Introducing.....

THE NEW MRS!!!!

From Miss to Mrs.

Well, it's finally here!!!!

I'M GETTING MARRIED TODAY!!!!!!!!

The rehearsal went well last night. It took longer than it was supposed to, but oh well. The dinner was fantastic!!!

I gave Drew his present last night. I did boudoir pictures and had the photographer make an album for him. He loved it!! Our photographer, Brad, was with us for the rehearsal and dinner and he snapped so many pictures. Drew's face was great. I'm so glad that he loved his present. I mean, I knew he would, but I think that he really, really loved it.

I've got about an hour and a half before the girls are supposed to be arriving here. I'm off to get ready! See you all on the other side!!!

I Have a New Love...

I got my flowers today!!! I am such a happy girl and they are so beautiful!!!

My bouquet is exactly what I pictured it to be.
I was very surprised at how thick the bouquet is. But that's ok, I still love it so-o much!!! I can't wait for Saturday so that I can hold it and take pictures with it. Yaaaaayyyy!!!!

Here's Rachel's bouquet.

We added the two toned roses to her bouquet so that she's set apart from all the other girls and her role is somewhat noticable. I am very pleased with how her bouquet came out also.

The other girls will be carrying these:
Not exactly what I pictured, but still fantastic!

Another one of Drew's groomsmen and his wife and daughter are coming into town soon, so we're heading out for dinner to Buffalo Wild Wings and probably out for drinks after that.

3 days!!!

4!!

Today is my last day of work before the wedding and I don't think that a work day has ever gone so slow. It doesn't help that it has been very slow here at the ol' bank. I have been itching to leave since I got here and secretly hoped that they would send me home early. No such luck though. I've only got two more hours, so I think I can hold out that much longer.

My branch manager and teller supervisor bought me a gift certificate to Victoria's Secret. I am so surprised and touched by their nice gesture. Should I go shopping now?? Or wait until after we get back?? Decisions, decisions!!

Drew called Jeff at the American Center (where the reception is at) today and found out that we will be able to get in there on Friday and decorate. Yay!!! I have a nail appointment set for Friday at 11 and I'm debating on if I should move that appointment to earlier, or even later, depending on when we should go decorate. Decisions, decisions

Programs - Check!!

Yep, Drew and I finished the programs yesterday. I was so proud of him. He sat next to me and stuffed and tied them with ribbon. All 125 of them! They look so pretty in the basket with the ribbon sticking out. I'm a happy camper!!

Do you want to know what's left?? Not a lot!!
* Coloring books
* Pack all wedding stuff in tubs
* Finish wrapping GM, reader, and my mom's gifts
* Clean the apartment
* Begin packing for wedding night and honeymoon

Um, ya, I think that's it. Drew and I only have to work today and tomorrow. (BIG YAY!!!!!) Then family starts arriving on Wednesday. It's so close!!!

5 days!!!!

One Last Week As a Miss

It's true. I will be getting married in ONE WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!

It is truly amazing how fast the time has flown. And I know that this last week will go by super quick too.

Drew's best man, Drew, came into town today. My sister is over again and staying the night with me. Tomorrow, we'll be working on programs. I really hope to get those finish. Drew and I both work Monday and Tuesday and then other out of town guests start arriving again on Wednesday. I am so excited to see all of our friends again!

Even though it's Saturday night, I'm being uber lame and going to bed early. I'm going to put a movie in and lay down on the couch and watch a movie with my sis. G'night!!

Single Digits!!!

Yes, you read that title right. Today we hit the single digit mark. It really does seem like just yesterday that we had hit double digits. I swear that my excitement is growing day by day, which is probably to be expected. I'm also pretty excited that I am working my last few days at work. Today is the last Thursday that I'll be working as a single lady.

(Ok, so maybe I'm being silly, but I don't care. I'm giddy!)

I do only have four more days of work, which is super exciting. I could use a vacation from this place more than anything else at this point.

I had an appointment yesterday with the florist to pick up my flowers. And, they weren't done. I'm really kind of upset about this. We had already pushed the appointment back by a week. (I was supposed to go last Wednesday but she said she needed another week.) I get there and she starts to tell me that one of her bride's called and her dad passed away so she had to stop what she was doing and make some flowers for her, plus she had ten weddings she was doing this weekend. I was sort of like, "Whatever, chick!" So, I'm going back next Wednesday and they better be done.

I was pleased with what I had seen so far. She did have a bunch of greenery in the bridesmaids bouquet that she had started on that I was not crazy about. I pretty much told her to take all that crap out. I don't think that I've talked too much about the flowers on here, but you can find some of my ideas here. I'm really looking forward to next Wednesday when I can (hopefully) see the finished product. There will probably be some words said if she doesn't have all of the flowers finished then.

Today, Accuweather says Some Sun and high of 54 degrees. The Weather Channel says Partly Cloudy and 54 degrees. Well, at least they agree.

Time is Flying

I'm a couple of days late, but that's ok. I did have a very productive wedding planning weekend. My sister stayed the night Saturday night since we did a girls night. Sunday morning, I roused Drew and Rachel out of bed at 11:15 (!!!!). Yes, unbelievably, I let them sleep that long. Granted we didn't go to bed until 3 or so, so I figured I'd be nice. I, on the other hand, was up at 9. Ehhhh, whatever!!!

Anyways, they woke up and we made breakfast. Drew sat down and watched the Bears game. (Arrrgghh stupid Bears! Why do you have to go and play so stupid! Dontcha know that you piss Drew off and then I have to deal with him being all pissy?!?!) I worked on scoring the program paper and Rachel started working on painting the I DO letters. They have already been painted red but I wanted to do something more to them. I thought that painting some silver swirls on them would look really cool. But, for some reason, it just wasn't turning out the way that I pictured it. So Rachel and I sat there trying to figure out what to do with them next. I suggested rhinestones but I wasn't completely sold on that idea. Then, Rachel suggested that we have the guests sign them. Oh, AMAZING!!! It's been decided, the guests will sign either the guestbook, or the letters, or both, and then afterwards we can hang the letters on the wall somewhere. I just have to find some silver extra fine sharpies. That should be fun.

Then, my sister went to work on the bubbles. I was originally going to just put the labels on them, but we thought they looked too bare. Rachel said she would tie the ribbon so I jumped on that offer. Isn't she cute?
The finished product:
It's kind of a crappy picture. I am slowly learning that I will never take good pictures. Where's Drew when I need to post stuff?

I finished scoring all of the program paper and have begun cutting and assembling the programs.

(As a little side note: I'm watching A Wedding Story on TLC and I keep getting so choked up! I'm going to be a mess on my wedding day!)

And for a final picture, just because they are so freaking cute:
11 days!!! I am just so damn giddy!!!

Bachelorette Party, Part 2

I had the girls over to my place on Saturday night for a bachelorette party, part 2, that my sister could attend. Just to recap, my 16 year old sister is my maid of honor, so she wasn't able to attend the bachelorette party I had a couple weeks ago. Basically, we all just hung out, ate, drank, chatted. Nothing extremely exciting, but fun nonetheless.

I am so, so grateful for my girlfriends. When I was with my ex, I didn't have any girlfriends. And his friends pretty much sucked. They didn't like me and treated me pretty crappy. So then when Mike and I broke up and Drew and I started dating, I was super excited to meet all of his friends. And they all like me!!! Most of them (ok, really all of them) are married, so meeting his friends meant meeting their wives. These women are now some of my very close friends. I'm happy to be joining the ranks as a "card wife".

*****12 days people, 12 days!!!!*****

Favors - Check!!

I spent my Friday night assembling the rest of the favors. Ya, I'm pretty lame! But I can't tell you how happy I am that they are done. So, for your viewing pleasure, our favors....
Awww, aren't they cute?? Now that I'm looking at them in the picture, I kinda wish that I'd used a little thicker ribbon. Oh well, I'm still happy with them.

My next project is assembling the programs. I might start them tomorrow or Sunday and hopefully have them completed by next weekend. I'd like to have everything done by next weekend so that I don't really have any projects to tackle the week of the wedding. I'd like to simply have the extremely small details left at that point. So far, so good!

Ch-ch-ch changes

I made some changes to the ol' blog. I added the cool new header, and changed the colors and template. How do you like it??

My New Favorite Website!

Can I just take a moment to note that we are one day away from being able to track the weather in the 15 day forecast?!?

Ya, I'm that bride!!!

I'm not even having an outdoor wedding, but I still want it to be nice out. Sunny and relatively warm for this time of year. I just want the opportunity to take some beautiful pictures outside. And I know that I'm going to be wearing a huge dress and all, but I still don't want my top half to freeze. I don't want my poor girls to freeze either.

If you want to track along with me, you can through Accuweather.

It Sure Sucks Well

Drew and I were informed by his parents that we had a couple of shower gifts waiting for us at their house. His mom said that we had a HUGE box waiting for us. Drew was convinced that it was our china. I was skeptical. Upon arrival to their house, we had our new present waiting for us.It's a Hoover Wind Tunnel+ Cyclonic. I have never seen Drew so excited! He bounced around like a little kid. No sooner had we brought the box into the house was he tearing into it and assembling the vacuum. He then started to vacuum our apartment. Keep in mind that he had just vacuumed on Friday since my mom and Darrell came over. So, off he goes, vacuuming our entire apartment. He was so amazed at the amount of crap that he got off the floor. Obviously the vacuum that we previously had just didn't have the sucking power that this new one has.

I had a productive wedding day. I put the finishing touches on two of the girls' gift bags, which I had been putting off for awhile. I made the coloring book for the little kiddies at the reception. Brad, our photographer, called and we had a consultation with him. (He lives in Ohio. He's Drew's cousin. We haven't met and that makes me a little nervous. However, I have full faith that he'll do a great job; I've already emphasized how important photography is to me.) We set up times for everybody and worked out a great timeline!

Then, Drew decided that he wanted to vacuum AGAIN!!! He vacuumed all the floors again, the couches again, the walls, the ceiling, the fans. Everything that he could get to with the vacuum, he vacuumed. Then, I think he was a little sad that he didn't have anything left to vacuum, so he took the vacuum upstairs and vacuumed our neighbors entire apartment!! Seriously!!! Our neighbors... ya, they laughed!

Our DJ, Kevin, also called tonight, so we got everything set for the music for the reception. I'm a pretty happy camper right now with the amount of wedding stuff that we/I accomplished today!

3 Weeks

Drew and I went to a wedding reception for a guy that he works with. The whole time all I could think of is that in three weeks it would be us.

In three weeks, we'll be walking down the aisle. In three weeks, Drew will have a ring. In three weeks, I'll be a wife and Drew will be a husband. In three weeks, we will promise our lives to each other.

I'm so excited!!!

A Long Overdue Meeting

Tonight, my mom came over for dinner with Drew and me. Her boyfriend also came too. Her boyfriend that she's been dating for at least a year and a half and this is the first time I'm meeting him.

Why, do you ask, is this the first time that I am meeting him? Well, basically because it's three weeks before my wedding and meeting him on my wedding day (or the day before) would probably be inappropriate. Seriously folks, if it wasn't for the wedding, I probably would still not have met him.

Rachel and Greg have already met him. Don't even get me started on that!

So how did the meeting go? Fine, I guess. I really didn't say a whole lot. Darrell (the boyfriend) and Drew spent most of the time talking. Which seemed a little odd to me. Why did Darrell want to talk to Drew so much? It's not Drew he's got to impress, it's me!! Maybe he felt that if him and Drew hit it off, he'd have an easier time with me.

Ok, don't get me wrong, I'm not setting out to dislike the guy. It will just be a harder trip with me than it probably will be with anybody else. I wonder what my mom has said about me to him, and if he already has some judgements of me.

I guess I feel like I have all these thoughts bouncing around my head. And it would be super nice to talk to Drew, but what do you think he's doing? Nope, he's not working. But he is snoring away on the couch next to me. Doesn't he know that I want to talk about things?? Oh well, he wouldn't really understand it anyways. There is really only ONE person who would.....

Unproductive

I didn't get didley squat done yesterday!

Maybe that's an exaggeration, but I do feel like I hardly made a dent in the list that I had. I did purchase all of the materials to make the favors. Now it's just a matter of assembling them. I got all of the cover paper scored, and hole punched 25 out of 125. Only 100 left... woo hoo!!! I also finished the programs. I'm pretty sure that I'm finished with those, so now I just have to get them printed. I am not looking forward to the task of assembling programs.

In order to assemble the programs, here's what I have to do. Since I'm making booklets, I wanted the inside paper to be smaller than the cover paper. So, I'll have to cut 1/2 inch off of each of those pages. There are three pages. Then, I'll have to score each of those pages to get a nice clean fold. Then, I have to measure and hole punch the inside pages. I'll then insert those pages inside the cover paper and finally, tie a ribbon to attach the two. 125 times!! Ack!!!

I still have to make coloring books for the kids. I've found a template that I may just modify for our wedding. But that still involves a good deal of work. I'll probably make 15 or 20 of those.

I've got so much to do, if only work didn't get in the way of it!!

It's October!!

Apple Orchard

Pumpkin Patch

Hot Chocolate

Soup

Sweaters

Yes, fall has arrived. It's October. Oh, and did I mention that it's my wedding wedding month?!?!

We have a lot to do, but yet, we are running right on schedule. I don't have too many things to finish up. The next 3 1/2 weeks will consist of making our favors, assembling our programs, and organizing all of the little details. We also have a lot of calling and confirming to do.

We had our final meeting with Father Butler last night. The next time we see him will be at the rehearsal. It is amazing to me how far we've come in this process. He was the first person that we met with in this planning process.

Of course, since it's Wednesday, I'm spending the day doing wedding related things. My schedule today consists of:

~ finish painting letters
~ finish painting BM bags
~ drop off RD dress to dry cleaners
~ purchase ribbon for programs and favors
~ Wal-Mart - enough said
~ score and hole punch program cover
~ finish and send BP letter
~ finish programs
~ work on coloring book

Ok, I have a lot to do. I'm off!!!

Last Fling Pictures

I've finally posted pics of my bachelorette party. To save time and energy, you can go here to see them. I had such an amazing night. I can't thank my girls enough for the party that they planned and put together for me. I think that Saturday night was the most fun that I've had in my entire life.

The pictures that are posted are only the ones that I have. I plan on getting together with some of the other girls who have pictures and getting copies from them. I'll post those on that site when I get them also.

25 days!!!

Last Fling Before the Ring

Tonight is my bachelorette party. And Drew's bachelor party too. The guys are heading to the Dells and have plans to go to Ho-Chunk. Drew is on a strict limit as to how much he can spend and if he knows what's good for him, he'll listen.

Us girls, we've rented a limo and we're going to Excalibur in Chicago. I am just so excited to go out and go dancing. Stay turned for pictures. And I'm sure I'll have some stories!!

30 Days!

I had my 2nd dress fitting tonight! It was so exciting to have my dress zipped up and actually have it fit me, perfectly. I jumped up and down and few times, and it's not budging. My seamstress, Beth, decided that she wants to take another inch off the bottom. I'm totally fine with that; I was sort of tripping over it when I tried to walk. The bustle is amazing. Nicole came along and she was able to tie it all up.

It is hard to believe that we are only 30 days away. In 30 days, I will be a wife. I'll have a husband. The transition from calling Drew boyfriend to fiance was quite easy. Will fiance to husband be just as easy? I know that this time is going to fly by. I want it to hurry up and slow down all at the same time. It's crunch time now!!!

One Drink, Two Drink, Three Drink, Floor!

Last night, I went to a private liquor tasting at Brewsky's. Yes, lil ol' me, who hardly ever drinks. Yes, I left there quite tipsy. We had a total of ten drinks. I believe that only a true drinker could drink all of them. They were:

1. Kicked Up Julius - a drink which consisted of orange juice, vanilla something, curacao, and some other stuff. From what everybody said, it did taste like an Orange Julius (I've never had one). I wasn't too crazy about how vanilla it tasted, but it wasn't that strong.

2. UV Grape Bomb - a shot that was quite delicious! This drink was UV Grape and Sobe. Yum!!!

3. Fat Tire - an amber ale. In other words, a beer. I have never been a beer girl, nor will I ever be one unless my taste buds seriously change. I didn't like it for that reason.

4. Georgia Peach - a drink which is made with Southern Comfort, Peach schnapps, orange juice, and a dash of grenadine. Another delicious choice!! I would have liked a little more peachy flavor.

5. Apple pie - a shot with apple juice, vodka, and cinnamon. It smelled very cinnamony. After taking the shot, it did taste exactly like an apple pie. Mmm, delish!!

6. Blue Moon Pumpkin Ale - another beer. Gross!!! That was actually the consensus at the table.

7. Hong Kong Fuey - probably my new favorite drink. This one is made with apricot brandy, pineapple juice, sprite, and (stella(r)?) gin. Here's a picture of it.
Sorry, it's kinda bad. But it was delicious!!!!

8. Asian Pear - a shot that was also pretty darn good.

9. Sam Adams October Fest - beer, nasty.

10. Patron Citronage - a shot to end things. This one was quite strong. I only took half. It burned!

I said "peace out" after that. I really had a lot of fun, even though I don't usually drink. It was fun to try new and different drinks.

Take a Deep Breath Now

I'm really starting to feel that from now until the wedding is going to be non-stop with things to do. I've felt pretty at ease and calm until recently. We're zeroing on the ONE MONTH mark!!! My days and weeks feel so pack. This week, for instance:

Monday - Work 10:00-6:15, run to mall to pick up engraved gifts during lunch, meeting 6:30-8:00 PM
Tuesday - Work 10:00-6:15, finish laundry
Wednesday - Clean entire apartment, run to eye doctor to update my glasses presciption before the honeymoon before 1 PM, private liquor tasting at 7 PM
Thursday - Work 10:00-6:15, final dress fitting
Friday - Work 10:00-7:15, go to mall to pick up ring (Oh ya, I had three loose stones when I went to get it cleaned yesterday.), meet up with aunt sometime to get our third and last trial for cakes
Saturday - Work 8:15-1, see guys off Drew's bachelor party, my bachelorette party

Whew!!! Are you tired? Cuz I sure am! And that's not even mentioning all the other little things that I need to get accomplished in there as we get closer to the wedding.

But, on a good note, Drew and I got a lot accomplished this weekend. We went shopping on Sunday and got seven of the nine gifts purchased for Drew's groomsmen and ushers. Only two more left... woo hoo!!!! We also went over to Drew's parent's house where I picked up the rocks that we're using for the centerpieces. I also got some of the candles that we'll be using for the centerpieces. And, my aunt stopped over to drop off two cakes that she had baked for another trial. We made some definite decisions on what we would like, and now she's going to bake two more that will hopefully be what the end product will be.

Of course, you can't have a completely flawless weekend. I called Cliffbreakers, where we are having the rehearsal dinner and where a block of rooms are for guests, to see how many rooms were left. Wouldn't you know, they couldn't find a reservation for us! Awesome!!! Drew's dad, who is on pretty good terms with the manager, will be calling there today to get that figured out. Hopefully, we can now book a suite for Friday night for Drew and for Saturday night for Drew and I to stay in. ::Crosses fingers really tight::

My Camera Found It's Home

Guess what day it is?? Guess what that means??

Yep, you guessed it. Another Wednesday. And another productive wedding day. I also got my camera back so I can finally post some pictures. As you may remember, I had my first shower on the 7th. This shower was co-hosted by my sister (MOH) and my aunt (the one who is doing our cake). This is the only picture that I have from the day. Hopefully I can track someone down who has more. Anyways, here's me and my sister.
My aunt also made our card box and surprised me with it at the shower. How freakin' adorable is this??
She told me to pass it on to whomever is getting married after me, and that person should then pass it on to the next person. I said that we should put our names and wedding dates on the bottom as a way to track who and when. Then we can really see what a small world this is, right?

I took our red cover paper to the printer today to get our monogram printed on the front. I am quite pleased with how they turned out. (It's got that shiny spot because the flash was on.)
After getting the monogram printed, I came home and worked on the insides of the program. I have to add a bunch of things and now I've got to fix all the spacing. Gah, and I thought I was done with them! Haha!!

Paradise, Here We Come!!

Or at least I think so.

It's my understanding that the honeymoon has been booked and airline tickets have been bought. We leave on Monday, October 27 and return on Monday, November 3.

Ahhh, 7 nights and 8 days in paradise. I hope it's paradise anyways. You see, the honeymoon has been kept a secret from me. I did voice some requests though. I wanted a warm climate where I could put my bikini on and lay out by the pool or the ocean and sip on a fruity drink. And I really, really, really want to swim with the dolphins. That has been such a dream of mine for a long time. I will be a happy camper as long as these criteria are filled.

I hope to get it out of Drew where we're going though. I need to pack all the proper clothes. How can a girl do that if she doesn't know where she's going? I'll keep you all posted.

39 days!!!

FYI

6 weeks!!!




Just saying.....