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boo! I guess it has been almost two weeks (Dec 21st) since I have worked so I shouldn't complain. Quite honestly, I am a little ready to go back. I feel like I have gotten lazy laying around watching football what seems like every day (not really but it seems like it).

We went down to Atlanta on the 21st, spent the night around the KY/TN border that night and then finished up on the 22nd. The rest of the 22nd was spent cleaning out the condo there...ugh, that was a lot of stuff to do!! I knew I would have more there than I remembered and I did...it was random stuff like dishes and pots and pans of my moms and stuff like that. We worked for 4hrs on the 22nd and got a lot done. That night we went to Morgan and William's and hung out a bit. On the 23rd we cleaned up the condo some more and waited for my mom and sister to come to claim the goodies they were going to take home (bookshelves and TVs and stands and such). After we finished that up we took Ariyana and Maddox to Chuck E. Cheese and took a quick trip to my dad's. The 24th was spent being LAZY!! We were at my sister's and I picked up Mexican for lunch and a frozen pizza for dinner. I worked on my wedding registry, baked some cookies, and did the grocery shopping for xmas day while my sister went hopping around to her in-law's houses.

We spent Xmas at my sister's and everyone came there...it was really nice to be in one place instead of the 3 places we went last year!! The only thing that sucked was that my sister had to leave after dinner because Maddox has a hernia and it "popped out". They took him to CHOA (from Braselton) and were back with a happy baby all in two hours...I was impressed since that is at least 1:15 driving!

We drove back to Dayton on the 26th so C could have a day to relax before he had to go back to work on the 28th. We spent the 27th picking out cabinets and countertops...don't be jealous!

Since then we haven't done much at all...NYE we went to Ali's for dinner and were home by 10pm and I am not sure I can name much else that was done during those other days...lots of craft projects.

So, every year I feel like I do the same resolutions...I don't even need to look, I am sure I am right. This year I decided to focus on something different. I am still working on getting healthier, eating healthier and working out (started p90x again yesterday) but I wanted to do something fun as my resolution this year. So, my resolution is to take more pictures...not necessarily the posed kind, but just pictures in general. Some of the best pictues that people have are the everyday ones so I want more of those. I am toying with trying to take a picture of myself every day. Nothing fancy...I have asked Craig to take one the last two days so at least I have those two days down. He takes forever to take a picture, by the way. Geez, I asked him to do it yesterday and I am not joking when I say he took 5 and it took him 5 mins...I just wanted a quick snap shot of me crocheting (just cause it is what I did yesterday) and he took so long that it wasn't realy spontaneous anymore. I told him that I would be in charge of pictures of our kid one day because he will miss everything :-) Anyway, not sure I will do a photo a day of myself or not. I know it might seem silly or selfish but I think that it would be fun to see a whole year of pictures of me...especialy when I am bad about showering every day if I am just at home...maybe this will make me fix myself up a little :-)

Next weekend I am having a few of the girls here in OH over to help me with some wedding crafting. It is starting to sneak up on me...when I look at my calendar there are really not many completely free weekends after Feb...yikes! I am going to try to get as much done as we can on Sunday so hopefully it will help a lot. They said if I provided wine they would provide help :-) Easy enough!

Like I said, I started p90x again yesterday (been doing some of the workouts for weeks but mainly the ones I liked). I figured that 1/1/12 was a good time to start getting in shape for the wedding. I am sure that the 3 weeks I am traveling during January are not going to help but hopefully I can keep up with p90x. Ali and I have been doing Pilates ever since we got a living social deal to try a studio. I love it! I feel like the instructor is so good and gives such personal attention. There have never been more than 6 people in the class at a time so she really concentrates on everyone's body. I feel like I am more aware of how I should do exercie moves...like in p90x. I have muscles sore this time that were not sore the last time I did it...but they are the ones that should be sore...makes me think I was doing it wrong the last time. I had a private lesson last week and she wrote up two pages of moves/exercises that I can do in my hotel room. I like it because I could do it while waiting to go to dinner or somethign cause you can do just a few moves at a time and you don't get all sweaty (I do in the 45 min class but not for just a couple moves). We focused on the areas that I needed to look good in my dress :-)

This has been a bit of a rambling...but you guys should be used to that by now. I will try to update more often so it isn't so random each time.

Hope you all had a great holiday!

Update

Isn't that the name of all my posts lately? I feel like it is and I guess when you only post once a month, that is all you are really able to do.

--Craig and I spent Thanksgiving in Ohio, as we always do, just the two of us. It was awesome. I did a turkey trot that morning (5 miles), got a nice warm starbucks latte while calling one of my favorite gals to wish her happy birthday and then went home to heat up the quiche I made the night before and get all the food ready. I got the bird in the oven right before the Packers' game and then about an hour after the game it was all ready :-) Perfect! Friday C had to work so I got up when he did and did a little holiday shopping, mostly at craft stores :-) I didn't stand in any lines and I found it really relaxing. I came home, watched the 3rd Twilight movie and then the LSU game...and crafted a bit. Saturday we didn't do much at all and Sunday we did even less because the weather was gross here!

--We have decided to renovate our kitchen. It is SO SMALL! The actual size of it isn't bad but there are only cabinets on one wall and no counter space. We are going to knock down the deck (the stairs are so steep) and then we are going to pop the kitchen out 8ft (which will include having a new room below the kitchen since it can't just be a second floor) and build a new deck around it! YIKES. It feels like a huge undertaking! We had been talking about it and decided to have the guys that did our bathroom come out to give us some ideas...well, they pretty much are going to give us an awesome deal because they don't get much work in the winter in OH. I was a little concerned about the house being open but they build the whole outside and then knock down the inside...how cool huh. Anyway, so, we might be crazy paying for a kitchen renovation of this size and a wedding in the same year, but it looks like that is what we are going to do. I am going to have to start saving the pennies :-) It will all be worth it though because we will have 2 to 3 times the cabinets and about 4 times the counter space! We will also get a breakfast nook (great for little ones to eat where there is not carpet)

--Wedding planning is pretty much at a stand still right now...we have done most of the big stuff and now it is down to the details. I am having a craft day in Jan with the OH girls to help me make all the flowers and other stuff for the wedding, I have ordered some paper products and we are doing save the date/xmas cards. My sister is going to throw me a shower so she is already starting with all those questions (though it is 4 months away). Craig decided that he has no interest in registering (he may regret this later) but that I can "show him stuff if I want". HA! I sort of feel like a loser going to a store to register by myself so I might take Ali or I might just do a lot of it online. We don't need stuff like china because we have his grandma's so it will probably be a lot of kitchen stuff that I want and C will benefit from when he gets good meals.

--I have injured my groin...what? Ugh. I don't even know when I did it. I just remember that when C and I were getting ready for vacation (Oct 7th) I said that a week of from running would help it feel better. I guess it probably did for a little while but then it started hurting again and when I ran on Thanksgiving it hurt pretty much the whole time. I have never been one of those "rest" people when it comes to injuries but this one was really hurting. Normally my injuries hurt when I am not running but warm up and don't bother me when I am running so I just keep on running. This time was different and after it hurt the entire race on Thanksgiving and was super sore for days after I decided to take a break. Yesterday I went to the Dr. and he said groin strain...no running for 3-4 weeks and then evaluate :-( No zumba (which I think aggrevated it) for 2 months...oh well. But, the good news (to someone who likes to work out and gets cranky when they can't) is that I can still do the elliptical and the bike...plus most of my p90x DVDs. Yay...doesn't my groin know I have a wedding to get in shape for? Less than 6 months!!

--On that subject...I still struggle to lose my stubborn weight that mostly came on in about 6 months a couple years ago...it is always lose a few lbs, gain a few lbs, over and over again. I was looking at pictures of Craig and I on vacations when we first met and it was pretty depressing...I was at least 15-20lbs lighter...yikes! So, I put a chart up on the fridge where C can see it and I have been trying really hard to stick to my proper eating. I didn't include my actual weight on there but I have boxes for lbs lost and then weeks across the top and my goal by the wedding in gray...I am down 4lbs in 4 weeks. Slow but like Drena said, slow and steady wins the race and I am not looking for a quick fix. I am looking for meals that I will like and continue to eat. I am not doing any diet per se, but I am logging my food at SparkPeople. I like that website because it doesn't tell me I need to eat 1000 calories a day to lose weight...it actually gives me a normal range and when I do it, I lose so it works. I just have to constantly do it and when I travel it gets hard.

--I got the go ahead yesterday to FINALLY rent out my condo in Atlanta. I am sure that none of you know anyone looking for a one bedroom in Midtown, just in case, if you do, let me or Drena know :-) I can't wait to get it rented out (hopefully by Feb) and have a little extra dough each month! I am going to sign the papers before they board can change their mind.

--In crafty news, my headbands have been doing pretty well on etsy. I find it really funny/weird that they sell almost exclusively to people in the Midwest...My mom took them to the craft show that she did in Gainesville in Oct and not a single one sold in 3 days but I have sold them online...so weird to me. I might do a craft show here in April. Ali said she would help me so I think that it might be fun. I also learned how to use my sewing machine to do embroidery. I have made several things and I am loving it. I made little shirts for my niece and nephew...I really need to post pictures of those...they have a GT (stupid tech fans) and then their names underneath. I love that I will be able to make handmade gifts for future babies of friends or kids or my own little one one day...love it!

--This Friday C and I are having a Christmas Vacation party...I am sort of excited because I like hosting get togethers. I was busy on pinterest looking for all kinds of yummy goodies to make. I usually make goodies and send them to work with C so I sort of have a reputation for making yummy treats for all his coworkers. That is mostly who will be at the party (they are mostly our age) so I feel like I have high expectations of what I am going to make!

I think that is about all that I have been up to lately...it doesn't really sound that exciting when I sit and type it all out.

Pictures

Wow, has it really been over a month since I wrote anything here...yikes.

Anyway, just a quick line (and promises to be a better blogger) to show you all the engagement pics we just had taken.

Go Here and click the wedding gallery box and then on the next page, client proofing at the bottom of the page. powersengagement is the password. you have to use your email to log in but they don't send you anything.

Favorites?

Update

Hmm, what have I been up to? Not much really. Just boring, being in town stuff...

I did the Air Force Half Marathon last weekend and I got my best time ever for a half marathon so I was pretty pumped about that. It felt really good to make a goal and then accomplish it. The funny thing is that I didn't really do that much running between my last half a month ago and this one. I did exercise a lot but not necessarily running. Good to know that I don't lose the running ability even without running all the time. I enjoy mixing it up a bit and I enjoy racing so I am glad to see that I can do both.

Other than that I have just really enjoyed my time at home. I get to see and talk to Craig on a regular basis, I get to go to the gym and try new classes (like Zumba and real Pilates), I get to go to trivia on Wednesday nights and actually do stuff with my Dayton friends. I almost can't believe it. I really needed the break. I worked entirely too much this summer. I can barely name anything I did and now it is going to be cold here in a couple months. That makes me so sad. I have been trying to work on my work-life balance lately. I think that when I am out of town it is so easy to work until all hours of the night to try to get things done but I just can't do that on a regular basis. It sucks. Since I am home now I usually start work at 8am (not a far commute from the bed, across the hall and to the desk) and I normally don't take a lunch (cause what am I going to do) unless I exercise during the day so I am trying to make myself stop working after 8 hours. Sometimes it is hard because my job is all about problem solving and if you have ever done a crossword puzzle where you only have one or two clues left, you know how hard it is to just put it down and walk away. I have come up with creative ways to make myself stop and most of them involve crafting or exercising :-) HA!

I finally started allergy shots a couple weeks ago. I have in my head that these will be the miracle that will allow my to not have to take Claritin every day of my life but we will see. I am only a couple weeks in. It sucks cause it is an hour and 20mins roundtrip, twice a week right now. Bleh. Oh well, it is only for 6 months or so and at least it gets me out of the house in daylight! They are quite the cocktail and I have to get 2 each time I go. I had them put it all in there...all plants, dogs, cats, dust mites...you name it. I did hear one lady on the elevator today tell a kid she had to get 3 shots so at least there is someone who has worse allergies than I do. These suckers are pricey so I hope they work...looks like I will be doing a little figuring of how much I need in my FSA account next year. Yikes.

Wedding planning is still going well...I had a minor freakout today because the hotel that I had blocked rooms at has changed names and I wanted to make sure our contract was still valid because that is the weekend that the convention is here but I called the other day and they said it was. Then I started to panic because I realized that I didn't block enough rooms (and the hotels are sold out) but I looked on the actual hotel's website and you were able to book rooms directly, guess they aren't switched over in our work travel database that still had them as a Doubletree. I booked a room for Craig and I and noticed that the rates were a lot lower than the blocked rooms so I sent an email to the sales lady asking to drop the price and if we can add more rooms (since apparently it is not sold out).

We are trying to narrow down our honeymoon choices. If you know me, you know I love a good deal and if we book by Oct 14th then we can save a bit of money so I want us to decide by then. Here are the finalist:
Ireland
Italy
Holland

I have been to Italy but not Tuscany and I have been to Holland (which I really liked). I would be happy with any of them so we just need to pick one. I think that Craig is leaning toward Ireland or Holland (cause you get to ride a barge down the river and it is a little more "city" like than the other places). He knows that I would probably rank them as Holland third but I would not be disappointed with any of them. I loved Amsterdam when I went with Erin 10 years ago and the Ann Frank House is by far the most moving museum I have even been in, EVER. Plus, Holland would be less flight connections :-)

Other than that, I haven't done much of anything...I feel like I don't talk to anyone anymore...guess everyone is busy with fun fall activities!

Favorite Weekend

What did I do you ask? NOTHING...or at least nothing with a set agenda. I have not had a weekend like this since APRIL! APRIL people...not a single weekend since then that I was home and didn't have to pack to go out of town or really that I was home without a million things to do. It.feels.awesome. I spent Saturday watching college football and sewing some headbands. I fit in a little workout. Sunday was more of the same...crafting, organizing crafts, etc. Today, yep, right back at it :-)

I did manage to get my coupons all organized on Friday or Saturday, I can't remember which.

I have only been home for 10 straight days but it feels like a lifetime (in a good way). I was traveling so much and having such a stressful time at work that I couldn't relax even when I was home. Now that I have been home for 10 days I feel so much better!!! I have been eating well, I got exercise in almost every day and I just can relax without having to worry about flights and reservations and auditors!

Wedding planning is also going awesome. I have to admit that doing it pretty much on your own is hard. I don't think that I realized how hard it would be but it is starting to all come together. We booked our caterer after a lot of back and forth. We really liked the food at a local restaurant in town but the display is probably not as "pretty" as the other place that only does catering...the problem with the second place was that I didn't love the food. The stuff we were going to have was ok but overall I was not impressed. I don't get it because it is one of those places where every raves about it...eh. I tend to be turned off by those kind of places in general.

My mom and Alyson came up last weekend to go dress shopping. I had 2 appointments with different bridal stores in the bridal district in Reading and then one other place that doesn't take appointments. We went to the first place and I was a bit overwhelmed. Everyone that lives in Dayton seems to get their dress there so I thought it would be a little different. Everyone warned me of the big dressing room where everyone changes together but that didn't bug me in the least...those of you who lived with me in the sorority house remember I would walk around in a bra to go iron my shirts....don't care. When we got there there was some consultants that I didn't feel like I wanted (they were older and didn't appear to have any fashion sense judging by what they wore), luckily we got a cute, younger girl :-) After you get assigned a person you are taken to look at the dresses and pick out what you want to try on. I sort of thought it would be like "Say Yes to the Dress" where they would look at pictures you bring in and then pick stuff out for you...not so much. I didn't know how to spot what the dresses looked like while they were in a bad...how could I tell what the cut was?? UGH. Luckily I had several pictures so my sister, mom and I just looked for the sweetheart neckline that I thought I wanted. I also gave my list of pictures to the consultant. She pulled a few on my list and when we had about 6 or 7 I was ready to try on. She had pulled one that I had on my list but when I looked at it I thought it had too much beading. The first few dresses were good and I liked them but when I tried on the dress that I had claimed had too much beading, I LOVED it. It really looked good for my curvy body shape :-) It was sort of funny since I hadn't even wanted to try it on. My mom and sister loved it too. I tried on a second one by the same designer (which is the same designer that Morgan's dress is so had it not been for her, I wouldn't have looked at this designer and found my dress) but with less beading and I still liked the shape but the combo of the beading and the shape is what made it look so good on me. I tried on a few more dresses of different styles and some that I had on my list but I didn't like this or that about them. The consultant offered to pull more but I told her I wanted to put the beaded one back on...and then I didn't take it off for the next half hour as we did the veil and all that...I am really happy with my choice. So happy that I cancelled the other two appointments and an hour and a half after we walked in the first store, we were done! HA! The rest of the weekend we did other wedding stuff (saw the venue, made paper flowers, etc). The weather was gorgeous in Ohio (as it has been since minus Friday and Saturday this week) it was sunny and 75 with no humidity...ahhhh. If anyone is interested my dress is Casablanca 1957. I am not going to post any pictures of me in it. The arm workouts have begun :-)

We also made our appointment for our engagement photos. I can't wait. I need to find an outfit. We are doing them Oct 25th. It will be chilly here by then so if you guys (Meghan) have any good ideas as to cute outfits I could wear, let's see them. Remember, I am not skinny so it needs to be something that would look good on someone with some curves. Craig will probably just wear jeans and a plain t-shirt (he wears the more fitted ones and it will likely be black or blue). I haven't decided if we will do anything other than casual outfits yet.

Sorry it was so long! Hope everyone else is enjoying their weekend.

Wedding Wednesday

Lots happened in the wedding planning this week :-)

Dresses: I went to David's Bridal on Saturday with my sisters and my mom and I definitely learned what I liked as far as silhouette goes. I didn't really love the consultant that I had...she wasn't very good and didn't really listen and didn't bring me half the dresses I wanted to see. Oh well. I have decided that I probably want a fit and flare dress with a sweetheart neckline...the more rounded the better. There was one dress that I really liked but I am not sure about it completely. Next weekend my mom and Alyson will be up here and I have 3 bridal places to go to in the bridal district in Reading...including the largest shop in the country...yikes. I looked up designers the other day to find ones that had what I liked and in my price range...am I crazy to not want to spend a ton of money on a dress I will wear once? I mean, I want to look good but I don't want it to be a huge chunk of my budget. We picked out the bridesmaid dresses...so cute!!

DJ: We met with another DJ and then decided to book one we met with a couple weeks back. I think he was my favorite but I went through the process and let Craig decide :-) Luckily he picked the same one I liked (isn't it fun when you are on the same page...it is the little things).

Food: We had another tasting tonight and I must say that I wasn't the hugest fan of the food. It was ok but this is the place that everyone talks about and I think that the hype is more than the food. It is supposed to be fancy (and people need to stop telling me that because it makes my expectations too high) but I thought it was bland...the things that we would get for our wedding were good but I didn't like the other stuff. We also went to a wedding (Craig's ex) in March that used them and the food was just ok. She said they didn't get what they were supposed to have and the lady that they had worked with wasn't even there but then she told me to use them...weird. They are known for their displays and how pretty everything is so that is something to consider. I think that we are going to see what the quote comes in at. If it is close to the other place then we might pick them but if not we will go with the other place. I liked the other place better anyway.

Ceremony: I researched and sent Craig's sister all the information to get ordained to marry us :-) She was very touched that we asked and I like that she will be included. Also, Craig has decided to have people now (not sure if I wrote on here about how he didn't want any groomsmen). He decided to have his (our) friend Adrienne in the wedding on his side and then one of his guy friends. It is a little non traditional to have a girl on the guy side but she really is his best friend in Dayton so it makes sense. She is going to wear the same dress as my sisters but in black and will be on his side.

Decor: So, I think that this whole time I have been struggling with what exactly Craig envisioned...he kept saying he didn't want "formal" but then when we talked to DJs or caterers he was saying things that would make me think formal. So, I finally had to get a definition...he doesn't want the ceremony, invitations or reception to be real formal and "stuffy" as he put it but he does want us to have an elegant wedding in the decor and all that...sort of hard to explain but is it sad that I get what he means? It helps me tremendously with all the decorating and my dress and all that so I am glad I got that figured out.

Next up we have to figure out times and whether we will do a cocktail hour and stuff. Then we have to figure out the whole engagement photo deal. We are going to do them in Oct because the leaves are gorgeous up here so I still have some time. Everyone we have told about our photographer that is a wedding vendor LOVES him and raves about how good he is...I am glad that we (I) decided to splurge on him :-)

I have been busy and am SO CLOSE to having all the major stuff done! YAY!

Dress Shopping

Obviously I have not kept up with the Wedding Wednesday but since I don't think people read that much anyway, it is ok if break my rules :-) I have been beyond busy at work...the kind of busy where you are working and starving and you look up and realize it is 2:30 and you haven't eaten and the cafe is closed or when I think that I will run downstairs for a mid afternoon latte to wake me up and the store is closed because it is 6...good times. I think that I added some stress to my days by trying to meet up with friends here in Atlanta...I probably would have been a little less stressed if it weren't for that but then again, I like to see my friends :-)

With all of that going on, I have not had a ton of time for wedding planning lately but I have somehow made progress. Craig and I have talked to two DJs (one of which emailed us later and said they had another client they had already met with that was interested in our day and I talked to her yesterday and the other client booked). For some reason I don't really believe her...I think they didn't like us for some reason (though we only met with them for 15mins) but maybe not. We have done two tastings. The first one was this place where I went and picked up a pan of food that we were supposed to put in our oven to heat back up and try. It was everything all in one pan...I am not a fan of my food touching and usually eat one food at a time :-) Oh well, the food was ok...the potatoes tasted like a mix and so did the mac and cheese. C loved the mac and cheese. All the chicken was sort of rubbery tasting and a lot of it tasted salty. There were a few really good things in there though so all was not lost. The second place is an actual local restaurant in town and we really liked that food a lot and the lady was super nice. The first guy reminded me of the soup nazi but for catering. We have one more caterer and one more DJ this Monday and Tuesday and then I think we will have those two things set.

On Saturday I am going to David's Bridal with my mom and my sisters. I am excited but part of me is a little nervous. I have never seen myself in a wedding dress and something about it makes me nervous (not in a scared way, more in an excited sort of way). I picked out a few dresses online and I have sent them to a couple people...it is so funny to see the responses cause everyone tells me their fav (which I love) but I think between everyone at least every dress has been picked once :-)

I also have gotten a mock up on the centerpieces...most people like them but my mom and sister didn't like the gray colored ball and my other sister didn't love the yellowish one. I honestly think that it is because the picture is one I was trying to take really quick...the gray one looks dull and the yellow one is reflecting the flash. The good news is that I will not have to make as many flowers as I thought I would...good news because we really didn't make any at the beach and I am not so sure I am actually going to have any help with this little project like I thought I was. I still have the visit in two weeks from my mom and sister so maybe we can do it then. Other than that I am going to try to have a party with some of my OH girls where we have wine and make them...they said they would help. I just feel awkward because a lot of people say they will help but then how do you bring it back up again without being rude? When they come over how do you just start the craft portion of the evening. Hmmm, I guess I will have to figure that one out. At least they are not quite as time consuming as I thought.

We also think that we have the favors picked out. We are making them and did a trial run at the beach...now we learned a couple things and are going to do another trial run when my mom and sister come to OH.

So, everything seems to be moving right along :-)