Branden talked to his mom yesterday and asked me last night if it would be ok with me if we postponed our Minnesota reception. OK?! YES!!!!!
I've been trying to tell him that the weekend after our wedding wasn't a good idea for the MN reception for a while now. I didn't want to take that much time off work all at once and the thought of trying to juggle all of this was starting to stress me out. I feel like I can take a deep breath and focus on just one thing now.
Our wedding is two months and four days away. I feel like I should be doing more but there's just not a lot that I can do. Branden mailed off the package to UT and it is now in Katie's capable hands. Invitations will be handed out to family this week. :) I'm hoping that's the only package to mail, but it probably won't be.
I need to mail out other invitations and may be handing that work over to our good friend Amy who has asked that I let her stuff and send them- it's hard to say no when someone wants to do the more boring work. :P I've talked to Kazia about the cake,, though I should talk to her again. (Kazia, I guess I need to talk to you so expect to hear from me soon.) There are still some things to buy in the way of clothing but the important stuff is done. I need to order the desserts as well but that needs to wait a month or so. We do still need someone to do the actual marrying... Guess that's the next thing to get done!
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Letters From My Mom
My mom has begun sending out letters. Not emails. Actual letters, in envelopes, with stamps. The first two she sent were written to the family and included copies of emails from James. I enjoyed getting those- who doesn't like getting mail that isn't bills or junk?- but this last one was the best of all.
My mom wrote me a letter at the cabin. I mean, she took the time to sit with a pen and paper and write out a letter just for me. It's been a long time since I've received such a letter and I forgot how much they mean. It's so much more than an email or typed letter... It's a piece of her on that paper. It's not incredibly long, it isn't filled with flowery words or prose, it's just a simple letter written in my mother's handwriting and it means the world to me that she took time out of her life to write and send it. I love you, Mom.
My mom wrote me a letter at the cabin. I mean, she took the time to sit with a pen and paper and write out a letter just for me. It's been a long time since I've received such a letter and I forgot how much they mean. It's so much more than an email or typed letter... It's a piece of her on that paper. It's not incredibly long, it isn't filled with flowery words or prose, it's just a simple letter written in my mother's handwriting and it means the world to me that she took time out of her life to write and send it. I love you, Mom.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Mastodon State Park
Branden and I went for a drive today to see what we could discover. We saw a sign for Mastodon State Park and decided we must go there immediately... It was a good plan. As it turns out, there's a dig site something like 15 miles from our house where paleontologists have found bones from mastodons and other pre-historic megafauna. The site is currently covered over but there is a museum and some walking trails that take you to the site.
Here is the skeleton without us... I know that's what you really wanna see anyway. :P
This display explains the differences between mammoths and mastodons. Essentially, mammoths are larger and ate grass while mastodons are smaller and ate leaves and twigs. Also, the mastodon evolved first.
This is just a picture I like that Branden took.
The giant ground sloth was living in what is now Missouri at the same time as the mastodons. They were four feet tall and ten feet long when walking on all fours.
This is me above the dig site. You can't tell here, but I'm half-way up something like 138 stairs. As it turns out, we hiked around and ended up having to climb these stairs twice. That may not seem like a lot to those of you who are skinny, fit women but, not being one of you, I chose to not look up and just put my foot on the next step and the next one. I obviously made it. :)
A view of the walking path. It looks really pretty, and it was, but it was also 100 degrees and 80% humidity.
All in all, a good- maybe slightly sweaty- trip. Just one more thing to add to my list of places to take people who come visit me. :)
Here we are in front of the mastodon skeleton.
Here is the skeleton without us... I know that's what you really wanna see anyway. :P
This display explains the differences between mammoths and mastodons. Essentially, mammoths are larger and ate grass while mastodons are smaller and ate leaves and twigs. Also, the mastodon evolved first.
This is just a picture I like that Branden took.
The giant ground sloth was living in what is now Missouri at the same time as the mastodons. They were four feet tall and ten feet long when walking on all fours.
This is me above the dig site. You can't tell here, but I'm half-way up something like 138 stairs. As it turns out, we hiked around and ended up having to climb these stairs twice. That may not seem like a lot to those of you who are skinny, fit women but, not being one of you, I chose to not look up and just put my foot on the next step and the next one. I obviously made it. :)
A view of the walking path. It looks really pretty, and it was, but it was also 100 degrees and 80% humidity.
All in all, a good- maybe slightly sweaty- trip. Just one more thing to add to my list of places to take people who come visit me. :)
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Oh, Hobby Lobby...
Oh, Hobby Lobby, my friendliest of foes.
Among your aisles can be found a treasure trove of items to tempt a woman whose brain has been replaced by wedding bells.
You invite me in from the humid heat of St. Louis with an inviting, air conditioned breeze and immediately set my head spinning with shelves stocked full of autumn themed decor. Your plethora of harvest bowls, platters and pitchers mock me with the impossibility and price of shipping. Your intricate metal and glass tabletop pumpkins outright laugh in my face.
Your 50% off ribbon sales blind me to prices. 50% off is such a good deal! I thwarted you, however, and only spent $20!... On ribbon alone. Unfortunately, you still won since I purchased $20 worth of ribbon but still was unable to find the ONE roll of ribbon I'm hunting for: dark brown, satin ribbon.
But I cannot dislike you entirely because you did provide the adorable pumpkin-shaped pillow that I'll be using as a ring pillow. You and I have begun a love-hate relationship that I see lasting a LONG time.
Among your aisles can be found a treasure trove of items to tempt a woman whose brain has been replaced by wedding bells.
You invite me in from the humid heat of St. Louis with an inviting, air conditioned breeze and immediately set my head spinning with shelves stocked full of autumn themed decor. Your plethora of harvest bowls, platters and pitchers mock me with the impossibility and price of shipping. Your intricate metal and glass tabletop pumpkins outright laugh in my face.
Your 50% off ribbon sales blind me to prices. 50% off is such a good deal! I thwarted you, however, and only spent $20!... On ribbon alone. Unfortunately, you still won since I purchased $20 worth of ribbon but still was unable to find the ONE roll of ribbon I'm hunting for: dark brown, satin ribbon.
But I cannot dislike you entirely because you did provide the adorable pumpkin-shaped pillow that I'll be using as a ring pillow. You and I have begun a love-hate relationship that I see lasting a LONG time.
Monday, July 5, 2010
Notably Positive
It's time for another one!
-This one is mostly positive: I bought gas for $2.39 on Friday. :) I realize that the high gas prices have conditioned me to think that any price under $2.50 is a good gas price but still... I was so excited to buy gas for under $2.40 that I hummed the whole time I was filling up. I thought that I had surely managed to buy gas at the low for once... And then I noticed on Saturday that gas was down to $2.37 at a gas station that was not CostCo meaning that I STILL didn't manage to get gas at the lowest price. Oh, well, such is my luck. :P
-We finished and printed our wedding invitations. We went through so many different designs that the final product isn't at all what we were planning and, unfortunately, we didn't even end up using the picture that I needed Mindy to photoshop... Though we did use some others that she touched up. Due to a long story, Branden's mom is sending out invitations for the MN reception and there is now no mention of it whatsoever on our wedding invites. Although they are not what I originally wanted them to be, we paid a grand total of $30 to get them printed and cut and they will do the job so I'm not going to bother with a lot of complaining. Now to get them in envelopes and sent off!
-The Nasties moved out! After an entire year of listening to them fight, move furniture, build stuff and/or clean in the middle of the night, yell at children and just be awful people in general, they are gone! I will admit that we'll miss the Jerry Springer entertainment factor but I won't miss having my sleep interrupted by their lack of consideration for others. No longer will their (not-apt-approved) dog howl for hours on end when nobody is home, no longer will I hear the children cry but never laugh, no longer will I spend time trying to decide if what is happening below constitutes as abuse or just very loud, ineffective attempts at parenting. I have a hard time believing that the next people to move in could be worse so I'm hoping for the best.
-Last year, Branden's friend invited us to spend July 4th with his family. They were kind enough to invite us back again this year. We had a great time eating food off the grill and lighting off fireworks. I even got to hold a baby and he fell asleep in my arms... I want a sweet baby!
-This one is mostly positive: I bought gas for $2.39 on Friday. :) I realize that the high gas prices have conditioned me to think that any price under $2.50 is a good gas price but still... I was so excited to buy gas for under $2.40 that I hummed the whole time I was filling up. I thought that I had surely managed to buy gas at the low for once... And then I noticed on Saturday that gas was down to $2.37 at a gas station that was not CostCo meaning that I STILL didn't manage to get gas at the lowest price. Oh, well, such is my luck. :P
-We finished and printed our wedding invitations. We went through so many different designs that the final product isn't at all what we were planning and, unfortunately, we didn't even end up using the picture that I needed Mindy to photoshop... Though we did use some others that she touched up. Due to a long story, Branden's mom is sending out invitations for the MN reception and there is now no mention of it whatsoever on our wedding invites. Although they are not what I originally wanted them to be, we paid a grand total of $30 to get them printed and cut and they will do the job so I'm not going to bother with a lot of complaining. Now to get them in envelopes and sent off!
-The Nasties moved out! After an entire year of listening to them fight, move furniture, build stuff and/or clean in the middle of the night, yell at children and just be awful people in general, they are gone! I will admit that we'll miss the Jerry Springer entertainment factor but I won't miss having my sleep interrupted by their lack of consideration for others. No longer will their (not-apt-approved) dog howl for hours on end when nobody is home, no longer will I hear the children cry but never laugh, no longer will I spend time trying to decide if what is happening below constitutes as abuse or just very loud, ineffective attempts at parenting. I have a hard time believing that the next people to move in could be worse so I'm hoping for the best.
-Last year, Branden's friend invited us to spend July 4th with his family. They were kind enough to invite us back again this year. We had a great time eating food off the grill and lighting off fireworks. I even got to hold a baby and he fell asleep in my arms... I want a sweet baby!
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