Overdue Update

If you can’t tell by my recent blogging schedule (or lack thereof), life has been busy. We continue to check wedding TO DOs off our list, but it still seems like there’s so much to do! And it’s less than two months away. Here's an update.

Ceremony

Brian and I had our second to last meeting with the priest. This meeting was rescheduled because Brian and I were delinquents and completely forget to read the book he’d given us last April! When he asked us about the book, I thought I would pass out – I hate getting in trouble! We definitely got scolded.

We read the book after the meeting and took the corresponding test. It was a Myers-Briggs test (which we’ve both taken several times in college) -- but it was fun to take together.  I’m an ISFJ, and Brian is an ESTJ. That means we’re pretty compatible, our priest says.

Wedding Day Attire

• I have my final dress fitting on Friday! I’ll be excited to see how it looks after the last round of alterations. She had to take most of the train off, so the dress can be bustled after the ceremony. Apparently, I bought a really complicated dress.
• 
  Brian selected tuxedos for the wedding.
• 
  Bridesmaids’ dresses came in! My sister picked up hers and loved it, so that’s a good sign.
• 
  Hair and make-up artists have been booked! 

Printed Materials

• Invitations have arrived, and the calligrapher has finished addressing the envelopes. We plan to mail them out at the end of this week! 
• Now that we know our music and readings for the ceremony, we’ve been working to put together a ceremony program. A friend of my dad’s – a graphic designer – has laid it out.

Housing

Brian and I finally found a place to live! We looked at a bunch of places while he was home this weekend and signed a lease this morning. It was tough to decide, but we finally decided on an apartment that’s close to our friends. I love being able to picture where we’ll be living!

On another note, my grandmother is back in the hospital. She fell Thursday evening and broke her hip. It’s not good news. She will need surgery as soon as possible to repair the fractures, but the anesthesia will be hard on her heart. She’s developed a few other complications as well, so we need as many prayers as we can get! 

 

Movie-Filled Weekend in Birmingham

Made another trip to Birmingham last weekend to see Brian! I took Friday off from work to get in earlier than usual, and when I arrived, we took off to go see Safe House. (The weekend was full of movies for us!)

After the movie, we tried to grab dinner out, but the restaurants we tried were packed! We didn't want to wait, so we went with plan B: frozen pizza from Whole Foods-- eaten on the floor in front of the TV while watching The Hangover Part II. A great Friday night.

After breakfast on Saturday, we went to Brian's lacrosse practice. He coaches U11 lacrosse in Mountain Brook. It was fun to watch!

After practice we ate lunch, searched for new khakis for Brian and made a trip to Home Depot for a gift for our friends' couples shower. Then we went to another great movie, Act of Valor! Definitely recommend this movie for anyone who is as fascinated by Navy SEALs as Brian and I are.

We didn't even try to go out to eat Saturday night. We knew that by the time we got out of the theater, restaurants would already be packed, so we went to Whole Foods and got stuff to make a quick and easy pasta dinner.

I left for home on Sunday after a run in our favorite park and lunch outside (I love spring weather!). It was a great weekend. Though I can't wait for Brian and I to live in the same city, I will miss my weekend trips to Birmingham when he graduates in May.



Lately

As the wedding gets closer, it's getting harder and harder to find time to blog. We're getting in married in exactly three months! Our announcement was in the paper yesterday.

I'm definitely ready for May 19 to be here, and while I know the wedding will be so much fun (and we'll enjoy seeing our friends and family all together), I'm ready to be on our honeymoon!

The remainder of our wedding "ToDos" includes a lot of little details...and those details add up! One thing I'm really struggling with is finding shoes to fit my minature feet. Who knew finding wedding shoes could be so hard? Most that I try on are too big, and I can't risk tripping down the aisle in shoes that don't fit. :)

But enough about the wedding...just a quick update on what we've been up to besides wedding planning!

Valentine's Day
Brian and I celebrated Valentine's Day a few days early because he was in Birmingham on Feb. 14. We don't put too much emphasis on the holiday, but it is a great excuse to go out to dinner. We tried Acre, which opened in Memphis last summer. The atmosphere was great (warm, rustic, charming), but the food was just OK. Brian and I both decided we probably wouldn't come back.

Car
Brian got a new car. After more than eight years in his Nissan Pathfinder, it was time to retire his beloved first car. We'll surely miss that car, but right now, I know he's enjoying his new one: a blue Nissan Murano.

Dog-sitting

I got to spend Thursday night with Bronx while his parents were out of town. Allie and her dog Walt came over to play, too.

House/Apartment Searching

I've been searching the Memphis rental market for a place for Brian and me to live. We decided we'd like to move into a place before our wedding, so we can slowly get settled and move furniture. If we find a place early, I'll move in, and Brian will move in after the honeymoon because he's in school until May 12. It's so hard to find just the right home in the right area. I found a great home in East Memphis, but the owner wants someone who can move in next week! Because we're not quite ready to move in, we decided that we'll hold off on looking for now and resume the search again in mid-March.

Wedding Update: 106 Days

We've crossed more off our wedding to-do list since my last update! I can't believe we're getting married in 106 days. The engagement has gone by so quickly!

Honeymoon
We booked our flights and hotel rooms. On May 20, we will depart for a 11-day adventure in France! I've never been overseas, and I feel so fortunate to get to go for our honeymoon. Some friends and family members have given us great recommendations for what to do in each city.

Invitations

We've purchased our invitations already! We ordered them through RSVP Stationers and can't share what they look like just yet. I've also found someone who can do the calligraphing.

Furniture

Not really wedding related, but we bought our first piece of furniture the other weekend -- an upholstered bed from Stash! See the brown thing behind the chair below? We got it for a great price! Now we just need to find a place to live...

Vote Please!

I don't talk about my job much on this blog (or at all really), but it's pretty great. Today, I got to go to the University of Memphis to make this video with the men's basketball team's head coach Josh Pastner. He's supporting Le Bonheur in the Infiniti Coaches' Charity Challenge.

Vote for Coach Pastner and Le Bonheur here, pretty please! The winning coach's charity gets $100K!

The Hunger Games

I've not been sticking to my New Years resolution to blog three times a week. Whoops! But not much has happened this week -- just work and routine!

But tonight, I'm going to my first book club meeting. My friends have been talking about starting one for a while now, and finally Brooke took the initiative to get it started. Our first book: The Hunger Games!

I love this book (and the other two in the series) and highly recommend it! It falls into the Young Adult category at book stores, which turned me off at first, but it's a book anyone can get in to.

I especially can't wait for the movie to come out in March. It gives me chills just to watch the trailer. :)

MLK Weekend

Birmingham
I sure enjoyed my three-day weekend with Brian in Birmingham. There's something about that one extra day that makes all the difference. We ate lots of good food, ran along our favorite trail and visited with his friends.

Drew and his dog Brad by the fire

We like running through Jemison Park, which has pretty scenery and gorgeous Southern homes.

We ate lunch at Five Guys. It's amazing! I can't believe I've never been.

We went to see Contraband -- a great movie for those who like fast-paced action. It definitely kept me on the edge of my seat.

Grandma
My grandmother (also a roommate) has been sick. She ended up back in the hospital this weekend but is coming home today. Seems to be the long holiday weekends that she gets sick and ends up in the hospital (last was New Year's)...maybe she dreads us all being home for three whole days.