Two Weeks Notice

I am here to advise you all that in two weeks I will no longer have the same last name. I will be not only a daughter and sister, but I will be a wife. And that I may spend the majority of the morning having the makeup artist reapply my mascara. But it will be worth it. I will have a wonderful husband, and all the people we love will be there to celebrate with us. I am BEYOND excited, but at the same time, I am a little sad that this 2 year process of planning will be over. At first it will be a relief, but I am sure that I'll miss having something to occupy myself with at work when things are slow. :oP

Our goal for this weekend is to relax a bit... but we also have to get some cleaning done around the house, so when our house sitter gets here, they won't know that sometimes the laundry only gets done once a week (instead of my intended twice), and that sometimes we run out of forks because we both hate to do dishes. One bonus about us having to relocate - I can demand a dishwasher in the new house. She is coming to get the feel of the land today, and to meet the puppy (again), and that alone is a scary thing sometimes (depending on how much energy Jupiter has - and it's been pouring rain the last few days so walks have been non-existent... wish us luck). I'm just happy someone will be in our house when we're not, it's such a relief that we're not heating it for no reason other than to keep the pipes from freezing - because I hear that the Farmer's Almanac is predicting snow, and lots of it, while we're away.

Depending on how the weather is tomorrow, we might be doing some engagement photos with my Aunt Boo. I am kind of excited about that - but it also means that we have to run out and find some new jeans for Daryl, and some dressier shirts for us both - it's really shocking how many clothes we have and how little of it is dressy.

We've had great success checking things off our to-do list in the past few weeks:

• My mom is currently working on a few additional things that we want to add to the decor at the hall (a few planter boxes, tin candle holders, and tin planters for the guestbook table).
• We finished the centrepieces - they are a long way from my original vision, but they're cute, and DONE, so I am happy.
• My final dress fitting is on Thursday, and I will be so THRILLED to be done with this dress fiasco. Piece of advice: when a bridal shop owner tells you to order a certain size, DO IT, even if the size you have on fits JUST FINE; do what she says and everything will work out much better in the end. However, they are magic - so even if you don't listen, it will turn out just fine anyway, but it SUCKED finding that out the hard way.
• Tuxes are ordered too. I think attire was the one thing about this whole process that had me stressed. But it will all be fine.
• I picked up my shoes yesterday - I took them in to be dyed. I LOVE THEM. They aren't your traditional white or ivory shoe anymore, and it's perfect! I am trying to get as far away from the cookie-cutter wedding as possible, while still trying to keep to the traditions that are important to Daryl. Although, not getting married in a chapel/church is all on him.
• My engagement ring is back on my finger. It was stressful having it gone for a week, but it looks beautiful. I love that white gold can be refinished - the BIG bonus of not going with platinum. So now it's all shiny and new looking for the big day.
• The tanning process is well underway. Daryl isn't red like a tomato anymore, and I am darker than I have been in probably 7 years. Although - I am not a big fan of laying there under lights, sweating buckets. It's not my thing, so when our 2 month membership is up, I'm pretty sure I will be going back to my super-white self. :o)
• Gifts for our wedding party, etc are TH-----IS close to being finished. I just have to finish a couple of projects, purchase a couple little things, and do my wrapping. Daryl's gift has been done for a long time, it turned out fantastic, and I'm sure he will like it very much.

Anyway, off I go to help my dear friend, Daryl - he's playing with the puppy, and I think she may have just licked his nostril. It's always nice to have help when that happens - it's a gross experience. :oP

'Til next time!

PS - Adding a couple bridal shower pictures to this post, they are also on our wedding website if you want to see more!

Above: My wonderful bridesmaids (left-right), Laura, Shannon, & Marie-Terese.

Above: Me and my wonderful girls (and yes, this is a grammatically correct sentence, "my bridesmaids and I" would be wrong - trust me... I hated that class too).