Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea

This whole week I was so mad at myself for offering to work when I have so much to get done.  Tonight at work (as I was closing) I was vacuuming the back hall when it hit me.  I've been working at David's Bridal on all of my school breaks and other random weekends for 4 years now.  I've laughed in these hallways, I've cried in these hallways (it's tough working in a bridal shop and seeing everyone so happy when your relationship is in a rough spot).  I've made memories here.  From crazy people, to heartwarming love stories that you were sure were only true in fairytales.  I've loved my time there.

After work I went to spend some time with my grandparents.  The reality is that when I was little we traveled to PA multiple times a year to visit all of our family there.  I remember weeks spent with my grandparents over the summer and never wanting to go home.  When I was in elementary school my Dad's parents moved to Richmond.  Looking back I can say that this is one of the decisions that has had one of the biggest impacts on my life.  I grew up as close to my grandparents as I was my parents (even closer sometimes because I could vent to them about my frustrations with my parents).  Whenever I was away at college I missed them just as much as the rest of my immediate family (like the ones that I lived at home with).  There is no doubt in my mind that I would have been close to my aunts and uncles, but I often think that our closeness is a direct result of my Grandparents being in town too.  My Mamie and Pop-Pop always had everyone together for birthday dinners as well as random impromptu dinners too.  My family is the exception to the rule.  We're all so close and often it is something that I don't think twice about because it is so normal to me.  Moving away to WV won't only be hard because I'll miss my parents and sisters, but I will also miss the rest of my family that is now in VA because over the past 23 years they have all been my support system.  I roll deep...what can I say?

I got some quality time in with the grandparents then headed over to my sister's house.  She's making cookies for the wedding (yum!) and since I hadn't had dinner I got to taste test some of them!  So excited that she wanted to undertake this huge task!

Finally the night ended over at my neighbor's back deck.  Let me set the scene for you.  The neighborhood that I grew up in was the West End of Richmond for my parent's generation.  So most of the people that live in this neighborhood are my Grandparent's age.  Except for two houses which are diagonal from each other (and happen to have almost the exact same set-up).  We have five kids, our neighbors have 4.  The craziness that ensues from that alone makes up for the fact that most of the rest of the street is 75+ years old.  There have been couches and chairs moved from house to house.  There has been laundry done at their house when our washer broke, and their laundry dried at our house when their dryer breaks.  Casseroles have been baked in both ovens at the same time for an event at one house or the other, and it is not out of the ordinary to get phone calls on nice spring and summer evenings saying "I've got the meat for the grill" "ok, then I've got the sides and drinks".  Somehow we manage to eat together on a regular basis.  It was a great way to end a crazy day spending time with fun neighbors!

Finally Friday

What a crazy week it has shaped up to be.  I didn't let myself write a to-do list because I knew that I would stress myself out.  Until tonight.  I broke down and did it.  Knowing that I only have one more day until wedding crunch time, I thought that I might as well put on paper everything that needs to be done.

This stressed me out a little, but many hands make for light work and with my sisters so willing to help, I know I'm not in this alone.

And I ended the night with more dogs in my bed than I am used to...

I know I'll miss these nights, when I try to get in bed and go to sleep and end up staying awake an hour more than I wanted to because these kids keep me up.

running together

Do I consider this a late night or an early morning?

Technically it's Thursday at 12:15 am.  But I feel like I didn't get as much accomplished on my Wednesday to-do list as I wanted to.  Time to step back and get some shut-eye. 

I did however want to take some time to write about some of my work stories from the day.  Every time I leave work Matt always calls and asks how work was.  Usually I brush it off and say miserable, boring, tiring...whatever.  Today I decided to tell him what it was really like.

About the girl who had an entire wedding planned for February 2012 but found out her fiance won't be around then because he is in the Marines.  When she wanted to move it up they decided that wasn't possible because there was no way her fiance was doing anything other than hunting during hunting season (I had a little laugh at that one).  So they have to re-plan the entire thing for a Spring wedding of next year.  I took a moment to step back and count my blessings.  The stress I'm feeling right now is a welcomed, I'm never going to feel this the rest of my life, I'm planning an amazing night with my closest family and friends so my fiance and I can start our lives together stress.  The stress she is feeling is the lets get this thing over with, it won't matter if we're married or not because I'm not going to see him once he's deployed stress.  Moments like these make me realize how lucky I am.

Oh then there was the family (literally with like 8 kids that seemed like they were all the same age) who spoke little English.  I took Spanish for  3 years in middle school, 3 years in high school and a semester in college.  I can understand Spanish pretty well.  I am not, however, confident AT ALL in speaking it.  So when I get a family that speaks Spanish they probably think I am psychic.  Because I hear them say things then will agree with them or ask them a follow up question (in English) to what they were saying in Spanish.  It works to my advantage.  I have to make sure not to let on too much because I have this fear that they will start speaking to me in Spanish and expect me to respond back.  Not gonna happen.  Today my favorite was a woman who walked up to me and said
"what is this called?"
my response - "That is a scarf"
her response "ascarf"
my response "no just scarf"
her response "oh!  juscarf"
my response "scarf"
her response "juscarf"
That went on for about 5 minutes before I gave up.

Then there was my bridesmaid that had paid for a dress and the wedding was canceled.  Ooops

Oh, and my prom girls that came in with a little puppy like it was their accessory...no you are not Paris Hilton.

I also had the usual prom girl come in with her date's tie looking for a dress that matched it perfectly...for the dance...this Saturday...not going to happen!

My stories can get pretty crazy...but those were just a few from today (yesterday?)  whatever...it's bed time!

I keep telling myself one of these nights I'm going to sit down and take some time to really blog.  Then it hits about 12:30-1am and all I can think about is getting in bed, and when my alarm goes off in the morning all I can think about are those precious 5 extra minutes my snooze button gives me.  Exhaustion may be setting in, but I'm pushing through.  Also, I'm very detail oriented and want everything to be perfect.  I was wondering when the time would come that things would start to mess up and I would laugh.  It was yesterday.  So thankful I've turned the stressed out corner and now mistakes are funny to me.  Hopefully I'll be able to keep this attitude the rest of the way through.  I'm thinking I will.  From losing my shoe in London (and doing a walking tour barefoot) to standing in front of my family in Disney World and singing I'm a little tea pot because I didn't finish my dinner at Disney's Prime Time Cafe, I've never been one to stress when things don't go as planned.

Good Idea? Nope!

I'm not sure why I ever thought that working 2 weeks before the wedding was a good idea.  I feel as though I have a to-do list approximately 5 miles long, yet a few days ago (in a moment of weakness) I told David's Bridal (my off and on part-time job) that I would be glad to give them a few hours.  I ended up getting scheduled for 36 hours in 5 days...that's more like a full-time job if you ask me!

I think I was thinking "I don't have a job in WV, I need to get in as much work as possible before a summer of unemployment...I've never been without work...I usually work 2-3 jobs...freak out...call David's Bridal and tell them you'll work".  Flawed Logic...

I will be thinking of everything I could do other than working today...

I'm off to work...wish me luck!!!

Monday Mayhem

Travel Monday will have to be postponed this week!  I started this blog to chronicle wedding planning and my life in general the three months leading up to the big day.

Today was pretty packed with wedding details.

This morning we had the final meeting with SunTrust (our reception venue).  It was all about the details.  The set-up of the room, tables, cake, decorations, etc.  We also had to discuss alcohol options and finalize the menu.  It was altogether a great meeting and got me really excited for the big night!

After our meeting with SunTrust I went home to work on some seating stuff for the rehearsal and the reception then I met with my fiance's mom to discuss the seating arrangements.  I can pretty much figure it out for my family and our friends, but I definitely needed a little help with Matt's family.  Hopefully we got everything worked out and it was great to spend some time with my future Mother in Law talking about everything and getting nervous excited for everything that we have going on in the next week and a half.

After a few rainy hours spent at my sister's softball game (they won - go Cass!) it was time to head home and crank out some pew decorations.  With the help of a bridesmaid and all of my sisters we got almost half way done with the decorations!  One more night and we'll have them finished!

More fun videos to pass the time!

Once again I'm back under the same roof as my sisters.  While I've spent today at dance lessons, running errands, and folding programs and other booklets for the wedding...I've also managed to get a few laughs in.

My sisters always say...I want to show you this video...usually I roll my eyes because about half of the time I can't understand why the video is that great and they are laughing hyesterically.  I file this under "get used to it, you're getting older and don't find that crude humor amusing".

Today they had some pretty good videos for me to watch and I thought I would share them with you!

First Kiss...so Cute!

Little Girl Playing with a Dead Squirrel

Boys will be Girls