One busy bride...

It's that time again, folks, my once a month update! :) And where did January go...honestly?
("Who throws a shoe...honestly? You fight like a woman!")

The first month of 2007 has gone pretty well over here. The first couple of weeks were a little iffy because I couldn't decide what kind of calendar I wanted this year, or if I wanted a calendar at all...maybe just a note pad because I like to write so many lists? Normally I go for a Flavia type, but none of the office stores had those in stock this year, they went to some Legacy-schmagacy brand that "looks" like Flavia. I definitely wanted something that would hook or zip together so I could throw papers in it (and most likely forget about them). Okay, so who cares about my calendar woes. I ended up buying a "folio pad" thing with a nice cover at the bookstore, only to decide the next day that I reeeeeally needed my days and weeks laid out for me with this wedding planning and such. All I know is that life returned to normal after I found a colorful zip-up planner at Target. Who knew that my life without a calendar would take such a turn for the worse? Big decision #1 of 2007 - check!

[Wedding schtuff]

> Bridesmaids' and Junior Bridesmaids' dresses ordered - check!
> Honeymoon booked to Jamaica 'mon - check!
> Baker chosen to make wedding cake - check!
> DJ service chosen for reception - check!
> Wedding bands ordered from jeweler - check!
> Paper samples ordered for making invitations - check!
> Completed financial part of wedding "counseling" - check!
> Deciding to cancel everything and elope so Elvis can marry us - PRICELESS!!

The movie Love Stinks just popped into my head, and I'm sure Mandy will appreciate that one. I think Dan and I have done more during the month of January than we did during the first seven months of our engagement, lol. We're definitely moving right along. Of course, it helps now that I have a handy dandy calendar to write our goals in every week. Four months to go! Big things to do very soon: invitations & programs, flowers, favors, registering, and scanning our pictures of growing up. :-)

[Merrybell- and Urpel-isms]

I thought we had relatively sane cats, but lately they've done some cute and crazy things...

1. They both love the sink and bathtub, but I can't even brush my teeth without Urpel right in the sink trying to lick up the water. I tell her to move, but she plops down and prepares to camp out. Turning the water on her doesn't work either, she just licks that and walks around with a wet side. She doesn't quite understand that if she doesn't get her tubby butt out of the sink then she'll be licking toothpaste off her side.

2. Merry has taken more to me, while Urpel has to Dan. Merry's also a little cuddler, Urpel's not so much.

3. Merry is a timid eater. Whenever more food is added to their bowl, Urple is the first one to get herself to the bowl and eat. Poor Merry gets pushed out of the way or has little room for her head in the bowl. Even with treats, Urple normally gobbles hers up and then goes to steal Merry's.

4. Last night we bought them a feather toy because they kept playing with our duster in the laundry closet, and they went nuts! Okay, so Merry was her little timid self and enjoyed the toy, but Urple was a crazed loon! She was jumping and running after this thing so hard that she was panting like a dog. The last time I checked we had two cats, but heck if we didn't think there was a little dog in the apartment last night.

5. Every so often, one of the cats will pin the other to the ground and start cleaning away. This usually involves some wrestling moves and some more knocks to the ground, and then more cleaning. It's quite amusing.

6. We gave them both a bath not too long ago, trimmed their nails and everything. Even though they will sit in the sink and let water soak them, they refuse the whole bath idea. When Dan was clipping their nails, Merry actually enjoyed it and put her paws up voluntarily! Here's a picture of her back paw getting clipped and she was licking his arm, lol...along with some others.

Aren't they precious?


A mix of wrestling, licking, and hugging...I think


Our little puppy

I think that's it for me tonight. Tomorrow's hump day and I always have to go in early. Since I set up my blog to take posts through email, maybe I can start doing that more often at work. Think it'll happen? Until next month... lol.

A few favorites...

Thought I would share some of my favorite quotes about deciding...

The first step to getting the things you want out of life is this: Decide what you want. -Ben Stein

Sometimes it's the smallest decisions that can change your life forever. -Keri Russell

When I decide to be happy, I am. When I allow others to decide whether I will or will not, I'm usually not. -Andy Hall

Your thoughts become your choices, your choices become your habits, and your habits become your lifestyle. If you want to change your lifestyle, change your thoughts. -Unknown

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A Life That Matters

Ready or not, some day it will all come to an end. There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours or days. All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten, will pass to someone else. Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance. It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed. Your grudges, resentments, frustrations and jealousies will finally disappear.

So too, your hopes, ambitions, plans and to-do lists will expire. The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away. It won't matter where you came from or what side of the tracks you lived on at the end. It won't matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant. Even your gender and skin color will be irrelevant.

So what will matter? How will the value of your days be measured? What will matter is not what you bought, but what you built; not what you got, but what you gave. What will matter is not your success, but your significance.

What will matter is not what you learned, but what you taught. What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage or sacrifice that enriched, empowered or encouraged others to emulate your example. What will matter is not your competence, but your character. What will matter is not how many people you knew, but how many will feel a lasting loss when you're gone. What will matter is not your memories, but the memories that live in those who loved you. What will matter is how long you will be remembered, by whom and for what.

Living a life that matters doesn't happen by accident. It's not a matter of circumstance but of choice. Choose to live a life that matters. It really matters!

-Michael Josephson

Off to a good start...

Here's a Christmas tag that's about a month overdue from Stephanie!

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot Chocolate

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just set them under the tree? The gifts are always wrapped with care.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? White on the tree and balcony.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? No, but I've thought about it. I steal kisses whenever I want anyway, mistletoe or not. ;)

5. When do you put your decorations up? Normally my family and I have done them on/around Thanksgiving. Dan and I didn't really decorate last year, and this year we started a week or so before Thanksgiving.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? Is honey baked ham a dish? With a special sauce my dad makes, mmmm.

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child. Leaving cookies and milk for Santa each year, along with carrots for the reindeer. Everything would be gone when I woke up in the morning. I remember one year I couldn't get to sleep because I actually heard bells outside. I kept looking out my window to see if Santa was out there!

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? Santa still brings gifts to my parents' house occasionally, and to Dan's grandparents'. (But really, it was about 5th grade)

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? My family opens all of their gifts on Christmas Eve, some from Dan's family also.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? This is the first year we've had a Christmas tree together, and Dan went all out putting lights on every branch! We decorated it with gold ribbon, red beads, red and gold glitter bulbs, and all of the ornaments we got from friends and family at our tree-trimming party. There's a picture in the post below!

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Absolutely LOVE it! Where is it already?

12. Can you ice skate? I might fall on my behind...but I used to be pretty speedy as a kid. I've only been about twice in my life.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? Hmmm, there are a lot of those. I guess I'll go with the kitties that Dan got me this year. Such a surprise!

14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Family time, baking, etc.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? With desserts they're all a favorite to me! I can't choose just one.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? I'm going blank...do I have any traditions? :) Now that my mom, aunt, and grandma gave Hallmark collectible ornaments for our tree, I can start a tradition of picking a new one(s) for the tree every year.

17. What tops your tree? An angel.

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? Giving tops the list, though I rarely know what to give.

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? "Christmas is All in the Heart" by Steven Curtis Chapman (I think)

20. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum? Yummy!

I'm sure everyone's done it by now, but if you haven't then you're officially tagged!

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Here are some recent pictures of the babies. Love how they have two different personalities, one is a little bigger than the other, and they are always playing, wrestling, following each other, and wanting attention. We ended with the names Merrybell for the red one and Urple for the purple one.


Merrybell helping me at the 'puter. She wanted to help me type, but was stopped before she caused any harm, hehe.


Both babies watching Dan's trainset that I got him for Christmas. By the end, Urple was on the table following the trains around, but Merrybell was whacking the train cars off the track to watch them plummet to the ground.


Urple was about to get tackled...


Yes, you see this correctly. Rotten child was on my new wacom tablet. I took a couple pictures before promptly removing her and telling her that it's MY toy!

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If you've read Ali's blog or newsletter lately, I'm totally inspired by her "one word" challenge for the new year. I hardly make resolutions for myself, and even if I think of something remotely resolution-like, I forget about it shortly after. Here's what Ali says on her blog...

{one little word

A single word can be a powerful thing. It can be the ripple in the pond that changes everything. It can be sharp and biting or rich and soft and slow.

Can you identify a single word that sums up what you want for yourself in 2007?

It can be something tangible or intangible. It could be a thought or a feeling or an emotion. It can be singular or plural. The key is to find something that has personal meaning for you. This is not your mother's word or your spouse's word or your child's word - this is YOUR word.}

How awesome is that? I was so motivated to choose one word that would encompass my hopes for 2007, and wrote down all that I could think of. It took me a few days, after thinking of embrace, connect, and so many other words that would be great...I decided on decide (weird huh?). Such an empowering word for me considering it's so hard for me to make decisions (blame it on my Libra ways) and this year will be full of decisions! But, I went back and forth with it, knowing that it would be perfect for me, but still wanting something more relationship- and creativity-oriented. I started looking up definitions and quotes and just wasn't impressed with decide anymore.

I looked up quotes for connect since that was my second choice and found some really touching things. Some quotes for connect led me to the words choice and choose, which led me back into the realm of decisions...finding one awesome quote after another...I was brought back to my original word. So, that must be it...DECIDE!

And it really means so much more than just making decisions in everyday life. I know that's going to be tough! It also includes attitude (Sheri, here's some COM 102 for ya) because deciding to have a better outlook and attitude about things can change your whole perspective. I want to have an awesome 2007, make myself a more positive person, to be more confident, have a better life, have better relationships, enrich my faith, get out and do more, and only I can decide to do those things. To wake up and decide that it's going to be a good day. To look at the mess that's around my apartment and decide that it's okay because we are blessed with food that dirties our dishes, clothes that clutter the bedroom and laundry basket, and kitties so full of life that they fling litter all over the bathroom floor. Just to decide means so much, and I love it.

So the first challenge was to pick a word and do something with it...a layout, minibook, whatever. My layout is still in the process and I'm working on coming out of a huge scrapping RUT, but heck if I'm not creatively inspired by all of the cool layouts by Ali. Don't tell anyone, but I've been stalking her a little lately and tearing all of her studio sections out of my CK magazines. Shhh...I might put them in a binder with page protectors just so I can drool over them again and again. Wipe off the drool, repeat.

The challenge in her newsletter today is to take my word and post it somewhere, anywhere I will always see it and remember it. My plan is to take the layout I make and transfer it onto an 8x8 canvas for hanging. You betcha.

Well, I've decided that this post has taken me way too long and now it must end. Time for bed. Tomorrow's Thursday, that much closer to Friday. This weekend Sheri, Mandy and I are going to go shopping for bridesmaid's dresses!

If you pick a word for this year let me know what it is! :)