90 days to go

90 days to go and I did NOT lose that 20 pounds.
I did NOT get all the crafty stuff done ahead of time.
I did NOT save up the money I wanted to have by now.

But I have faith that the things that need to happen will happen. Those that don't need to happen will fall by the wayside, and our wedding will be no worse for not having them.
But its all downhill from here. By which I mean a speeding freight train propelled by gravity and weight.

Here we go.

What have I created?

Well, we went from registering being a near-death experience (for me, because he wanted to kill me), to CALEB being the scan-gun crazed one.

We cannot walk into Target now without him saying "We should get a scanner, just in case we find something else we want to add."

I think he still gets hives at the idea of Bed, Bath, and Beyond though.

97 days?!

Well, time speeds right on by when you've got a lot to do, and most of the time that doesn't include blogging... so... sorry. But here's what's new for those of you who want to know!
We've registered! At Target and Bed, Bath, and Beyond. Links here:

http://www.target.com/wedd/registry/Xb54DzV_7Fit0bw8pNF90g
and
http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/regGiftRegistry.asp?wrn=-2025370953&

Registering was... an experience. Apparently people enjoy this, but I can't say that either C or I really enjoyed ourselves. It wasn't horrible (for me), but it wasn't fun. It was a tremendous amount of pressure. We're not supposed to ask for gifts, but we're supposed to create this list of things for people to buy us? And having to decide what you both like, while at the same time deciding what is too expensive, or good quality, or judging one whisk over another? That's a lot for any couple. It must be a test. If you can get through it, then maybe you can stand to be married.
C did very well at Bed, Bath, and Beyond; however he was much more stubborn and opinionated than I would have guessed. And, consequently, I had to fight for anything "girly" on the registry. And I wasn't even asking for that much of it! Sometimes I just had to say "I let you have grey sheets, a KU blanket, and a manly shower curtain. So we are putting a champagne colored toothbrush holder on here!" Which is not a phrase or sentence I ever thought I would utter, or even care that much about. But there it is.
He pulled his "shopping and decision making" muscle sometime around comforters. When he scanned the "Best of Barry Manilow" CD, I knew it was time to pull the plug and hand in the scanner.

One of my biggest problems with registering has been the absolute distress I feel at asking people to buy me something, and trying to balance the idea of a registry with determining what is a reasonable price for something. When you get to the "fine china and giftware" department of Bed, Bath, and Beyond, a "registry consultant" will guide you through the registry process. What this means is they walk around with you discussing the various merits and demerits of the products in the store. This can be very helpful, for instance, when you are in the cutlery department and you know NOTHING about knives. But when it came to us, it ended up us being led around the china department looking at the "every day" stuff (because we made it clear we weren't interested in the fancy stuff), and finding a plate we both liked, only then to discover that what a Bed, Bath, and Beyond registry specialist considers "everyday" dishes are about the same price (for one plate, bowl, cup setting) as an entire box of dishes at target. People are supposed to give me that? I have trouble believing that people like me that much.
That got a little rant-y. Sorry. Anyway, I'm glad its all over, and I'm a little intimidated to think that we'll have to do it all again when we have a baby.

Engagement shoot

C and I had our engagement shoot a while back; our friend, the lovely Katrina, did us the favor of photographing our cuteness.

Is it bad that my favorite photos from this day are ridiculous? But here are some sweet ones.


Aren't we cute?

I'd rather dream of the wedding than dream about my job!

I had a dream the other night that I went to a flea market/art fair/consignment sale. It was huge, and held on some sort of farmstead. That's not important. What's important is that nearly everything there was the perfect decor for my wedding, and was reasonably priced. Which is unusual for that kind of sale. There was a lot of nice jewelry, too, but that was priced just like art fair jewelry usually is... too expensive.

So that's my dream. It was a nice one. Better than the one I had a week or so ago, where I sat up one morning and realized that the wedding was a week away and I was only as prepared as I am now. Even that wasn't so bad, though - I felt in control even if I was working round the clock.

Now- time to go ribbon shopping! Ta ta.

Ms Texas

My third bridesmaid is Jennie; Ms Texas.

You can tell because of the boot, right?

We've known each other for years, so it seemed a natural choice. She moved to Texas a couple of years ago, and Austin is now my favorite town. Not that those two are necessarily related; I'm just saying.

I believe this photo is from a bachelorette party. Probably the only time I've ever entered an "America's Pub."

She doesn't come around that often anymore. I wouldn't either, if I lived in the coolest city just about ever. Basically I had to make her a bridesmaid so I'd be sure she'd come to the wedding.

I've been to Austin a few times to visit. Trips that primarily involved food and restaurants. So I hope she doesn't judge me too harshly for my food choices.

This is her default expression when

confronted with a macaroon

She is one of the funniest and most beautiful women I know. A great conversationalist, good cook, and fantastic mom to two tiny dogs and one huge one. I'm really happy to have her in my bridal brigade.

I said yes to the dress!

Twice, in fact. I originally went dress shopping at a little place near my hometown; its a crowded little place full of dresses for proms, pageants, and a few wedding dresses thrown in there. Its the sort of the place that records every dress it sells and what school the girl goes to, so that no two of the same dresses show up at one prom.

I went in before valentines day, expecting to beat any prom rush; however, I guess I forgot about winter homecoming, because the place was packed. And its packed already, with dresses. The aisles were almost impassible. But I picked up a few dresses to try anyway, and waited 40 minutes for a dressing room. I felt a little loyalty to the place; its where I bought all my prom and pageant dresses when I was younger. I tried on half a dozen dresses, and none of them really looked right, until I got to the last one. It was nice - it made me look slim - and it was only $150 dollars. DING DING DING. I bought it. It was the only one they had, etc. etc. etc.

Time went on, and my thoughts on the dress went from pleasure at my deal to regret that I hadn't looked more. It was pretty, but it was plain. The fabric was somewhat cheap-looking. It was nothing like what I always pictured myself in. Over the course of my budget wedding planning, I found dress after dress with comparable prices that were more in line with what I had originally envisioned. What's a girl to do? Here's a hint... know someone who would like to buy an inexpensive wedding dress?