just when you start feeling good...

...about what you have done, life explodes! okay, so i'm not going through some personal disaster or anything, but work has been crazy lately - like getting a 33 page survey on the 12th that is due - complete and correct - on the 19th! i should expect this - it's just the way it is - but yet i'm shocked every time! i should be leaving work to head home, take the dog for a walk, and then work on save-the-date stuff (i know, i know - it's still not out and my wedding is less than 5 months away - so shoot me...) (they really are sorta close to being done though), but i also should be staying at work to work on the survey, clean my desk, sort some files, etc. you get the idea.
oh well... on to more fun things...
j and i have actually done some things for our wedding since i last wrote. we're wrapping up our registry (still can't find a bedspread - ahhh!! - or the perfect measuring cups for that matter - and believe it or not, it's j that's not satisfied with anything we've found so far!). feel free to check out the registries at www.target.com and www.younkers.com. i'm way excited about some cute red and white wine glasses we found at younkers (even though we don't drink wine - but hey! our friends do!). there are also matching margarita glasses - so i figured we needed a set. :) we're considering adding another place besides younkers and target - but we've still got to scope it out. kohl's and jc penny's are definite options...
mom, em (my youngest and only sister), and i have been working on save-the-dates - j circles the date on the calendar :). i'm happy with how they're turning out - but the printer is driving me crazy. it prints the information on the paper crooked, so then it is almost impossible to cut them straight. sometimes i'm ready to throw the paper cutter across the room - but then i take a deep breath, attempt to deal with my OCD, and move on to the next sheet of paper.
oh! i almost forgot! we do now have a caterer too! phew! check that one off the list! a woman from chariton will be catering - we met with her two saturdays ago and were satisfied. she seems very willing to help with everything from linens to plates. i'm not complaining!
this past tuesday, i took a day off of work and headed home to put in some time on the save-the-dates (i'd love to abbreviate, but STD just isn't classy...) :). instead, the fam and i ended up putting in a little too much time at the mall. (we were looking for wedding-related stuff though!) we did get some good ideas at a party/rental store and a flower store too.
things still to do: confirm with photographer, find a DJ (sooo expensive!! but music at a wedding is soooo important!), find a florist, talk with j's aunt about cake, finish and send save-the-dates, talk with friend who's designing invites, finish registering...ok...that's enough for now...i'd rather hold on to that fleeting good feeling...

decisions, decisions...

j (the fiance) and i didn't really have a hard time deciding where we would register - but i knew that deciding what to register for would be a different story...
after an awesome lunch (minus the cost) with friends at a local BBQ festival on saturday, we started off to younkers with one of my best friends in tow. she informed j and i that she was so happy to be sharing in this special moment in our lives...lol... she then split to take care of her shopping list. :) j and i looked around for a little while, agreeing that fiestaware was definitely something we were going to register for - and that nothing else there really caught our eye. we've decided against a formal china set - at least we think so for now. we each have family china sets - and these would probably mean so much more than some set of expensive dishes we would never use. as we approached the bridal registry desk for a little assistance, we noticed that next weekend the younkers was sponsoring a registry event - so we made an appointment - bring on the free stuff!! best friend then joined j and i at the fiestaware. i was so excited to see that the color of the kelly green plates was aptly named 'shamrock'! (i love ireland!) this encouraged chiding from the said companions - 'the people eating on your dishes won't know that the color is 'shamrock!' and 'you can't just buy plates because of the name!' - well, it's good enough for me! after walking around the home section a little longer, oogling at the expensive waterford crystal and navigating our way through the maze of shelves full of towels and quilts, we decided to be done there until next weekend. no decision on fiestaware colors yet!
best friend then had to leave - good to see her only if it was for a bit! we checked out the little girls' section to see if by some small chance two little ivory flowergirl dresses were waiting on the rack to be found - but, no luck... a little more wandering in the mall, and then we were off to a friend's mba graduation party (so much to do in so little time!). on our way out of the parking lot, we made a hasty decision (and a hasty turn!) to stop by men's warehouse. we'd stopped there before to get some ideas for tuxes, but, since i didn't have my dress or a swatch of my bridesmaids' dresses, we didn't get much accomplished. we weren't really blown away by the customer service, but we thought we'd give it another try since a few more crucial details had been determined. unfortunately, our experience wasn't much better. i kind of felt like the clerks didn't want to be there and that they didn't really feel like helping us out - and i think j kind of felt like this too. they weren't rude - just not accommodating - especially considering the fact that we'd be bringing them a bunch of business! we couldn't find any colors that matched the purple i was looking for, and we found out that the prices weren't as good as we thought they were... one decision made = not using men's warehouse...
after a fun, relaxing, late-afternoon rendezvous with friends at the grad party, j and i headed to target. i started to get excited about using the lasergun! :)
we began the whole registry process on the computers in the customer service area at target. after we had entered the required information, we were issued a list and a lasergun! woot woot! let the fun begin! we started in the game section - i scanned a game, and then kindly offered j a turn. he, obviously seeing how much fun i was having, politely said that i could just do it. rock on!! still, after a few scans, i offered again, not wanting to hog all the fun. he again turned down the chance. i'm sure i offered a few more times, but then i gave up after he continued to say, 'no thanks.' (side note: on sunday, while we were sitting with my family at supper and discussing where we had registered and what we had registered for, he made sure to point out that i never gave him a turn using the lasergun! i quickly corrected him - of course it was all for a laugh - ha! - and i told the true version of the story! :) so there!) after a few trips through the outdoor living aisles and 16 - yes, sixteen - towels later (i can't make decisions! i promise i don't really need them all - i will delete some!), j informed me that he was tired and that we should come back another time to continue. since it was getting late - and the weather was getting a little nasty, i agreed. after a quick stop at jimmy johns (yum!), we drove home just in time to beat the thunderstorm.
even though our registry is far from complete, i am happy to say that we got a good start!

checkin' out the blogosphere...

so i have some friends that really like to blog - and i enjoy reading them, so i thought i'd give it a try. even if no one reads what i have to say, perhaps at the very least, this will help me sort my thoughts. i'm definitely a 'list' sort of person - if i don't write it down, i focus so much on what i have to do that i don't actually do anything. but, i digress. anyway...
i'm getting married - wow - i don't think i've actually seen those three words together - in five months. crazy. so, for once in my life, i actually have something to write about - and i don't mean to make it sound like that now, just because i'm getting married, my life has meaning - because it's not that at all - it's just that this 'at-one-time-wannabe-writer' can't blame lack of output on writer's block.
well, i intend to at least make a short post every other day - we'll see how long that lasts - about what my fiance and i have been up to. if you have any advice - anyone that's married (or not married for that matter!) has wedding advice - feel free to spill!