Denise & Justin 7.4.09

[fireprincess2009]

Ok, It's time. I've decided to start a journal. I'm 7 months into my journey with 5 1/2 to go. So here goes....

[fireprincess2009]

Although I often view Justin & I as meeting in the fall of 1997, we actually met on 2 previous occasions, one of which doesn’t stick out to me for reasons Justin would gleefully explain. I do remember one snowy night driving to Bolton Landing to see a band with a friend. I remember a hippie musician – not at all my type (except maybe the musician part…)

In 1997, I had relocated once again for work – this time I found myself in Indianapolis . The mid-west was clearly not for me and I was looking forward to the day when I could return to NY or at the very least somewhere with a little quicker pace. My friend and former boss Tracie was marrying the singer in that band from Bolton Landing. At the time I didn’t make that connection. About a week or so before the wedding, I learned that they had fired the caterer and I was to assist in the rehearsal dinner preparations. It was a small kitchen with insanely high cabinets. I know I made a few things, but I specifically was being asked to prepare stuffed cabbage without a recipe. This was not something I’d ever made before but I gave it a whirl. I remember Lisa standing on the countertop trying to reach a knife in the cabinet way over our heads. Justin came in with the assist. I wasn’t in the wedding party so right after the preparations were over, I left for a hair appointment.

The wedding was the next day at Tracie & Timur’s 3-story brownstone in Albany . I was supposed to have a date. My date stood me up. Not being particularly happy about this, I found solace in cranberry, vodka and stray cats on the front steps. Eventually I came around – great food, great company and then there was the dancing - the dirty dancing contest. Having watched the Dirty Dancing movie about 200 times in college, I grabbed Justin for my partner and somehow we won! At some point, not clear on if that was before or after the dancing contest, I found Justin’s ear and dumped all my dating sorrows on him. I can’t believe he didn’t run to the nearest exit. The evening went on til the wee hours of the morning. It was cold and icy but we went from one end of town to the other – the Big House, Hollywood ’s…we all crashed at the house. I got up in the morning and headed back to Indianapolis never expecting to see this man again. A couple days later, beautiful roses were delivered to my work. That stuffed cabbage, or perhaps my dancing ability, must have made an impression. Resourceful guy that he was, he hunted me down. Over the next several months, we ran up insane phone bills, he came to visit me, helped me move back to NY and made numerous trips to Syracuse before I eventually moved back to Albany.

[fireprincess2009]

Anyone that knows me knows that I can get a little worked up from time to time. We were embarking on our first big vacation – an Eastern Caribbean Cruise in June 2008. Neither of us had ever been on a cruise and we were both really excited. Of course I had a million things to get done the morning we left. I was running around throwing last minute items into my bags, setting the automatic pet feeder, leaving notes for the house/pet watchers…I just need to get some great music loaded onto my I-pod and holy cow was I starving.

Justin kept trying to get me to calm down, but true to form I was running around with my head cut off. Anyone who’s been around me when I’m really hungry knows that that is not the time to try to talk to me. He asked me several times to come into the kitchen, and I about bit his head off. Finally, I huffed into the kitchen, looked him in the eyes and said, "I'm so *%&#$*&@ hungry! I NEED WAFFLES!!!"

Sweet man that he is, he made me waffles and waited for me to eat them then got down on his knee right there in the kitchen and said, "I've been trying to ask you something all morning..." I lost it. How much of an idiot am I??? It sure did make for a fabulous start to our vacation!

[fireprincess2009]

I've always enjoyed more casual wedding and since there was no place in the world that I wanted to get married, having the wedding at home was a wonderful and logical choice. Of course, a wedding at our home in the country would pressent some challanges. First and formost I wanted to deal with the bathroom situation. Our septic system just can't handle 100+ people (how like to drink) flushing. I could see the flooded, smelly yard as we speak! This was my first call of order. CHECK!!! 2 "Wedding" porta potties coming up! (completely self contained "flushing" units with sinks) YEAH!!!!

[fireprincess2009]

Originally, when I looked at the calendar and saw that the 4th of July was a Saturday, I was thrilled. It's my absolute favorite holiday and Justin's too. But Justin pointed out that travel on a holiday sometimes stinks and would be more expensive etc. So we picked June 27th as our wedding date since school would be out and weather should be decent for an outdoor wedding in upstate NY. (Of course you never know up here :winktongue:)

We always have a party on the 4th of July. At this year's party we told everyone our date - June 27th, 2009. The first words out of their mouths, "You're still having the 4th of July party though, right?" We were like, "Um, we might be on our honeymoon..." Then we were asked if they could still have the party at our house without us!!! You see, we love firworks. We live out in the middle of nowhere (but not that far from a decent sized city) Fireworks are not legal in NY. And we would never do something illegal...

After consulting with family and friends that would have to travel, I convinced Justin to switch the date :bbbiggrin:

[fireprincess2009]

For some reason I had it in my head that since Justin and I have been together for over 10 years, own a house, are getting married at home, etc. that our wedding wasn't really that big of a deal. So with this ridiculous thought in my head, I started to think about my dress. Actually, I put off the dress part for quite awhile which I guess is odd. I know it's step 1 for a lot of brides. I went with my FMIL and tried on quite a few dresses, all the while looking for something casual and simple. The first shop was having a sample sale, but the samples were nothing great. After trying a few, one of the ladies brought me a lovely Paloma blanca. It was nice and fit perfectly (except the length) I was worried that it was too much dress, too fancy and also too pricey. I was hoping to keep the dress under $1000 with alterations. Of course they would work me a deal for the sample and I could get this $1750 dress for $1150. I walked away thinking it still was too fancy.

I went home for Thanksgiving (ok, this was already 5 months after the proposal!) and went shopping with my mom, sister and neice. I swear I tried on a hundred dresses that day. We took a break for lunch and I called my MOH in Florida. I was talking her about the dresses that were in contention (I had sent her a couple phone pics) and then I started to cry. No idea why, just started to cry. I should have known then that something was wrong. MOH told me to call back the shop w/the Paloma and just see if it was still there. It was, and when they asked if I wanted to try it again I said sure. But before I could make the appointment, we were cut off (I was in VT - cell service is not so great there...) So I took that as a sign. I went back into the restaurant and finished lunch. I was ready to go home, but my mother suggested one more shop. I agreed and after trying on what must have been another 20+ dresses, I came out in something everyone LOVED. I loved it, my sister cried, my mom said "That's the one" So I bought it.

It was PERFECT until the next morning when I woke up wondering what I had done. My mom told me I was crazy and the dress was beautiful & not to worry.

[fireprincess2009]

I went back home that next day. I tried to get my worry out of my mind. They bridal shop called on Monday to tell me my dress was ordered and to expect it the first week of February. I got off the phone and felt horrible. I just cried thinking what an awful mistake I had made. How in the heck was I going to get married in this dress. I sent various pics to my friends and posted here as well. The negative comments far outweighed the positive, and though that didn't make my final decision, it reinforced what I already knew. I had to do something or I was going to be miserable.

I cancelled my dress. I lost $200. It sucked but it's far behind me now. Now I had to find the dress.

[fireprincess2009]

As I though about what went wrong with the other dress, I realized that what I wanted was a real wedding dress! (not the adult communion dress or madonna/lady di combo I first picked) And this was something I needed to do on my own - at least the narrowing down phase. And so I went about it, I tried on a million more dresses with a new set of eyes. At one shop I had 2 I really liked and asked a friend to come for a second opinion. She liked them both, though they were very different. One was fun and sassy, the other sparkly and elegant. I carried on. Stress mounted (as some of you may remember) I went to a million shops and I went by myself. As I would find contenders and eliminate others, I kept coming back to Fun & Sassy. I had tried it on in two different shops. My sister said to me, "You know, I think it might be the dress - you keep coming back to it." My friend, who had seen me in it encouraged me to keep looking since I was worried that other people might think it didn't look like a wedding dress and she said I wouldn't be happy in it if I was worried about what other people thought.

I sat at work at my desk one day and all of the sudden, a flash of clarity. Who had I become??? Do I really care that much about what other people think??? I LOVED FUN & SASSY. I promptly called a shop I had been to on my first round. The girls there were fantastic and it felt like I was there with my family. They didn't have the dress but they could get it. They carried the Maggie Sottero line. So I went there and tried on a couple more Maggies. (By this point, I knew I was a Maggie bride!) I showed them Fun & Sassy and they had never had it but thought it was cute. I came out of the dressing room and stood in front of the mirror and one of the girls said, "Every time you come out in something you talk about the other dress. I think you really want that dress." I got teary. I have no idea why I was fighting it so much. Maybe I just didn't want to make another mistake. I ordered the dress and haven't looked back. I can't wait for it to come in!!!

[fireprincess2009]

Well so far I haven't been very good at keeping up with this journal. Kinda like I'm not so good about not procrastinating with everything else wedding related. A lot of what has delayed things is trying to do things on a tight budget. It's been interesting, sometimes frustrating, but I'm sure worth it in the end not to go into debt up to our ears!

We have the guest list pretty much set at 125. We reserved the tent, tables and chairs. We did a layout on the computer of the floorplan. Unfortuantely, as it sits not, it allows for 112 people. If we have more than that, we'll have to rent a second tent and put the food under that - but no biggie there.

We're having the food catered by a BBQ place. They do a lot of events each year and the food is sooo yummy. They are doing some special things for us and the price can't be beat - around $20/person. The one thing they aren't stong on in my opinion is appetizers. They don't make them themselves which leads me to believe that they're frozen. (can't guarentee that but the selection waas pretty ho-hum.)

So we've decided to do the appetizers ourselves. My BIL offered to cater the entire thing so we're taking him up on the apps part. Right now we're widdling down our choices but I've been trying all kinds of recipes. Not helping with the weight loss - more on THAT later...

I just don't like cake, so we're having cheesecake instead. Made by....us! I'm pretty good at cheesecakes and they freeze well as long as they're rich :winktongue: so there shouldn't be any problem there.

We just secured a FREE bartender last week. Justin is in a band and asked one of the bar owners if he knew anyone that would be willing to work on the 4th of July. The bar owner, Joe said he'd do it. Not only that, he said he can get us what we need (beer, alcohol) through the bar which should save us tons!!! Of course we want to pay him but he said no. Instead, Justin is going to go in and overhaul the bar's sound system. Thank goodness FH is talented :biggrin:

[fireprincess2009]

So things we still need to do:
-Flowers (trying to decide if we should do ourselves since there won't be a lot)
-Invitations (waiting on the parking arrangements
-Vows
-Music
-My shoes, accessories
-Hair/Make up appointments
-Groom's attire
-Wedding Rings
-Finalize and purchase tent & table decorations

Ok, I'm stopping now. This is starting to scare me...

[sandy03]

Don't be scared, you're doing GREAT! I'm so impressed that the bathrooms were the first thing you thought about! They would have been the last thing on my mind!!

[mandaj10]

Wow I never realized you were from Upstate NY until reading your journal! A July 4th wedding sounds like so much fun! It sounds to me like you've got a lot accomplished so far, so keep up the good work, don't stress to much and have a good time with it! :)

[fireprincess2009]

I have been all over the place in terms of colors. I knew I wanted something bright and happy - that’s just the kind of girl I am! Finally, after obtaining every paint chip from both Home Depot and Lowes, I came across a picture that grabbed me.
Then I set out to recreate this table looking for lime green table runners. Amazing how hard it is to find a non-offensive lime green table runner. Granted, it’s early in the season to look for such bright colors in NY but I gave it a try. I was still sort of miserable about it. Wondering what the heck of these colors would work on my MOH and more importantly how I was going to make this work in term of my dress which has a sash of sorts – more like a ribbon. Then I changed my mind. I got a catalog in the mail with a beautifully colored dress on it. Originally, I was all about orange and for some reason tossed it aside. I’m totally happy with my colors now. Turquoise & Orange with hints of lime/yellow.

[fireprincess2009]

Here is some of my new color inspiration.

[fireprincess2009]

After the advice of many to take a break.....I didn't. I fully intended to, but there is just so much left to do. I was so frustrated trying to find someone to do my hair and makeup. I have no idea what I want to do with my hair and I'm waiting on it to grow a little. I normally do a decent job with my makeup but I don't really trust myself on my wedding day. A bad hair/makeup day is just out of the question. Everywhere I tried was either booked or not open (add to list of inconveniences of getting married on a holiday...)

It was last Tuesday on my way home from work that I was at my breaking point. I felt I was getting no where. I had planned on doing flowers myself since I didn't want much in the way of cut flowers. With an outdoor wedding we plan to do a lot of planting in flower beds and pots so we can enjoy them for the whole season if not for years to come with perennials. Just for the heck of it, I stopped by a local grocery store chain that does really nice work with flowers. When I mentioned what I was looking for (a couple bouquets and some loose Gerber Daisies) the woman was pretty short with me. Making it seem like Gerbers were totally difficult, etc. I set up an appointment to meet with her but I was not impressed yet. On my way back to my house, something compelled me to pull over at small local flower shop. I pass them all the time and had seen them at a bridal show about a month ago. I asked if I could set up an appointment to discuss flowers for my wedding. The owner checked the date and said he didn't have anything booked for my date yet. I told him he could probably book another anyway because I wanted something really minimal. I casually threw of the basics of what I wanted and he said, "Oh, well we can write that up right now!" So 10 minutes later, I had ordered the flowers for my wedding. A whopping total of $170! I may add to it, but I don't think this can be beat for not having to do anything!

[fireprincess2009]

Yeah, I stopped into a salon I had heard good things about to see if they were free on my date. Funny thing, the salon owner is getting married the very same day. "Here we go again!!!" I needed a haircut really bad so I had the girl give me a cut which turned out great. She told me to call back Monday and see if their "Wedding Coordinator" could find one of the other girls available. She did!!! They are so nice there. So friendly and really reasonable for around here. $150 for their bridal package which includes preview hair, preview make-up, day of hair, day of makeup and champagne and chocolate covered strawberries. What a weight off.

So, I haven't taken a break, but thanks to those of you who told me to tackle one thing at a time!!!

[fireprincess2009]

My dress came in. The best part, it fits perfectly! No hemming even. For a girl who has had to hem nearly every pair of pants, skirt and dress I've worn in my life, this is amazing. Just a bustle and sash change. I'm giddy!!!
I ordered it knowing that the sash color would be changing based on the colors I selected. I had bought some orange satin and decided that I would bring it to the shop when my dress came in and try it to see if it looked ok. I was skeptical, but it looks great!

My sister came to visit this weekend to help me get organized with the planning. I've been a little overwhelmed of late...I was so happy that she was here to see my dress. We also figured out what to do with the flower girl (my niece) and though I told my MOH she could wear whatever, I'm thinking that I'm going to ask her to wear something in the orange color family.

We started working on a mock up of our DIY invitations which went pretty well. Moving along...:)

[Mrs.Goff]

Congrats on getting your dress and it fitting perfectly. Do we get to see pictures? hmm?

[Docsgirl]

You're getting things checked off your list! Woo hoo!

I've got 9 weeks to go and feel like I haven't gotten anything done.:bbeek:

[fireprincess2009]

Congrats on getting your dress and it fitting perfectly. Do we get to see pictures? hmm?

I posted a couple not so great shots taken on my cell phone here:
http://forums.onewed.com/showthread.php?t=25083

Silly me, I was so excited and flew out the door without my camera. THEN I took off the dress and had to put it back on again when I remembered I had a phone on my cell (duh) Not that I minded putting it on again :winktongue:

[sandy03]

You look beautiful! I can't wait to see it with the new sash.

[fireprincess2009]

I'm rethinking things again...it really is a good thing that my job is so boring right now so I have time to waffle! I was going to make cloth napkins. The reason I decided to do this was because I couldn't seem to find a good color orange and also the cost savings of doing it myself. However, finding the right color fabric anywhere proved to be hard. When I finally did, it was a fairly thin broadcloth. I decided to give it a try to see how it looked but I wasn't happy with the fabric I found. So, now I'm searching again for a vivid/bright orange napkin that's really reasonably priced. I'm not sure what's more work, sewing 125 napkins, or finding the right color inexpensively!

[fireprincess2009]

I'm starting to feel like i have this whole wedding thing on the run now. (Good thing, I just looked a my ticker and it's officially under 3 months eeek!)

I ordered the flower girl dress last week and had it shopped to my sister. The niece (the flower girl) is also the crown bearer for the prom this year and she needed a white dress which is great really. Why buy 2 dresses. The dress came in and fits (yeah) I found a sash at David's that works great with everything else we have going on (orange flower) My sister found shoes and is probably going to make a hair accessory. Flower girl settled!!!

MOH ordered a dress that really cute. Hopefully it will look good on her. I'm a little worried about asking her to wear orange. I just don't want to be the bride that puts her MOH in some hideous color.

I found a napkin supplier. OMG I'm so excited. Napkins will cost around $70. What the heck was I thinking when I thought I was going to make them myself. Insane. The color is a little lighter than what I was originally wanted, but FH likes it a lot better and it's nice. AND, I'm not sewing 125+ 17"squares. Bad enough I'm tackling the table runners.

[fireprincess2009]

So last week I took a stab at my invitations.
http://forums.onewed.com/showthread.php?t=25247

Oh! I just realized - I don't think I posted my Save the Dates here.

After some revisions (and many trips to the craft supply stores), I came up with a design I like. I can wait to see how much I've saved (or not saved) on invitations! Ultimately, I know if would have cost a lot to produce what I'm making. Could I have gone less expensive? Sure. But I think I'm loving these. I got the jackets/pockets done yesterday. Today I'm hoping to work on printing and assembling the invites. I'll post pics soon.

[fireprincess2009]

Here is the save the date.

[ikkin510]

I love your STD and the invites!!!!

[fireprincess2009]

My goal was to get the invitations done this weekend. It didn't happen. I still feel good about what I've accomplished. I feel like I can wrap it up this evening. I printed everything out and cut out what feels like a million ovals. I attached the decorative sheet to the directions.

I saw the look of panic on FHs face when I said I was excited to get them done so I could work on the other stationery things. I got the "WHAT THINGS???" look. Next on my list are the menu cards and programs.

[fireprincess2009]

Here are the invitations!
The Invitation in it's pocket/jacket
http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv321/fireprincess2009/P1070374.jpg

The Invitation
http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv321/fireprincess2009/P1070375.jpg

Details Page
http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv321/fireprincess2009/invite2.jpg

Parking/Directions
http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv321/fireprincess2009/directions2.jpg

RSVP (ok, I'm pretty impressed with my farm animals :winktongue:)
http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv321/fireprincess2009/P1070381.jpg

I'm pretty excited to have this done finally!

[MrsDM]

I think it looks great!!! I love how you were able to incorporate fun papers and designs without it being distracting!!! Awesome job!!

[fireprincess2009]

I think it looks great!!! I love how you were able to incorporate fun papers and designs without it being distracting!!! Awesome job!!

Thanks! They're very "us" but I'm glad I was able to keep away from obnoxious! I can easily cross that line if I'm not careful. I'm still snacking them together which is quite the stress relief I have to say!

[Danielle9608]

Wow they look great! I love how you made little doodles for chicken and pork!

[fireprincess2009]

I'm still snacking them together which is quite the stress relief I have to say!

Haha! I was obviously tired - or hungry? :rofl:- "snacking" them together.
Yeah...that was supposed to be smacking them together.

[Ninedays9]

Wow!! Very impressive invites!! I also like the doodles for the meal choices.

[FutureKelley]

Love the invites! :D

[fireprincess2009]

Thanks ladies. I'm excited they're done and look decent. Now I need to get working on my next project. Not sure what that is yet, but I'm sure there is one.

[fireprincess2009]

Well I sort of dropped off the face of the forum for awhile. I’ve been busy trying to get things done. I’m half way through sewing the table runners. I was having some problems with my sewing machine binding up. Then, I ran out of thread. FH was laughing at me cause he told me to get 2 spools. Anyway, I'm hoping to get the runners finished tonight.

We finally picked out vases. I use the word VASE loosely because they are actually pilsner glasses which I guess is fitting since we love to make homemade beer.

Yesterday I put all of the addresses into a label program and last night we printed out mailing labels, put everything together, stamped and sealed our invitations. I brought them to the post office this morning. For some reason I have little butterflies right now.

I finally bit the bullet and ordered shoes. They should be here by next Tuesday and then I'll get to go for my fitting. :grinhappy:

It feels like things are falling into place finally. Oh, except that we got a call from the judge that was going to marry us telling us that he can't do it. (with only 2 months to find someone else that can marry us on a holiday, no less!) For some reason I'm remaining calm about it though.

Still so much to do...

[fireprincess2009]

I'm so horrible with the journal. Honestly, I've been running to this and that doctor so much lately that I've been trying to stay away from the computer and focus on getting things accomplished. Lately it feels like 1 step forward and 2 steps back. We lost our photographer last week so that's a huge step backwards with only 1 month to go! I'm staying uncharacteristically calm about it. huh...

This weekend was my bachelorette party. We went to an all day concert. The weather was beautiful and we had tons of fun people watching. We left around 7pm, checked into our hotel and went to dinner at this fun restaurant Circus Cafe. We had our own little area at the front of the restaurant. We laughed a lot and had many drinks. Unfortunately, I lost a crown off my back tooth on a gummy fish from my monster mixed drink and didn't realize it until I had swallowed it!:bbeek: So, I'm on my way to the dentist this afternoon. Anyway, it was actually a fairly early night but considering we started around noon I thought we did pretty good (13 hours...) It was a good time and nice to hang with the girls.

[fireprincess2009]

I have so much to do still. I just don't know how I'm going to get it all done. On Friday I had my hair & makeup trial. I like it then, but I'm not sure about the hairstyle now. I'm thinking of playing with it a little. OH! I've guess I've gotten a lot more mellow about doing different things with my hair in the last couple years. While I was at the salon, the girl cut bangs. After I was like, YIKES !!!! what did I just do? But I actually like them.

My sister took pictures - I'll have to post those tonight.

[fireprincess2009]

Oh my goodness, in the last couple of weeks things have gotten insane. We lost our photographer - FH's cousin becuase his father is ill and he's also a nurse so we had to scamble to find one with basically no budget for one. TG for Craigslist. You have to be careful but I think/hope we're lucking out. $225 for all day. The photographer is from NJ which is insane since it will be at least a 4 hour drive one way! He's got a wonderful website and sent us some wedding pics from a friends wedding he did this spring. I think he's just getting into the wedding stuff. We have a contract with him and he seems professional. What I liked about his pictures is they weren't just the standard wedding shots. So hopefully everything works out there.

Then this Thursday I got a call at work from our friend that is preforming our ceremony. His wife (my good friend) was having surgery - a hysterectomy. She was trying to put it off until after the wedding but the cyst grew very quickly and she had to have the procedure ASAP. This was the first I was hearing of it! I talked to her yesterday and she sounds optimistic that they can still come (they are traveling to NY from FL) but I told her to make sure she is ok to do so. Nothing is worth her risking her health. So until she goes back and gets approval from her Dr on Thursday, we're lining up multiple back up plans.

[fireprincess2009]

FH is hard at work building our candy bar. I organized the "wedding room" last night. It was our spare room but has been taken over by wedding ****! :bbeek:

This morning I finished our card box
http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv321/fireprincess2009/P1070578.jpg (http://forums.onewed.com/%5BIMG%5Dhttp://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv321/fireprincess2009/P1070578.jpg%5B/IMG%5D)
http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv321/fireprincess2009/P1070577.jpg (http://forums.onewed.com/%5BIMG%5Dhttp://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv321/fireprincess2009/P1070577.jpg%5B/IMG%5D)

[mandaj10]

FH is hard at work building our candy bar. I organized the "wedding room" last night. It was our spare room but has been taken over by wedding ****! :bbeek:

This morning I finished our card box
http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv321/fireprincess2009/P1070578.jpg (http://forums.onewed.com/%5BIMG%5Dhttp://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv321/fireprincess2009/P1070578.jpg%5B/IMG%5D)
http://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv321/fireprincess2009/P1070577.jpg (http://forums.onewed.com/%5BIMG%5Dhttp://i696.photobucket.com/albums/vv321/fireprincess2009/P1070577.jpg%5B/IMG%5D)
This is such a cute idea! And you did a fantastic job on it!

[fireprincess2009]

So I'm in full out food production mode. I made the first of 10 cheesecakes. I have to say, I'm a pretty good cheesecake maker but this thing is the ugliest cheesecake I've ever made. No idea what happened. I'm going to have to cover it with some sort of sauce for sure. Hopefully #2 tonight turns out better! I'm also going to tackle the meatballs tonight.

FH got his ring yesterday and it's really weird. He was extra sweet and lovey and this morning when the litter robot (automatic cat litter pan) backfired on me he actually took the thing apart, cleaned the ridiculous mess and got it all back together and working. He has NEVER touched anything that has to do with any litter box. I'm in shock!

[NOTKT]

Everything looks great! Good Luck with your cheesecakes! :)

[fireprincess2009]

Cheesecake #2 turned out great. I must have just been off my game. I also made 203 :) meatballs last night. That's a lot of meatballs for someone who doesn't like touching raw meat. They turned out really tasty so it's good there were 203 - now there's 200...:bbredface:

[sandy03]

Sounds like everything is coming along really well. Hope it continues!

[fireprincess2009]

Finally able to come up for air...I just read over my sporadic journal entries and realized how much I left out of the planning process. Planning a wedding at home was a lot of hard work. We spent a lot of time getting the outside ready - planting flowers, FH built a huge patio with his father, mulch, clearing brush for parking etc. All in the hopes that it wouldn't rain. Of course we had a tent in case it did.

Somewhere in that process I managed to make fan programs, premake several appetizers, make my hair decoration and sash for flower girls wedding. My sister came on Monday before the wedding and was wonderful keeping me calm. Every day following that more and more house guests arrived. It was difficult having a house full of people trying to eat, sleep, shower etc with all the wedding prep going on but they were a tremendous help that we couldn't do without.

I was so happy that the rain held out and we were able to have our ceremony outside. The photographer showed up, our friend was able to marry us, there was an incredible amount of fabulous food and everyone had a great time. If anyone is interested, I'm posting more details on the wedding day in Wedding Day Stories!