Going for the two month record...

You know, trying to beat my previous records of time between posts. I should win the Gold for this one.

In order to keep this somewhat simple and not bore any readers that may still exist, and not bore myself 20 years down the road when I read this again, I'm going for the list format. Ah, the lists are what keep me sane lately (though Dan may disagree).

February

1. At the end of February, we started a six-week journey with a small group from church. I remember mentioning it in the last post. Several other churches also participated. It was all about the Kingdom and how it's supposed to operate. So eye-opening. Loved every week with our group and learning more about ourselves, each other, and what the Kingdom is. Check out stories from small group members, as well as "test cases" of the "Kingdom experiments." (www.kingdomexperiment.com and www.cincyexperiment.com)
   
   
2. Also at the end of February, Dan and I started marriage classes with our church. There were about 50 couples taking the class, and they lasted for five Saturdays. I was in communication heaven with all of the things we were learning like our personality types, our love languages, conflict strategies, you name it. There was also some s*x talk thrown in for good measure, and we learned that we're supposed to have at least one good fight a week to have a happy marriage. Bring it on! ;)

March

1. I finished our wedding invitations and got them in the mail. Love the way they turned out. I'm glad we decided to order the paper and do everything ourselves. Good that even though I haven't been scrapping, I can still feed the urge to cut paper and make things.
   
   
2. At the end of March, Dan got to go to Madrid, Spain for a work trip. This trip was a lot better for me than his South Africa trip, especially since it was only a week, it wasn't during my birthday, and I was almost a pro after suffering through S.A. He didn't get to sight-see a lot since he mainly worked, but was able to get some pictures and enjoy the food.
   
   
3. While Dan was gone my wedding dress came in and I went to pick it up! That was actually the second time I went to pick it up, but that's a long story that we don't have room for here in this condensed post. Let's just say that during the first try-on, it looked like a flood would be coming through the dress shop, so they had to send it back and get a longer dress. Leave it to me to be in between lengths, I may still get it altered to be a little longer.
   
   
4. Also while Dan was gone, Mandy asked me to be her Maid of Honor for her wedding in January! Yay! After my wedding is over, I'll still have hers to satisfy my itch for wedding planning. That's an excuse to buy more bridal mags! It seemed only fitting that she asked me while Dan was away (though it wasn't intentional), since I asked her to be in my wedding while Dan was away last time.

April

1. We met with our reception location and figured out our menu and all of those fun things. We weren't too happy that our contact woman totally threw down all of our ideas and rubbed us the wrong way, but thankfully we haven't had to deal with her all that much.
   
   
2. Easter was spent with both families this year instead of just one. One of my brothers and SIL decided to have people over for lunch and do an egg hunt for the kids, and then we went to Dan's family for dinner and their Easter. And for the record, we told his family NOT to give us any candy because we're trying to do the "D" word (and the cash is fine, no need to spend it on candy we won't finish in our lifetime), but we still came home with 4-5 bags full of candy. And it sits...eaten little by little.
   
   
3. To expand on the "D" word...neither of us have ever "dieted" in our lifetime. I've never needed to, I've never kept myself from eating the foods I want, and I realize that I still don't need to, but a bikini in Jamaica might laugh at me and think otherwise. Dan and I decided to do the Weight Watchers thing and as long as I have my chocolate somewhere in the day (or a few times without counting), then I'm happy. I want to lose 20 pounds to get into summer clothes from two years ago when I first met Dan (gee, what a coincidence that I met him and they don't fit anymore). And I'm already about halfway to my goal! Let's all say a prayer that I can fit into all of them and not have to buy a new wardrobe for the honeymoon and summer.
   
   
4. We had a family reunion for people on my dad's side that only get together about every 10 years. The last picture that was taken of us getting together was from 1995, yikes! It's great to see those people again, get some pictures, and hear some stories.

Right now

1. Our kitty kats have hit their "terrible twos." At least once a day they knock over our bathroom trash can so they can eat the q-tips out of it and bat the toilet paper rolls around the place. They're big enough now to jump up on our kitchen counters while we're not here and find things to play with...like twisty ties or pens. Crazy kitties.
   
   
2. Last night I had an airbrush tan to see how I like it. It was an easy process, looks good for the most part, but I'm not 100% sure that I want to do it for the wedding. I'll keep you posted.
   
   
3. This weekend I have two showers in my honor. Saturday, my mom is hosting one with our family which should be fun. She's doing a Jamaican theme! And Sunday, my MOH Sheri is hosting one with friends with the help of Mandy, which promises to be just as fun with the games she has planned and good friends. Next Saturday, Dan's mom is also hosting a couple's shower for his family, so that should be interesting. I've never been to (or been a part of) a shower for a couple.
   
   
4. We still have a hefty to-do list of small things to do for the wedding. Only another month to go!

Well, even with a list I can't help but blabber on all day. :) I'll leave you with a couple layouts I did a while ago. The first I did for a friend named Scott. He went to Mamelodi with Dan, hence the title of the page. The second was for Holly's last kit. Credits here as soon as I upload them, hehe.

[MAMELODI]



[FIRST GRADE]

A sneak peek...

Here are the layouts I wanted to post before... credits here.

[Christmas Eve kittens]


[Hopelessly Devoted]

...yes, I have been watching "You're the one that I want"


And a little sneaky peeky of my wedding invitations. Remember the metallic goodness? Oh, it's VERY good! So far I've done 80 response cards, 80 direction cards with maps, and 40 of the main invitations. We'll need about 100 of each. Click to make larger.

I *heart* Valentine's Day...

Is it a coincidence that Valentine's Day and hump day (Wednesday) collided? I think not...

I have a lot to ramble about today, better go grab a nice snack or something!

[Wedding]
As for the latest happenings around here, January was much more productive in the wedding department, but February still holds potential in its final two weeks. I got my paper samples in the mail about two weeks ago, put together a sample invitation and loved it! I was hesitant to order the paper, though, since I was still thinking of how to save the most money on everything. In the end I annoyed Dan so much while going back and forth that he just told me to order the paper and get it done! "Get 'er done!" So, I ordered envelopes and enough paper (it comes in packs of 100) to make invitations, response cards, direction cards, programs, thank you notes, and will have some left over for any other paper projects. I'm glad that Dan made me order the paper so I'll have my cute invites and stuff to match, and for an awesome price...two words: metallic goodness!

The good news: When Dan and I went home for lunch today, the UPS truck pulled up as we were leaving. I thought my paper would be coming by regular mail like it did last time, but we watched as the guy walked up to our apartment door. YIPPEE!! My lovely paper is here! I wanted to take it into work and open up all of that metallic yumminess, but I refrained until after work when we could open it together.

[Church]
The first weekend of February brought with it the Super Bowl service at church. It's the second one I've been to and, as promised, I laughed so hard that my face hurt. I invited my parents to it and they really enjoyed it also. Someone uploaded a bunch of video to youtube, even though it's a little choppy. I would suggest watching all of them. Of course, you probably had to be there to get some of the jokes and stuff, but the first few videos (they're numbered in order if you view all) show how huge our church "main area" is, and starting from #6 or so is most of the SB show with commercials included. I love #8-11, I think it is, where it highlights the two "players," our pastors. Too funny!

A staff member of the church also uploaded one of the game commercials in higher quality about "Manopause" - LOL! What's even funnier is that our two pastors were duking it out, but then one of the announcers (Brad Johansen from Channel 12 sports) said he could do a better job than one of the pastors...so they switched spots! Hilarious! Brad gave an awesome "game," aka message, and tied scores with the remaining pastor. I wish we could see services from him more often!

My parents also came to our church this past Sunday when things were back to normal, and it's really different to have them there. I don't remember a time in my life that we all went to church together, except the time or two that my mom went with Mandy and I. The church is also starting their annual 6-week journey together for those that want to participate, so that should be interesting. Dan and I tried to do last year's "ID" journey with a friend, but we could hardly find time to meet and didn't follow through with it. We'll see how this year pans out since we're in a small group with friends that will hold us more accountable!

I also volunteered for the first time in Kids Club this past Sunday. Dan volunteers there every week doing check-in and computer stuff, but I haven't really found my niche yet. They needed someone in the 1-year-olds' room, and I went in with a positive attitude...when we had a bunch of munchkins all come in at one time screaming their heads off, I thought maybe it wasn't for me! Luckily, we were able to stick the cranky ones on the "fuss bus" and the room was a lot quieter. There was one little girl that really stuck to me and didn't want to let go. Finally, she was occupied with another little girl and toys and played happily. Not sure if that is the place for me yet, especially when a little one starts coughing or gagging...blech! Makes me want to gag along with them and then run out of the room!

[Weather]
I'm loving the snow and ice storms around here! Since I only live five minutes from work, I can't really call in for snow days, but it's still pretty to watch! I looked out my window at work this afternoon and it wasn't snowing at all...10 minutes later I looked out and it was coming down thick! Of course, I always have to take pictures of the snow...these are within the last week.


February 6th - looking off balcony toward gas station


Urple wasn't a big fan of the snow


Merry wondering what the heck is going on...


Merry was better in daddy's arms


February 13th - during the ice storm, from balcony

Wednesday morning was quite an adventure. I had to be at work at 6am, and the power went out right as I was leaving. Great! Oh well, I'm leaving, right? Well, my car wouldn't clean off because the ice on it was so thick, and when I tried to get out of my parking spot the car was stuck in ice! I woke up Dan and he got ready so we could take his car to work (we work at the same place), but once we got out of the parking lot we couldn't get up the hill to the main road! Dan realized that his parking break was frozen on one back tire and really wouldn't let him go forward. He was able to get the car back to our apartment by reversing the entire way! So, back to my car I went, trying to rock it out of the ice. I finally got it out of the parking spot and we were off. Whew! An hour and a half after I was supposed to be at work, I finally trampled in.

[V-Day]
Of course I love any day that's dedicated to me (V-day...Vicki-day...you know). But after my adventure into work I wasn't sure how the day was going to go. Let's rewind to Tuesday. Dan was supposed to be at work until 5pm. I needed to go to the bank anyway, so I had the genius idea to leave work at four and go to Kroger for the bank mart and a little something "valentiney" for my man. It WAS a genius idea until I completed my tasks and was almost home, only to see that Dan had left work a tad early and was right behind me! Drats! What was I going to do with this candy and balloon I bought, it would freeze overnight in my car! Yep, and freeze it did because I never found a good chance to bring the bag inside.

Fast forward to the Wednesday morning adventure extraordinaire...I thought I was screwed when Dan decided that we would take his car to work. How would I grab the bag out of my car and bring it with me to work (so I could put the stuff on his desk without him knowing) without him asking what was in the bag? ("Uhhh...breakfast?" As a balloon stick hangs out the side!) I went to Plan F by that point, and just figured I'd give him the treats after work. Then, when we had to take my car after all, there was still a chance to pull off my plan.

Long story short, my opportunity arose after lunch. We went home to eat and Dan wanted to clean out the litter box and take out the trash before going back to work. I left separately and realized my opportunity! I dashed into work and left the treats on his desk with a card, mwahaha.

So all is well that ended well...and even though he hurt his teeth on a poor frozen chocolate turtle, he brought me a cute cut-out paper heart that said "Love you!" for my desk. And even though I didn't see the paper heart he apparently put in my car door handle, when I got home there were paper hearts everywhere with messages on them! I'm still finding paper hearts in hidden places! Ahhh, so that's why he was so eager to do dirty chores! :) What a sweet valentine he is...

Last night we celebrated by going to the mall. We put our name in at the Cheesecake Factory and went to get our rings from the jewelers. Dan now claims that he got me a ring for V-day, haha, but I guess it's true! I have my bling back and it's more sparkly than ever! And I LOOOOOOVE my wedding band. I told Dan I want to wear it now, but he won't let me, lol. Is it bad luck to put it on and take pictures to show? :) After the jewelers we split a dinner, got cheesecake to go, and I wanted to find some diva sunglasses (for the honeymoon, of course). I have my Oakley's, but I just don't feel *diva* in them and I don't want to lose them in the ocean or anything! I've tried on a pair of big-framed ones before and Dan and I really liked them. We ended up in Aeropostale, and left with a pair of diva sunglasses (10 bucks!!) and swimwear for the both of us (which reminds me even more that I need to lose weight). We also stopped at a kiosk with a sunglasses sale and Dan got two pairs for himself. As long as I've been with him, he's only owned one pair of sunglasses for maybe two months. He lost them and hasn't bought any since. Now we are ready for Jamaica, wearing only swimming suits and sunglasses the whole week!



I think that's about it from me, now that this entry is quite lengthy! I'm going to go get some of Holly's rockin' new POP scrapping elements! And if you're in the scrapping world (or not) and haven't checked out the amazing collaborative kit for the ASPCA, check out how you can purchase it or donate to the organization HERE! Speaking of scrapping, I have two new layouts, but I'll save those for another post...a shorter one...or you can see them on your own here. :)