Fine China vs. Function

It is finally done! The registering that is. It is funny, because everyone talks about how much fun it is, but I was really stressing about it. How do I know what colors I want, what I want, what patterns work together (without seeing them together)? Besides that, you then have to register at multiple locations to give other people choices!

You see, Walls and I don't live together and to top it off, we live at home. Translation: No furniture of our own yet, with the exception of my bedroom furniture, a desk and a dining table I acquired when I moved out for a couple of years. (Just in case you are trying to work this out in your head, my roommate had all the living room furniture.) Oh, I also have a washer and dryer and a papasan chair.

I am not sure what Walls has except for a busted (and I mean BUSTED) recliner he bought from a friend for $5. Not Kidding. In the realm of entertainment he is a goldmine, bringing a bunch of DVDs, Blu Rays, video gaming systems, surround sound system and large flat screen tv. WOOT! You are putting this together in your head now aren't you? The two of us, cuddled up in an empty living room, him in his old worn out recliner, me in my round papasan chair and theatre quality sound. Ahh, the good life.

That said we have registered at 3 stores. Bed, Bath and Beyond, Wal-Mart and Belk. (You can check out our registries through the links provided.) I have to say, I did have fun, but it was after I got everything settled and made sure we hadn't registered for 3 different toasters. It is funny to me though and I guess it is tradition, but what do 2 newlyweds with limited furniture need with fine china? Let's do a little math. Okay, so one place setting of "cheap" fine china is like $80, which is $320 for 4 place settings, but who has a formal dinner for only 4 people? So they ("registry experts" I guess we will call them) think you need 8 to 12 place settings worth. Ready for this, $640-$1280 in "occasional, once in a blue moon, your ass better not break that plate, china". I got home, deleted the china and registered for a tv stand, two side tables (for a couch we don't have) and a coffee table from Wal-Mart. Not traditional, but functional. Grand total for all four of those items...$360 and some change. We may not get them, but hey, if we do I think I can eat off of that.

Photo Tag

Okay, so I was tagged by Heather to do a photo tag. I guess the rules are (if you call them rules) to go to the fourth album in your computer files and post the fourth picture in that file and then explain. Here goes something:

This picture was taken in Orange Beach, Alabama for one of my best friend's wedding. The picture is myself and my sister Kristin. I think it shows our sass and sisterness. Ha! It is funny 'cause it was the most fun I had ever had at a wedding. I have a lot to live up to, but I am not even going to try. ;o)

It was rather perfect selected the fourth photo from the fourth album, 'cause my fourth album was a mesh up many pictures for my Ipod. I think we should extend the tag and say that you should do the fourth of the fourth and name another like the third picture of the third folder.

Anyway, I tag: Bucky and Jen, Mike, Boshanks and Ashley.

Then and Now

Steven Wall (AKA Walls to his friends) and I have been together for over 5 years now. Upon looking at some photos of us, I realized just how much we have changed. This inspired me to give you guys a look at the "Then and Now" of us. I am sad that I don't have more early photos on my computer, but what I do have is pretty funny. Here it goes:

The one above is from Christmas 2003 versus 2008 below.

and then there is...

The Braves Game in 2004 versus above 2008 below.

Oh and just some randoms from 2003-2006ish...

Slightly more recent...

Well, I guess that is all. It is late, the computer is slow and I am tired. Goodnight and thank you for letting me share some memories with you.

Meet the Photographer

This is Catherine and she will be doing my photos for the wedding. The best part about the whole gig...she is also my friend. I consider myself extremely fortunate to know someone so talented. It will be a dream come true to have someone that knows Walls and I so well to catch our special day on film.

Catherine is extremely talented, capturing the moments that move you. It is far beyond the set up shots and often times overly posy pictures. Catherine comes from an art background and it is something I say more often than not, an eye for the aesthetic cannot be taught and she was born with it. She has been the model of professionalism even to someone that is a friend. I invited her over one rainy day to go over contracts and what I wanted and here she came binders and books and samples, layouts and options, hands full. She sat at the dining room table with my mom and comforted her concerns about lighting which only made me love Cat more. I follow her blog religiously and become more and more excited about when it is my turn. I urge anyone getting married or simply needing photographs to take a look at My Life Photography.

Our engagement shoot is set for Friday, March 27 and I cannot wait. I am giddy just thinking about it.

Compromise, Compromise, Compromise

I feel like a broken record when I say I am relatively relaxed when it comes to most things, though I will admit to letting some of the stress get to me. The best advice I got was from one of my fabulous bridesmaids Marlena, who said, "all brides do this, it's nothing new. They stress over everything and then on the day, look around and realize how perfect everything is. So just relax." I then thought, "Sure, whatever you say crazy lady." But really, after some real thought, she IS right. I need to relax.

What do I know of throwing a wedding anyway? Not like I have done it before. So I am doing it with the least stress possible. Solution: Captain Compromise

I once read in school (psychology no less) that compromise means no one wins. Honestly, (though slightly factual and cynical) I believe my sanity wins. Here are my choices and some of the battles I have picked (and won according to my psychology book.):

• The location (there was no fight, but I will take a win where ever.)


• The time of the wedding is 6:30PM *Please note that my mom is still fighting this one. I am a rock!! I stand unmoved!


• The DJ (Also no fight)


• The colors (Slight convincing on the bride's side to the groom who thinks red is fine but black is for funerals.)


• BBQ Reception


• The Wedding Party Size (7 and 7 is a great deal, but I would not cut one single soul. Mom thinks this is entirely too big.)

And then there are the compromises:

• The Parasols- okay so, the future hubby hated the idea. The list of reasons for why he hated them were numerous and then he followed the statement up with, "If you REALLY like them, I guess they are fine." So I told him that during the ceremony I would have the girls carry flowers if I could get some photos done with the parasols.


• The Dresses- if you read the earlier blog you know now that the dresses are mostly black.


• Open Bar- mom doesn't know this compromise, but I think what I am going to do is have beer, wine, champagne (for the toast) and some "spiked punch" (I will need help coming up with a good drink, so recipe suggestions wanted). I think this will loosen the 6:30PM complaint above.

So when I look at it, not too many compromises/losses on my part and I have decided to enjoy the process of it all.

In case you are curious the bridesmaid flowers should look sorta like the ones below:
The bouquets will have touches of ivory and will be tied up with black ribbion. All in all, it should be lovely and I am super excited to see it all come together instead of a crazy jumbled mix of ideas inside my head.

*I love The Knot for their supply of photos that make me feel less crazy.

We're Going On a Magical Get Away...

To Disney World!!

It is official, we have made our plans and put down the deposit for our honeymoon. I am so thoroughly excited. As many of you know we are big kids at heart and love a good old fashioned adventure.

Walls and I went to Disney with some friends about 2 years ago and while walking about he noticed a couple with top hat Mickey mouse ears and Minnie mouse ears with a veil. He turned to me out of nowhere and said, “Wouldn’t this be a great place to have OUR honeymoon?” After getting over the internal shock of that statement, I turned to him and asked “why?” (At this point I was playing it cool, but on the inside I was chanting, I think he loves me, he wants to marry me, like Sandra Bullock in Miss Congeniality.) He drew my attention to the couple with the ears and said that even the guy collecting trash said congratulations. He thought it was nice that everyone complimented them. So the dream was born.

We knew we wanted to stay on the resort so the “Magic” would not be interrupted by leaving the park. Walls has fond memories of staying at the Contemporary with the Monorail coming straight through the hotel. We priced that one and several others last week and decided that the Contemporary was where we would stay. Flash forward to yesterday and trying to make a reservation and the Contemporary was BOOKED!! GRR! I got on the phone and the very nice “Cast Member” Roy said he could get me in the Contemporary Club Level for a cool $4600. Thanks Roy, but no thanks. He was great and continued to work with me, asking about the upcoming nuptials and he described the Yacht Club Resort. It is a Deluxe Hotel (Cause DELUXE makes it fancy) and also Disney’s flagship hotel. It fit in the budget (thank you Dave) though we are going to get a bit of help anyway via www.disneyhoneymoonregistry.com (Dave would say don’t take on more than you can handle in case no one helps you).

We are super excited. I am sure this is going to be a pixie dust filled Honeymoon full of adventure.

Why Didn't I Elope?

Okay, so before this becomes a self loathing blog, I am just going to say that in some cases it is a better idea to leave family out of the equation. Whew! I feel better. That said, we are moving forward as planned with the wedding (not that it ever changed) and hopefully it will be a glorious, happy occasion for all involved.

I have started talking to the women in my life that asked if they could be involved in the showers and have gotten a few dates on lock. I think this is one of my favorite parts, but being a bit controlling I am having a time with just sitting back and letting things happen. I want to help set up and lend my ideas, so I have taken the stance of "whatever you think is best", because once I start it is like chasing a boulder down a hill. It is true, I am a Planoholic.

For those of you ladies oh so interested, here are some dates to remember:

The Lingerie Shower-April 18
The Bridal Shower-April 25
The Bridal Luncheon (For my wonderful maids/matrons)-May 2
The Bachelorette Party-May 9

*Basically if you want, you can just clear your calender from April 'til the end of May according to Rachel.

Well that's all folks. Well, actually there is more, I am just not feeling it today. So short and sweet is all you get, but I am regularly blogging and that is a plus.