dress

The big weekend came and went and the level of stress remained low through the whole thing. 3 bridal shops and a gazillion dresses later and I have "the one" ordered. I love it. It is a Maggie Sottero in a shade called light gold. I had my matron of honor try on a chocolate bridesmaid dress and the two dress colors look so yummy together. There was a dress that was close second but I think I made the right choice for my outdoor autumn wedding. I just had to remember to get the one that I wanted and not the one that others wanted. Holy bovine! I just realized that I will be getting married on the first day of fall, my favorite season! I am hoping for an early color change next year but I don't want it to be super cold out.
Halloween tonight, gonna put on my kitty ears and hopefully pass out tons of candy.

Stress

I think this girl is in my head because what she wrote is exactly how I feel today:
"I was talking with friends the other day about how certain activities change your body chemistry, how you can jump in water, or simply walk along the ocean and breathe in that air and your body alters with every step. You feel different. Your head clears, your skin glows. You are quite literally a different person than when you started. Putting on the right tunes, getting in your car and screaming (as one of my friends likes to do) or going on a walk can all turn you into a different you.
On the one hand, this is all very basic and intuitive. On the other, we tend to swirl ourselves into a messy head so easily and forget that we have our bodies as our allies and collaborators in climbing out of our heady tangles."

To do.

This weekends to do lis:
Get out of the house while furnace and water heater are installed. Go to Des Moines shopping with Missy. Visit Archivers for the first time ever. Get grapevines out of my car and into a pail. Make a grapevine wreath. Use my 2 coupons for JoAnns. Visit possible reception site. Make some journals and address books. Finish knitting the wings for my blue bird.

I am still here. Been busy with work and planning a wedding and all. Planning has been slow going currently. We are hoping to have our reception site and photographer booked soon. Getting married means that I need to get exercising. Monday I rode my bike a total of 48 blocks to my knitting group and back home. It didn't take me as long as I thought to get there and when I got home that night I felt so good! I wish that I would have been riding my bike to knitting group earlier! Next week I start my exercise class. It is only once a week but every little bit helps right? I have also been trying to drink more water since I gave up soda 2 weeks ago. Tonight we are hopefully going to finish painting the kitchen and then I will work on knitting the wings of the little blue birdie that I am making.

step 2

So along with being engaged comes the big task of planning your wedding. I love planning. I plan everything but I am seriously starting to think this wedding planning is more than I can handle. Thankfully I have a loving fiance who knows how to give wonderful hugs and encouraging words when I get stressed out. I get stressed out and it is only a couple weeks into our engagement.
Tonight is puppy play night. We are dog sitting so that will be fun. Tomorrow is gallery night. Wine, cheese, and art, what more could you ask for.

It's true! I am engaged. I have a fiance. I am getting married! Whoa. Thinking about it sends a mixture of emotion through my body. I am super excited and I think will soon be overwhelmed by the preparation. There is so much to do! But man, I am so super excited and happy!
Saturday we already have plans to get pictures taken but my cousin who is about as excited as I am about the whole thing. She wants to take fall pictures of us to use as Christmas cards. It's free so why not? After that we are going to drive around and look for a nice outdoor place to have our ceremony though we pretty much have it picked out already, just have to see it in person. I believe that I have spread the news to all of the most important people. One thing I learned when making my phone calls is that grandmas sure like to talk on the phone. It probably is partly my fault since I only go "home" a couple of times a year but still an hour on the phone with each grandma is a bit much. There is a long pause and you think they are done and something else comes to mind and they keep going. It was good though. I have also discovered that being newly engaged is making it harder to work. I keep wanting to surf the internet for wedding sites. So much to think about.