Fun with wax

I had so much fun at Madame Tussaud's...hehe...Ben got a little aggravated with me playing with the statues. Penelope is number 1 on Ben's list, so I had to give her a talking to. And groping a guard has always been a fantasy of mine. ;-)

Me at the TOUR de FRANCE!!!

(In London, of course....)

I had a little US flag and Ben had a little UK flag.

What a day! It was beautiful out. I did not bring any sunscreen with me to the UK, because, well, hello it's the UK and I was expecting rain the entire time. My shoulders actually had a mild sunburn at the end of the day (and I came home with more of a tan than I went with).

The riders came so close to us - there were times when I was leaning over and thought they were going to hit me. So cool.

Jet lag kept us from making it to watch the London - Canterbury stage.

What a trip! We had the best time. First vacation I've ever been on that I wasn't ready to return at the end of the trip.

We had a jolly good time...

....but it was nice to sleep in our own bed last night....especially after having been awake for approximately 22.5 hours.

Will post pics soon.

Hmmm. So, yeah, everyone who actually might still read this probably already knows that our buyers backed out. C'est la vie. (sp?)

So now we are waiting.

We found another house (the lake view house was contingent so we're out of that) so if ours would just sell we could make a move. We'll see what happens.

And...well nothing much else is going on. It's the same ole, same ole around here...but I guess that's sort of abnormal for most newlyweds, but "normal" for us.

Oh...someone came to look at our house and looked in one of my dressers. Yeah, crazy huh? How do I know that they did that? Because I'm completely anal about nothing hanging out of drawers - they are meant to be closed properly. And what was hanging out of my dresser drawer when I came home after a showing? A scarf. Ew. Someone touched my things. I should wash everything. Why in the world would someone go through my dresser? How could a realtor approve of that? It makes me feel so icky.

Oh, yeah, I was locked out of the house one night for awhile too. That was great. I had to sit on the deck in the dark until someone came flying down the road. She explained that I might have to get a hotel because those little lock boxes shut off past 9. It was right at 9 when she showed up. What a slow motion movie like moment as we both held our breath...and the box opened.

I got addicted to Dancing with the Stars this spring. It was sort of random...but it made my weird Mondays and Tuesdays bearable. I'm actually really sad that it's over - but glad Apollo won - they were just too cute. We discussed going to see a live performance, but that's just not working out. Carmina this weekend isn't either. :-( I haven't been to a live performance of anything in 3 years I don't think.

Too much sugar tonight....my thoughts are random.

So yeah. I think I might make this blog pics only and start a completely anonymous one for thoughts.

We need rain.

Our new purchase

We'll have to work on getting rid of all of that clover.

Goodbye Soddy Daisy.

Big sigh of relief....

We sold our house today (and after only 5 days on the market)...so it's a big relief.

In other news, we will finalize an agreement on a house in k-town tomorrow.

We will close june 30, if not sooner. Depends on a few things.

I am really hesitant to buy the house that we will finalize tomorrow - it is more than i think we need to spend and needs work. It's the lake view house I posted the pic of a few days ago. Ben is so ecstatic about it, but he hasn't priced all of the upgrades like I have! I have spent way too much time in home improvement stores this week.

Oh yeah...we're going back to England - we're so grateful to Mike & Maria for allowing us to use the house. I'm excited to go over again - our trip last time was a bit short as we were trying to spend most of our time in Italy. I hope to see the crown jewels this time!

Why is buying a house so hard?

This is the view from the side deck, breakfast area and dining room of the house we looked at today. The lake! Our next door neighbors have year round water frontage. If we buy it. Why do I say "if"? Well, why did they only put 2 baths in the house? And why did they only put one bathtub between the 2 baths that are in the house? We've come across some weird quirks but I do believe that this is the strangest one to date.

Cat stinch, horrible paint (which isn't that big of a deal), gold fixtures & hardware, oak, oak, and more oak on top of not very big (only about 2100 or 2200 sq ft) for a whole lot of money and I just don't know what to do. Very few closets, an insanely ugly stone fireplace and tee-iny bedrooms top it all off.

But look at that view. For lake people like us, it's beautiful - we never dreamed that our budget might possibly afford us such close proximity to the water. Ben is of course sold...but I am uncertain.

Granted, it is extremely difficult for me to make decisions over what to buy at the grocery store...so you can imagine how anxious I am over a purchase this large.

Happy Cinco de Mayo.

Yesterday's Events

The Tour de Georgia came through again this year - here's the lead of the Pelaton.

Last year they were just releasing one at a time, so this was more interesting to see. There were SO MANY.

It's funny how here, there was security everywhere - you couldn't go out into the street to cheer them on. You couldn't even cross the street when they weren't around. In Europe, they're crazy - jumping out in front of them with flags and such.

We're talking about going to watch one segment of the Tour de France this year, but it will depend on a few things. Most importantly, it will depend on the buying of the house. I don't think I've said that on here yet, but yes, we're selling ours and buying another...in Knoxville. I was hesitant to say anything about it bec of the job situation but that has worked out. My boss announced it to our little group, but I'm not sure if people up there know about it yet or not.

We've had some difficulties so far - but we'll find the right one when it's time.

Man. I hate it when popular culture takes something cool and uses it and then it becomes so typical. I used "i carry your heart with me (i carry it in my heart)" as the quote on the program at the wedding - thought about having it read. Love the poem. Love it. And I just watched "In Her Shoes". Ugh.

Also watched "Walk the Line" this weekend. It was good. Didn't know June wrote "Ring of Fire" (played at wedding - haha.) And she gave Johnny a copy of "The Prophet" ('On Love' and 'On Marriage' were read at the wedding.) I swear I did not pick these things because they were introduced to me by popular culture.

Anybody else loving Lilly Allen & Amy Winehouse? And of course the cat's music is super cool. Hehe.

We've been busy preparing & shopping. It's time consuming. I'm not ready yet, emotionally. I suppose there's no turning back though.

Nail biting frenzy going on. Must.Quit. Will be a really busy day at work tomorrow.

I have a secret! It's a good secret.

"always claim they know me, comin' to me call me Stacey"

Have I said on here yet that Fergie is trying to help illiterates one word at a time? They can now spell "taste", "delicious", and "glamorous". I could have said this already, I'm not sure.

Anyway, so has anyone else seen the newest Verizon commercial featuring the razr's and crazr's? Well, they feature a song by Mika. :-) Mika has his own music - I never knew. I had to check it out. You can see him on myspace.

Things are moving along. We've still not made that big purchase we've been working on - but we're still working on it.

I made chocolate mousse tonight - it was yummy. I also made jasmine rice - it was "eh". Next time I think I'll try ginger rice - hopefully it will be better than "eh". I've grown addicted to the seared ahi tuna with ginger rice at bluewater. Yummy!

Good session of pilates tonight. It seems my long runs are causing my body to fall apart, so I'm taking a break and doing some stretching.

AAAAAAAAAACCCCCHHHHOOOOOOOO!

Achoo!


Achoo!


Achoo!








AAACHHOOOOO!

Colorado makes me sick!

Seriously.

Upon my homecoming, I once again managed sinus infection status. I just had one 3-4 weeks ago. I went to the doctor yesterday who said that from now on if we are to have an extended stay out there, I need daily nasal sprays and a humidifier.

Being sick stinks. I have tons of work to do and had to take another 2 days off. I'm not sure skiing is worth the green mucus (sp?), sneezing, sore throat, stopped up ears, extreme fatigue, etc that stems from it. There was talk of an April trip, but I think that's no longer in the works.

My hands look old from lack of moisture. Must remedy when feel well enough.

Apparently someone made Sonic aware of the fact that people were noticing the fake seatbelts - and that seems to be fixed now. And it's sad that I am so cut off from the world that I can only discuss sonic advertising...which I really could do at length. Please let me get better soon!

Discovered new & delicious soup for sicktime eating.

Finished new book by Lauren Weisberger.

Oh, we had snow yesterday...that is definitely worth mentioning. I think I've only seen snow here 3 days (including yesterday) in the six years I've been here.

I believe there were some other topics that I wished to address last evening, but the drugged up haze I was in made it difficult to do anything but lay on the couch.

I can't wait for Ben to come home so I can have some social interaction!

Oh...bought 3 new pilates dvd's...but was only able to do one of them before hellish sickness set in. It was a good one.

My life is currently at a -2 on a 1 to 10 scale.

haha. Just kidding. I may be sick, but I'm still grateful enough to know that I have a great working environment that allows me to take off when it is very much needed, enough money to allow for doctors visits and pharmaceuticals, as well as friends and family who are always there for me. I'm a really lucky girl.

I think I'm gonna go back to sleep now...

Candy & Robert taking a break...

One minute, he's up...the next he's down

Ben is such a fantastic boarder...just a goofy moment after he had already strapped in.

We saw these two drunk women who "forgot" to get off the lift...and they just died laughing as they rounded the dropoff and the guy had to stop it, take off their skis, turn it back on, let them hop off & get out of the way, then start it again. They giggled during this entire charade... maybe they were high. It was pretty funny no matter what they were on - it sucked for the people stuck on the lift though.

Feeding each other the traditional hamburger....hehe...

We thought about singing Rocky Top on the way down...but we refrained.

Introducing our new nephew, Andrew....

We had a wedding while we were there!

Poor Robin...hehe...I made her wear a veil of blue & white tulle to match her ski gear. It was so pretty!

In front of the Collegiate Mountains...

...not sure which one this is though. I'm always so uncomfortable in front of a camara!

At Breck once again...

Taken at the base of Peak 9.

Good trip - for some reason much better than the last trip to Breck even though I can't say anything bad about the last trip. Finally home today - we had to stay in Nashvillage last night because our luggage didn't make it in until 12:30 AM even though we arrived at 4:30 PM. It wasn't too bad - got to get a cheeseburger at Rotier's and a few beers at the Greenhouse which is always nice. Sometimes, it's good to be "home".

Ben and Paul both had bowling neck injuries...

Bowling Birthday...

Fat Man's Squeeze

Good quick trip to Colorado for a bit of skiing over the holiday weekend

I had a bit of a disappointment this morning. Other than "I hope that it will be corrected in the coming months", that's all I am going to say about that.

I was also reminded today about my negativity in last night's blog...and thought I would elaborate a bit. I think I was just a bit scared by the twinge of wanting a child - it's a defense for me if I keep reiterating how much I do not want one, cannot have one, etc, etc. If I say it enough and say it passionately enough, I can still keep convincing myself.

Otherwise, life is grand. We have wonderful plans for this week and I cannot wait to get to enjoy them.

I bought a china cabinet yesterday. Thank goodness I found one - it was getting a bit old storing our china in the boxes on the dining room table. I've been needing more storage for all of my serving pieces for years, but could never convince myself to buy one until I was married and had china.

My dining room table doesn't match, but I need to buy a new one anyway. I do love this one but I was unable to get one with a leaf in it at the time, so we will quickly outgrow this one in the coming years. (That doesn't mean I want children - instead, I mean that I want family to visit us on the holidays for a proper meal at some point.) The china cabinet is dark walnut (goes much better with all of my dark walnut everything else than the current light cherry one), so now I have to decide if I want to get the matching table or if I want to just get another walnut table & chairs. They didn't have the matching table at the store we went to, so I had to look at it online today. It's ok. I think there are some at Crate and Barrel that I like better.

I feel sort of shallow for blogging about this. There are so many more in depth thoughts constantly racing through my mind, but it's hard to allow others into my most private thoughts. So much is controversial, too. I've never been one to back down from my beliefs, but at the same time this was intended to be a light-hearted blog about a wedding...not a dissertation on how I would run the world if allowed.

In reference to the sentence above, I have actually had some motherly feelings arise in me in the last couple of weeks. But, I'm still far too selfish for children. I'm even selfish in my motherly feelings - they are arising because of a need for a subject for me to photograph. I am wanting to get a nice digital SLR, but Ben keeps discouraging it because he doesn't think I will use it. Hence the motherly feelings. If you have children, you always have a subject to photograph...and unfortunately, the cat does not make a good replacement.

*But* you also have to go through that whole pregnancy thing which seems downright miserable - and oh, yeah, the ruin of your stomach, thighs, breasts...well, you get the picture....to deal with. And no sleep or time for yourself, constant crying, screaming, dirtiness, expense, zero freedom, etc, etc.

Yes, I am very selfish. Maybe someday I will change. It's going to take a lot more than the desire to take photographs, though.

Random...

Has anyone else noticed on the Sonic commercials with the two guys talking in the car that they are wearing seatbelts as part of their costume? Let me explain - the "seatbelt" is just glued to their shirts...it's not actually a seatbelt - it just continues over their shoulder and down their back. So when they bend forward, sideways, etc, it moves with them. Ben pointed this out to me...and I just saw it for the first time tonight. Weird. Doesn't seem like making it real would hinder their movements.

Do you guys see the same people driving home everyday? We live in a fairly large city - there are between 300k and 400k people here I think - and I think it's funny that I see the same people driving in to work and back home again fairly often. Oh yes, I see you "3GR8KIDS" and "DODD2". Lady with the white sentra that has the nasty exhaust stains on her bumper, oh yeah I pass you too - I always think that you need to clean your car. I read the "BUSHIT" and "You can find dirt under every bush" on a couple of cars regularly. There is this one smallish SUV that has a tiny sticker on the back supporting a candidate and I always try to read it, but alas it was not a smart marketing expense - I have excellent vision and cannot figure out what the name is or what they're (were?) running for. There's jacky, a guy that I went to college with - I pass him in the mornings, usually. Sometimes, I wave - it threw him for a loop when I got my new car.

Oh, speaking of vision, did I ever put on here the troubles with my eye and the fact that I had to wear glasses for a few months? Well, anyway (knock on wood), I *think* I'm finally back in contacts for good. I've gone almost two weeks now. Thank goodness. I was having an identity crisis while in glasses. Plus, I couldn't see my food when I looked down below my frame to spoon or fork it up. That sucked. What especially sucked was the one day on my honeymoon when I couldn't wear contacts out on the beach, but couldn't go without sunglasses, so I just had to be blind. Yeah, that was not so fun.

And now it's time to go to sleepy-town....

From Battle of the Jaywalk on Leno...

JL:"What is a Venetian?"
Guy:"A hotel on the strip."
JL:"No. What is a Venetian?"
Girl:"Blinds."

Hehe. Technically, they were both right.

JL:"Who is the only President elected to four terms?"
After about 7 wrong answers, including Bush (both of them), Clinton, Van Buren, Cleveland, etc...
Guy:"It's a trick question...there's never been one."

Hehe.

PS I just switched to the blogger in beta and i saw for the first time that some people had left comments - but for some reason it didn't allow them to post.

Anyway, feel free to comment if you want - and I'll try to get that figured out.

Watching the second star wars movie right now...

...and Ben always comments on how hot the aliens on that rainy planet are...and I always say back that it's because the media makes us believe that you have to be extremely tall and anorexically thin to be hot.

PS I think the photographer will be able to put the pics online - she hasn't done it yet but I'll let everyone know when she does.

So that next year we know what to buy...

Mexican heather - plant quickly - gets quite broad
Evolvulus - Blue Daze - plant quickly - gets quite broad
Potato Vine
Lavender
Ice Plant (Ben's pick - arid - pink flowers whose petals are sort of spiky)
Calibrachoa (very small plant)

I was being a brat the other day

But I erased it.

Just got done doing a thorough going over of the pics from Stephanie and there are so many that I love that I'm in a bit of trouble. Financial trouble that is. :-) We get to keep the cd and we get 56 prints in a book. The problem is that I absolutely love about 200 of them. I can maybe get it down to 160 or so. Let's hope so.

You just couldn't take a bad picture at this place. And we were fairly photogenic that day.

On top of the wedding ones, our engagement ones were super awesome, too. Signal Point really provided such a beautiful backdrop.

Decisions, decisions.

It's Veteran's Day! Thank you veterans! I love random holidays such as these (especially when it works out that they fall on a friday or monday)

Ahhhhh.....so what do I want to do today? I have a whole list of things to do but just can't seem to get started on anything. I didn't even go work out. I think I am mentally exhausted.

Isn't it funny how your body is so accustomed to its internal clock that you still wake up early on days off?

Mika does have his annual appt today, though. Poor guy, I guess I should buy him some canned food to make him feel better afterwards. We now live quite far from his vet so he becomes a very sick kitty on veteran's day every year. I could change to a closer vet, but they know him - they know the angst he has been through. So we still go there.

I had one crazy week at work. Well, really it's been more like 3 crazy weeks at work. I'm hoping that things will not be so stressful next week. I have learned so much in the last 6 months...I really do learn at least one new thing a day. I know I've said this before, but leaving engineering was the best career move I could ever have made.

Did anyone watch the office last night? Oh, my gosh - the opening scene was the funniest thing I've ever seen - watching Dwight lunge towards Stanley's coffee made me "heehaw" as ben would say so loudly that Mika got scared and ran away.

Oh....had dinner with Dave & Shanon last week and they are engaged! How wonderful. They are so happy and we are just ecstatic for them.

I'm very excited for Christmas this year - usually I don't get like this for awhile. Could be bec I'm used to studying and preparing for finals and this year I don't have to or could be bec I felt like I missed Christmas last year bec I got so horrifyingly sick. I dunno. But I can't wait to start buying presents!

So how do I feel today?

Well, it's definitely a mixture of emotions. Hatred and ignorance were not overcome in this state, nor in 6 others. But thankfully, a few states did the right thing as far as amendments go. A few.

As for *the* election? Well, I was pretty certain that it wouldn't go the way I wanted it, so I was not heartbroken this morning. In all honesty, that was a difficult one for me anyway. I did vote my usual way, but almost didn't vote in that respect at all. I was quite happy to see it so close, though.

Overall, there is such an air of optimism! No single party needs complete control - because then, even checks and balances can't control things. So, *hopefully* we will see some change.

And how wonderful is it that Nancy Pelosi is the first woman speaker of the house? Congratulations to Ms. Pelosi! Make all women of this country proud!

And, back to the hectic life of finance....

Mom and Natie came in on Saturday and I snapped this pic - thought it turned out pretty cool.

Ben and I took our "engagement" photos up there (Signal Point) on his b'day - yes, they were late, but we were supposed to do those in August, and it was just too darn hot. Thankfully, she let us take them when it was a bit cooler. They turned out nice - we got the cd of them tonight. We also got the official wedding cd.

Anyway, things are good. Job is soooooo extremely busy - it creates a very worn out Stacey.

We went to Knoxvillage yesterday and I got to see Catherine's house which is very cute. Did a little shopping - got some fall clothes. Very much needed. Did the cropped pants and stiletto boots combo today - hope that stays in through the rest of the winter bec I felt cute.

Realized today that it's only 7 weeks until Christmas - it sure does come quick , doesn't it?

Ben is asking me when i'm going to go to sleep, so i guess it's time to sign off.

over and out.

I am Stacey ******* and I approve this blog...

because I assure you my very cold fingers typed every word of it. :-) Oops, should I say "I delightedly approve this blog because I worked so hard to educate myself throughout the years and now can reap the rewards by being able to read, write and type"? My original approval didn't seem to have enough flair.

So we did our civic duty yesterday. Stood in the cold and all of that. Here's hoping that it helps this time...although, I fear that the optimism is foolish. *Maybe* enough people are fed up this time. And maybe ignorance and hatred will be overcome.

And that's it for now....

OOPS!

In my 50 things list I accidentally said this:
4) People feel that returning a “No” RSVP will hurt the couple’s feelings. What it really does is anger the bride.

What I meant was this:
4) People feel that returning a "No" RSVP will hurt the couple's feelings. What it really does is anger the bride when they either 1) don't return the RSVP, even if it is to say no so she has NO CLUE how many people are coming, or 2) return it with a yes even though they know they aren't coming.

I apologize for the confusion.

How could you not love this place? Beautiful aqua caribbean water, lush green landscaping, and what a gorgeous sky!

Again...isn't my husband hot?

We had the best view of the sunset at our resort.

We saw Paris on our private beach! Hehe. Just kidding. So that's me on our honeymoon. I stayed really lathered up, since my skin is so crazy sensitive. I tan, but geez...you never know what's going to happen to me. By day 5 on the beach, I got heat rash on my chest. I don't even know what heat rash is, but the gay guy at the pepper shop told me what to do to help it. he was cool.

We had a really great time just chillin'. I wish I had brought a better book, though.

Jess and I think this pic is funny bec after a full day of smiling for the camara (and boy do your cheeks ever start hurting!), I was already posed for this but everyone else is getting ready.

Who's that hot girl?

Beautiful Family!

"It's the end of the world as we know it...

it's the end of the world as we know it...it's the end of the world as we know....and I feel fine!"

:-)

Oh, yeah - I guess I could blog about other things, too.

We went out with Chris & Amy and Dave & Shanon last night. Good times, good times. We went to tbones and and saw some people we were in graduate school with which is kind of cool. I'm used to seeing work people out, but this town had always felt a little weird bec it had a university but I felt I didn't belong in that respect, and now apparently, I belong in that respect, too.

We have been worthless today.

Anybody know about picaboo? Is it ok to download their software?

50 Things I learned from my wedding/advice for future brides

1) Waxing hurts like hell, but is highly effective.
2) You really learn who loves you.
3) One fourth of the people who tell you they are going to come do not come. It makes you really mad because you have spent $50 to feed each one of them.
4) People feel that returning a “No” RSVP will hurt the couple’s feelings. What it really does is anger the bride.
5) I apparently cannot sleep when I have loads to accomplish. But I can live on little sleep.
6) A wedding is what you make of it. Even with all of the disappointments – people not showing up, running around like a chicken with its head cut off trying to accomplish last minute tasks, the expense, the headache of your fiancé changing *big* things without telling you, etc – it can still be fun..it's just all what you make of it. From 3 PM on Thursday afternoon on, I was so happy – and if I can speak for my new husband, so was Ben.
7) If you are not affiliated with a church, it is hard as hell to get officially married in Chattanooga.
8) If I ever hear that it’s easy to go to the courthouse and get married ever again, I will scream. Judges are public servants, yet they apparently do not feel as if they should actually serve the public. They will not return your phone calls and will not marry you. End of story.
9) The Tennessee River Place was the best place in the world to have a wedding. I could talk at length about them but will leave it at that.
10) It is very helpful to know local people. My manicurist set me up with the perfect florist. I love you Jim O’Dell!
11) People will surprise you - in both good ways and bad.
12) I don’t have to give amazingly terrific gifts anymore. I have been spending too much money all of these years.
13) What they all say is true – no matter if you schedule pics to be taken before the wedding or not (like we did) – you will not be able to eat your dinner. Period. Tell the caterer to set aside two complete meals for you and your groom. I’m so glad we did this. I ate around midnight, I think...and by that time, I really needed it.
14) Your cake can be super cute AND taste good.
15) Taking 2.5 days off before the wedding is a grand idea. Shoot - make it three - I would have if I could.
16) Welcome bags are a fun way to start the event.
17) Funny koosies have a dual purpose – not only are they a great favor, but the come in handy at the reception.
18) It’s difficult to part with your centerpieces, but you’re leaving town for over a week so you must give them away.
19) Writing your vows (compiled from friends & family vows, as well as a little bit of book help from The Knot) is the best idea in the world. So was having someone very close doing the ceremony.
20) I walk very fast.
21) Always have a back up plan - including a backup dress. Thank you White House Black Market for providing me with the dress I put on after the hook on my real dress broke!
22) A white dress is a magnet for stains -and my dad apparentely can’t keep a beer straight up.
23) Being photographed is fun.
24) Making a wedding suit you is the only way to go. I picked interesting invitations, an interesting cake, different flowers, etc – and that’s what made it so much fun. And so me.
25) No matter what you plan, something is going to go wrong. Nothing drastic went wrong with us, but I never did get to put the picture in the sign in frame, Roger accidentally played that horrible Lonestar song, the bartender showed up later than planned, and we forgot to do the toast. But ultimately, who cares? We had a fantastic time.
26) Without live music, a ceremony really loses a certain feel. It is well worth the few hundred that you will pay to have a live musician(s) play. And the local university is the place to ask around.
27) Dancing to “our song” was sweet. That was one tradition I'm glad we did.
28) Being able to say no to certain traditions is ok. You do not have to toss a bouquet, take off a garter, etc if you don't want to. Just do what feels right - not what modern convention tells you you should do.
29) Bring your laptop so that you can download photos during the afterparty or the next morning’s brunch. Otherwise, you go on your honemoon wondering how you looked.
30) Traditional dresses are more appropriate for even our location and our offbeat style. Save the beachy, informal dresses for the beach (unless it’s your second wedding).
31) We are incredibly lucky people with pretty darn awesome friends and family.
32) Ben is not much help in planning things.
33) The end of September in Tennessee is the most ideal time of year to get married. We could not have asked for better weather - we were so fortunate in our beautiful day.
34) Someone's feelings are going to get hurt - some people just want to take offense to things - so you have to overlook their pettiness. It's not about them or making them happy - it's about making you happy - it's your wedding day.
35) Excel is your friend. You will make many lists throughout the planning process (obviously a budget, but also - a list of music you want played before, during & after the ceremony, song you'll be announced to, music played during dinner, music played during dancing, your seating chart, who you invited & who has responded yes and no, what's left to take care of, what needs to be taken to the sight the day of, what's coming home the next day, etc, etc), but the most important spreadsheet will be your thank you list. Have cells for who it's from, what it is, when you recieved it and if you have sent the thank you card yet.
36) The most important thing is staying organized.
37) Plan your wedding in the town you live in -unless you are willing to give over control of things to someone else. If you want to be involved in every detail, then you should definitely have it where you live.
38) The night after the wedding you will crash. I was asleep at 9:30.
39) You will go overbudget. In all honesty, we did not go overbudget by very much at all...but we still did. That's just how it goes.
40) Renting a few colorful table linens to jazz up the plain white ones is expensive - so just tie ribbons around every other chair and put colored cloths down on every other table. It looks cute and it's half the price.
41) Do not schedule very many things for you or friends or family to take care of the day of the wedding. Pay premiums to vendors if you have to so as to have them arrange for things - unless it's a ridiculously priced premium. You as the bride will not be able to be there for most of the day (and when you do get there, you will be getting ready), so idiot proof what you need taken care of. And back up is having your best friend know how everything is supposed to be. Thanks, Jess! :-)
42) Write all of your checks & put them in thank you cards in the days leading up to the wedding bec there will be some people you will pay the day of. Write the person's name and what service they are providing on the envelope, then entrust with a responsible person. Again, thanks jess!
43) If you are having an evening wedding, don't forget to eat something for lunch. One more time, THANKS JESS! :-) She made me sit down and eat when I wanted to take care of things.
44) Be prepared for people to comment on the things you picked - especially if you do things a little off the wall like we did. They're not all going to be nice comments. Some people think that anything outside of cookie cutter weddings is weird & therefore disappointing. But the pleasure you receive from the people who "get it" far outweighs the negativity.
45) When it's all over, and you return from your honeymoon, there will still be tons of things to do. Thank yous to write, gifts to clean and put away, etc. About 2 weeks later when things calm down, your husband will turn to you and say, "Things seem so boring now." :-) There has been so much excitement and enthusiasm from friends and family for months leading up to the event that when it's all over going back to the normalness of regular life takes some getting used to.
46) Those brides that lose all kinds of weight and say it's due to anxiety are lying. They are starving themselves or working out excessively or both. A husband and a mom recently ratted out some brides I know.
47) It feels good to be married to someone you love.
48) It is difficult to change your name. I have decided that I am not going to for now.
49) Saying your vows to one another is an emotional rush - it truly, truly is. I thought the whole thing would be just a recitation - but in fact, you feel every word down to your core.
50) Having children around makes things so much livelier and fun.

I am so glad we did it. There were many, many times in these last few months (and the days leading up to it especially) that I thought, “I wish we had just run away to get married”. But ultimately, I am sooooo glad we did the whole thing. We would have missed out on a very special event in our lives had we not. I am glad that we have the memories and the photographs. I'm surprised the spine on the book hasn't broken yet, I've looked at them so many times! Hehe.

Wake me up when September ends...

...oh, yeah...that's right...it has ended.

August & September passed like a fleeting dream. Obviously we had a wonderful wedding and a wonderful honeymoon. Oh...I forgot to post pics of the honeymoon. Well, no one is missing much - we didn't take too many photos on this trip - it gets a little old taking pictures of us on the beach. Here's us with this grain of sand. Here's us with this other grain of sand. Hehe. I'll still post some eventually. Maybe tonight. If I get a little crazy.

We had girls night out/happy hour this evening. It has been quite some time. We stayed way longer than any of us thought we would and it was an excellent time. love my girls.

Oh...we were bad...we did have one man around this time. :-) Little Evan came for just a few mins. It was so good to see him...he is so cute!

So, what else is going on? Well, not much. We have some b'days next week. Ben's is approaching and I had been so wrapped up in the wedding details that I was totally unprepared for it once the wedding was over. Usually I know exactly what I'm going to get for him and have purchased it or ordered it or whatever. I'm at a loss. Hopefully, I'll get it figured out this weekend.

The Office was just classic this evening - although I think the convention one was the best one ever.

Umm...what else? Oh, yeah - totally unprepared for Halloween this year, too. I usually have the bags for the kids filled and waiting in the cutesy bowl by the first week of October and this year I haven't even bought the candy, bags, pencils, etc yet. We did buy pumpkins last weekend and I think we'll carve them this weekend. Maybe we'll be dorky and cook the seeds. :-) We tried to be dorky and go to a pumpkin patch again, but they've all closed in this area.

It has been a monsoon in Tennessee lately. Most definitely one right now.

I have no idea what we left to - what it sounded like. She told me the name of it and she hummed it for me, but at that moment, I really remember not much. Hehe. Except, I remember seeing Ben's friend Robert when we were walking out. He's the only one. Ben says it's because he was in the very back.

The music was lively, though. A great piece for a recessional. I'll have to buy it so that I'll know.

We didn't have a videographer, so we'll never know the truth, but I keep asking if I'm the only person that heard one wrong note when I first came out...no one else seems to have noticed. I'm surprised there's not a pic of me with an agonized look on my face because of it! Hehe. But from what everyone says, the flutist (flautist - we wiki'ed it the night before for the program and it actually said flutist was more proper) was quite wonderful. I could vaguely hear her while I waited....and from what I could tell she really did sound quite good. Not too shabby since I only just hired her two days before the wedding, huh? Thank goodness for living in a town with a music department in the college!

I've retitled this pic "My crazy cake". :-)

I hope the real photographers got a good closeup of the cake jewelry...so far I've not seen a pic that has captured how beautiful they were.

Isn't this a sweet picture?

Isn't my husband hot? And check out that cool pink tie I picked out for him! Smashing!

I give you this ring as a symbol of my love and faithfulness...

One of my new nieces..isn't she cute?

Rick and Catherine

Good pic of Sarah

The dinner tables were lovely.

Sooooo.....we've been back for a week now. Things have been good. Am just now starting to get the house somewhat picked up. Got all of the silverware washed yesterday and ate my cereal with my new cutesy crate and barrel tiny spoon just now. There is still so much to do - so much to clean and put away and take to Goodwill and so forth. But, I am so much happier now that we're not on a strict schedule any longer and can do all of these things at my leisure.

Have been able to work out again which has been therapeutic. Those first couple of runs went horribly, but it picked up by the end of the week and I had a great run this morning. Well, ok, not great by the standards I set earlier this year, but great considering how long I took off. Unfortunately, Eliza Doolittle pre Henry Higgans was also working out. She's an incredibly fit older lady with an accent so necky that it doesn't sound like English. I was able to understand "buy-uck" as "back" and "die-oon" as "down". Now, you're probably thinking, "Geez, Stacey was listening in on someone's conversation at livewell..." but no, I must clarify. EVERYONE in livewell was listening to Soddy Eliza bec she was SO FREAKING LOUD. She made horrendous animal grunts and groans - and these were just in the middle of her conversation with some random man - not grunts and groans bec she was lifting something incredibly heavy. Someone needs to teach her to use an inside voice. And proper speaking.

The weather here has been beautiful this week. What a wonderful weekend to have the holiday. Ben started doing some landscaping to the front of the house - he's putting in a retaining wall and a flower bed. I think it was very creative on his part. Maybe when it's done I'll post a pic.

I tried to add a few more pics just now of the honeymoon but blogger is misbehaving. We don't really have many - how many pics of us lying on the beach can we really take?

Had a very much needed shopping frenzy on Saturday - did obtain new knee high black boots to replace my worn out ones, but failed in the chocolate brown boot category. Thank you Ann Taylor for the black ones, though. Saw the cutest black velvet military style cropped jacket - but sometimes it's so hard to spend as much as they want, isn't it? Anyway, need to put in an order to J.Crew, as well - and I thought that my expenses would die down after the wedding was over!

Ah, but isn't it lovely to be free? I was driving home from work on Friday afternoon staring at three wonderful guilt free, stress free days ahead of me and smiled. How wonderful it is to just be back to normal - with no school and no wedding planning hanging over my head. This is the first Columbus Day that I have spent not doing school work in years. Oh, happy times!

If only it could stay this way forever! Beautiful weather and a beautiful life (because I do understand now that there is in fact a newlywed phase that is complete bliss). Unfortunately, though, the cold is coming. :-( I had to wear shoes - actual shoes with actual socks - on Saturday. Yuck! My feet were suffocating by the end of the day. I wish I lived somewhere that flip flops and sandals were the norm year round.

Ben doesn't want to do any hiking this year. That also gets a :-( . Even though I don't particularly care for the fall (bec it leads into the winter), I must admit I've rather enjoyed all of the hikes we've done in the past years - such a great workout, and the views are amazing when you climb a moutain, aren't they? Unless the smog comes in. Hehe.

Uh-oh...dryer stopped...must get to the laundry...

That's me walking down the balcony aisle...

We are back from our honeymoon...we had a splendid time. Much needed rest.

I will post more about it as well as some photos soon.

*Yawn*

Ok....I have many, many more but want to share a few of my favorite memories from our wedding....so here goes:
1) Ben telling me how beautiful I looked while we danced to City Love, our song - even though he forgot most of the words! :-)
2) Dotting Ben's nose with pink buttercream icing after we fed each other cake
3) Jeter's ranting at the "after party" on the balcony in front of our room. The mouse story was the best - oh, yeah, it had become a holy war.
4) Seeing my mom at the bottom of the steps before I came out. She was so happy.
5) Walking in after my hair was done and seeing Heather & Keith & Iris and the tables were complete and the cake was arriving and everyone was in such happy spirits
6) Gracie grabbing my hand and pulling me to Ben - repeatedly - to encourage us to dance together
7) Ben looking so GQ, and asking the photographers is they would like for him to model for them on a regular basis
8) Jeter strolling over to me & my girls during our picture - oh, yeah - he was on the prowl
9) Jeter telling me that he had decided pre-wedding that the first girl who commented on how nice he looked was the one to be after, and then me commenting on his nice pink combo to match the wedding as soon as he walked out of his room - that was just wrong!
10) Ben picking me up....but then struggling to hold on....
11) Yelling across the lawn - quite some distance I might add - to stop that horrible Lonestar song that we had all danced with too many strangers to at the Joe
12) Ben very carefully taking all of the pins out of my hair at 1:30 in the morning, after much wine & beer...and with swollen, tired eyes. It was very sweet.
13) Heheehee....yelling at Jess while I was dancing "I think I just popped open my dress" and then us both madly rushing to the changing room to get into the after party dress.
14) Ben fumbling over the last line of our vows, and then me too! It was long and hard. But I loved those vows - they were unique and fun and perfect!
15) Rushing down the aisle - I have such a hard time slowing down! - and looking from side to side at everyone there. They said I was bobbling my head sideways.
16) Breakfast! Greg is amazing - we had fresh strawberries and grapes alongside pineapple & coconut pancakes and scrambled eggs. Yummy, yummy!
17) Climbing into the incredibly comfy, incredibly huge bed with the canopy thing untied - Ben was super cute about that
18) Coming out and seeing the super cute job Jess had done with the white mums - set around our rings on the plant stand
19) Seeing all of my flowers when I first arrived, then the pleasure of seeing the cake 15 mins later - everything was so beautiful and perfect - I was in Stacey ecstasy
20) Discussing with ben this morning all the details of the day while we were apart. I found out why he was late to the altar (I told Jess that he couldn't back out since we were already married!) and other things that were fun to know, since I was hidden away from the world.

I'm sure there are many, many more details that I want to share, but am in need of a nap at this moment!

But before I go, I would like to thank all of our friends and family - for coming from so far away, for helping to organize, decorate, plan & execute, for wonderful gifts and best wishes, but most importantly for being there for us and for helping to make our wedding day so fantastic! We love you all!

Ben, Mom, me & Dad

Hugh, Heather, Iris & Keith.

A very warm and special thanks to Uncle Keith for his reading of The Prophet on Marriage.

Cake by day...

Let's cut a very fun cake!

I had the coolest, funnest cake ever - and it even tasted good! Tanya did an amazing job - she made it so perfect and I'm so glad I got the cake "jewelry" instead of a topper. It was a piece of art!