planning a night of bowling the night before you are going to have many pictures taken of your hands was not good planning on our part. Lots of others aren't interested in breaking a nail before the big day either. So with about 10 hours to go we are back to the drawing board on what to do tonight for reception dinner and event. It sounded like a great idea - but apparently, not so much.
While Hobby Lobby is an evangelical Christian owned company who would not be supportive of our Holy Union - we have grown to love their store. And their employees have been supportive even when we shared what it's all about. There are so many stories in corporate America where employees don't live up to the high levels of their corporate service model - but in this case I think they have officially exceeded it.
We have no concept of how long it will take to complete tasks. Can't tell you how many times we started a "15 minute" task and were still working on it 2 days later.
As I was writing this, Kandi walked over and I asked her if she had any special thoughts or memories to add. She asked what I said so far. When I read it to her she said what a great job I did, and what a great job I've done on so much of this. And as she looked at me, being so loving at supportive on something as small as a blog post, I was reminded that the thing I did the greatest job on was in finding and keeping her.
Forever and ever, baby. And ever.
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