Time if flying

Time is just FLYING by! I think I have a semi-routine going for me and gosh, i swear routines only increase the speed. I like my routine, I like the comfort of it, and it's healthy in that it includes an exercise regimen, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday I get home from work, start fixing something for dinner and then head off to my rowing workout at 5:45 until somewhere before 7:15-7:30. Get home, eat dinner, and around 8-9ish start winding down with an hour or two of TV, get a shower, and go to bed. I love it. It's comfortable, i am relaxed, I get a workout in, I have time to eat a good dinner, spend some time with matt, and then vedge out without anything on my mind. In fact, i look forward to it most days.

The problem is sometimes I worry if i missing other things too much. A lot of my friends still meet up with each other at the bars on weekends, during the week even. For me, I just have NO interest anymore. Not that I don't want to see my friends, I am just SO sick of sitting at bars. I hate the crowded ones because I hate getting bumped, and the NOT crowded ones just seem boring like why would I want to be here when I could be back at my place. Or why do i need to be at a bad talking to my friends? PLUS, I don't drink that much because I don't like beer and why do i need to waste these empty calories when I am working hard to be healthy and be in shape for this summer and the wedding. Some days I just feel like time is going to fast and I am missing things. How do i help this feeling? Sometimes i wish my friends would join my workout routine during the week. Or maybe we do something OTHER than going to the bars on the weekend. I need something to change-up here, but not in my routine? It makes no sense to me....

The more I realize it my wedding is going to be here before I know it. I am finally starting to enjoy the planning process. And reading and the searching for ideas.... it's true, this is the one time i'll ever get to plan something like this so i might as well enjoy it. I like reading up on traditions, and look up bridal accessories, and finding cute gifts to give to my wedding party...the little things I love. Planning the big stuff wasn't fun, the details are whats fun.

Now i am looking forward to warm weather, more sun, longer days.... chances are my routine will change. But hopefully it wont feel like time is going any faster.

Wedding Planning Progress

Hi World, hopefully no one has forgotten about me since i have been completely absent from a lot of things lately. Wedding planning is CONSUMING me, which actually for the for the first time I feel like I can say honestly. Before this weekend everything seemed so abstract, and everything seemed like A LOT to do that it overwhelmed me. This made me feel more stresses and anxious than any other emotion, and this week i feel much more excited.

And I think it's because.... I FOUND MY DRESS!!!

My mom and sister came in town this weekend to help me, and hopefully have my sister pick our bridesmaid dresses too. Well, it was much more stressful than i would have thought because my sister is a 'no frills kind of gal' which made me a little hesitant. And actually, i LOVED a LOT of dresses. SO many dresses were beautiful, is there such thing as an ugly wedding dress? Not that i found. I would have been perfectly happy with A LOT of dresses i tried on, but only one made my mom cry... BIG time. She didnt have that reaction with any other dress, and that was the dress i got. I am finding I am always going into my picture folder and taking a peak at the pictures we took of me in it. I do love it!! Except the dress i ordered will be slightly different-- it will be white (I am pictured in ivory). It will now take 6 months to come in. booooo Now i just have no idea if i am supposed to get a tailor now because they get busy if not reserved or what I am supposed to do?

I wish i wasn't so ignorant. I wish I had a better idea of what goes with what, how things are supposed to be planned and what not. I picked our some bridesmaid dresses, and D didn't like a lot of them because she is a little curvier... but we did pick one we both agreed on. (pardon the pic, I am sure D doesn't think she looks good but I think she looks just fine)

We found it at David's bridal so that means my bridesmaid can order in their respective cities (which is everywhere). This dress is black-- i want them to be 'lapis', but you get the point. Now my dress is A-line so i think it matches. But my mom is still giving me options because I guess I could find one that 'matched' better on top because my doesn't go with that.... but i have no idea how to pick that. ANd does it really makes a different in pictures? I wish their was an instruction manual.

This week I also made appointments with some bakers and we met with our firsy on Tuesday-- and it was SO fun!! Matt pretty much designed out cake (with my help of course) and i was SO excited that he had an opinion!!! In fact, i LOVED that he had an opinion. And this lady was SO reasonable, her cost/slice was one of the lowest and she doesnt charge for any of the frills. SO we picked out a four tiered cake with pillars in between, and then 2 two-tiered cakes on either side of the BIG tiered cakes connected by off shoots- that matt likes to call escalators-- and we even have a fountain in the middle. It was reeeally neat! The only thing is i have a weird desire to want to cut the bottom middle cake, instead of one of the side cakes. But the baker said it might be difficult for pictures, but maybe i am just over-analyzing it?
O ya, and one more thing about the 'escalators' is we thought of getting little people that look like our wedding party on these escalators and then a bride/groom at the top of the cake.... oo i thought it would be so cute!!

So needless to say my mind is working now!! And i even asked one of my friends to be my 'very important point of contact.' This point was really driven home on Tuesday when our baker told us all these scenarios when you need someone who is not the bride, or the mother of the bride, or anyone in the wedding party, to be able to make last minute decision, ensure everything is arranged properly, so important logistics things. I was SO please one of my friends offered to help me!

So now, my primary objecitves are baker and florist... and to start relaxing and having fun. Now that I finally have my dress, it reeeally does seem real:)

Busy

I have been the world's worst blogger-- i havent read any, wrote any, or even had a second to think about any blogging all week! I am in training, work is crazy, and after work i am SO busy getting ready for another busy weekend. I am in training and i am going to start travelling again soon, life is crazy!! Hopefully this weekend is productive too and can get a lot of wedding stuff done. My mom and sis are visitng!! Yay!! bUT LOTS TO DO!!



More to write soon!!!

Lasik and other musings on the economy

I have been hesitant to post because a lot is going on in my family but I feel reluctant to post for privacy purposes. It has everything to do with the economy and nothing to do with health and well being of those close people close to me. The proverbial 'other shoe' dropped last week in the realization that the economy is exactly as gloom and doom as news reports. It is much scarier than I would have thought, and effecting people I would have never thought it would effect.

I have a lot of other thoughts on the mechanics of this recession/depression/economic downtown/market crisis...whatever you want to call it. And a lot of thoughts on Obama's solutions to it. Actually a LOT of thoughts..... especially about his three quarters of trillion dollar Stimulus plan!? Excuse me, where is this money coming from? How much more in-debt do we need to be? How can the government spent like this and still not want to increase taxes? Why is the government getting bigger? and WHY IS OBAMA MAKING EVERYONE TURN AGAIN THE SMALL BUSINESS??? Doesn't anyone realize that Mr. Small Business is the GOOD guy? Mr. Small Business creates jobs, Mr. Small Business enhances the cash flow within the economy, Mr. Small Business encourages competition equalling better quality and efficiency, Mr. Small Business is the American dream describing self-reliance and free will in a free market-- MR SMALL BUSINESS IS THE FOUNDATION OF OUR ECONOMY STRUCTURE!!! That is, until now... with the possible a trillion (yes, a trillllion) new dollars going to government initiatives and government contracted positions, and government government government....

It's down right spooky.

(even if we may see our budget-- just in my line of work-- essentially double)

But, i digress. I, of course, do not want my blog to turn political. I hate politics. In fact, i only expected my rant in the above paragraph to be tangential to how i feel about how economy is effecting my life. Personally effecting my life and those around me. But perhaps if i do it will just stir up unwanted and not-productive feelings about our current situation. And evidently, is hard to discuss.

So I shall talk about my THIRD refraction and eye appointment in the last 4-5 months. The first was when i needed to buy new glasses. The second obviously was my first Lasik consultation with the doctor that cancelled on me. And last night, the Mid West Eye Center. I am ready to go for Lasik on Friday. YES, FRIDAY!!!! I am going with and all laser procedure-- one that is different that my original procedure-- in that it is bladeless and a laser will actually be making the cut in my cornea. Honestly, just talking about the procedure gets me squeamish... and the after effects like burning, blood shot and dry eyes dont exactly give me something to look forward to either. But i am thrilled of the prospects of never using glasses, walking down the isle with no eye correction, and possibly seeing better than I have ever seen before! I am SO nervous, but it will all be over Friday afternoon. Ill have to post about my experience next week.

No new updates on the wedding front. I am seriously lacking motivation--- what should my priorities be right now?

Hopefully after my surgery that is consuming my thoughts right now is over, i can start getting back into the swing of things. A lot of stuff going on, but im still swimming.....

Snow/Ice Storm '09

Well I see this has made headlines for my other bloggy friends, it might as well make headline here too. I just wish I had my camera to post some pictures-- it certainly was beautiful!

Being come Cleveland it certainly was not the most snow I have ever seen, but in combination with the lack of street clearing vehicles it has caused quite a bit of chaos. It was the worst combination too; snow, then icing rain, then more snow..... and no roads cleared. If you live in Cleveland and you get 4 inches of snow it is just another Wednesday. If you live in Cincinnati, they put snow emergencies on the roads and you aren't allowed to go anywhere, plows are working overtime and inefficiently, accidents are clogging highways, businesses close, the city is in panic mode. It ordinarily would take an hour or a few to clean up Cleveland streets after a snow.... it takes 12-24 to clean up Cincinnati. In fact, it hasn't snowed since yesterday late-morning/afternoon and people still had trouble coming into work this morning because parts of INTERSTATE (yes, interstate) have not been cleaned-up.

The good news was i got to go home early both of the days the snow fell. We closed early Tuesday, and again after snow emergency was lifted yesterday, too. It;'s nice because it makes for a short week... and quite frankly... the snow is beautiful. It feels like January and it LOOKS like January for once. This is the winter I am used to. However it is mentionable to be thankful no one lost power due to all the ice. TONS of people lost power in the area, and Matt's house was on e of the lucky. Snow is beautiful,, no power in below freezing weather most certainly is not.



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Edit: All of the plans I had in my previous post: Lasik consultaion, rowing, indian food, all cancelled. No one went anywhere, everything was closed.

Some pics and other randomness

Well there is 3- possibly 4 inches of snow on the ground and apparently the city is in turmoil. Everyone stayed home from work today, the news forecasters are calling it the biggest snow of the year, the streets are barely plowed, and everyone is running to the store to stock up on supplies.

did you miss the first sentence? THREE INCHES MY FRIENDS, THREE INCHES!!!!

Cincinnati could stand to learn a thing or two from cleveland.

So this week is slow and I am already looking forward to this weekend. I am starting to get the sniffles and have already sneezed like 10 times in the last hour. At least I dont feel sick. Last night at our rowing workout our coach tested some of the class on our 2000 meter race times for the indoor rowing championship regatta this weekend at St. X. I tested and felt like throwing up when i finished. I didnt do as well as i thought, and when we start off on a sprint my first stroke I fell of the slide. It was so demoralizing. I dont think I am a competitive level right now.

Tonight I am going out to Indian food and drinks for a friends bday (that is, if we can all brave the snow..ooooo) and tomorrow Matt and I are going to my new doctor for a Lasik consultation. Thursday I have rowing, and then it;s friday and the weekend again! YAY!!

I am just getting over how great the past couple of weekends were, and this coming weekend I already have lots of plans!! But before I forget ill post some pics that i've been meaning to put up.

This picture was taken at the cyclones game on Saturday night, A got a box from his company and invited 12-14 of our friends. it was AWESOME!

Engagement party pics:

And this last one is Seabass and K-- one of the last weekends in December,... just wanted to throw it up here because I love these girls!

So now that I caught up on some picture posting I thought id follow suit with Pottamus because was also tagged to do this but cant do it on facebook-- or more like I dont know how. Also, this will be an abridged version. It calls for 26 (maybe 25?) random facts but I am going to do 15 random facts simply because I have spent enough time posting these pictures which for some reason I have a lot of difficulty doing. So, here goes...

1) My entire family has "D" names and that includes every animal we ever owned (which includes 2 dogs, a chinchilla, 4 gerbils, and 2 guinea pigs throughout our childhood.

2)Its sometimes pathetic how much down time I have a work and I often worry that I am losing valuable skills at my current job but not being fully utilized all of the time.

3)After the last two elections I have become increasingly more aware of my political views and real and rooted belief system that seems to fall fairly aligned with the republican party.

4)I often wish people didnt think our new president is like a super-star. Sometimes I wish that people could understand my view points about him and how there are some serious issues at stake, and it's not about race or color or social status.

5). I used to think i loved to travel but as I am getting older I like it less and less because airports and navigating my way around is stressful and not fun for me at all.

6). When I am with my fiance i feel like i can do anything. Whenever he is with me I feel strong and confident and I miss him when he is not around. Although it may be a comfort zone thing, i love him for making me feel that.

7)Sometimes I think my dog was a person in a past life-- he is so animated and can act like an old man sometimes.

8)The thought of anything happening to Matt is terrifying to me and I worry about him all the time when he isnt with me.

9)My dad works waay too hard that is not good for his health. I want him to retire and enjoy life with my Mom before he gets too old.

10)Some of my friends stress me out and I too often worry that I am inadequate when I am around them. I am coming to realize it;s all just my own insecurities.

11)I am constantly worried that I am going to mess=up planning my wedding and am terrified no one will have fun.

12)I really want to learn how to be a good cook, it's a slow process but I am hoping to get there.

13)I really want a family, I worry what kind of a mother I will be because I dont think I am that good with children, but I really want kids.

14) I have seriously thought about adoption when I have a family.

15) I have never once second guessed how blessed and privileged I am and I thank God every day for all the wonderful people and opportunities I have in my life right now.

End to a short week

So it's finally Friday! And this week has actually been pretty good. Still on the high from this weekend's surprise, it has put a little bounce in my step whenever I think about it. It was a great week in general too, and productive.

We got a lot done on the wedding front. Two more check boxes (well, aside from some clerical work they boxes are pretty much checked). Photographer AND band. We are going with the Kim Kelly Orchestra and we are going with their 13 pc band. It's going to be big and loud and hopefully awesome. My one concern is that they dont play enough songs for the young crowd (which is many). I asked for a couple references and called them both and both used this band for an older crowd; one for a company holiday party and another guy who seemed rich threw a big party and actually got two bands so there were no breaks. Both people were really nice and helpful, the second guy was 50. I am 25. And it's not that i want justin timberlake playing, i just want the classic rock and roll stuff that everyone knows and can do some booty shakin! Like CCR, Van Morrison, billy joel... you know the usual classics. Their playlist on line seemed pretty diverse-- a lot of big band stuff, jazz and ballads, but also a big classic rock list too. I am hoping i can ask them to play up that list. I cant help but obsess, i am so bad at making decisions!!

The rest of this week was spent playing catch up. I went out to dinner and the theatre on Wednesday night with J and A ( only the 2nd play of our a season tickets), and last night I had a great rowing workout. Saturday we are going to the Cyclones game with some friends who got a box from his office so that will be fun, and I even emailed my future sister-in-law because we've been talking about a double date- movie date. That would be fun too. I am looking forward to the weekend.

In other non-related news I am scheduled for Lasik part deux. I had got through the whole rigamarole done before the holidays because i needed to find a doctor, find out if i am candidate, get my eyes checked, measured, etc and figure out costs so I can allot it through my flex spending account at work. I was on top of things. And i loved my doctor. Well, i got into the office on Monday to a message from my dr. office. I called back and the lady said he isnt doing Lasik anymore. WHAAT? just like that. No referral, no explanation, nothing. ANd just like that i was out in the cold. I have a feeling it might have had something to do with the economy, but luckily matt was able to find me another referred doctor at a separate place. The mid-west eye center-- and some of their equipment seems even more advance. AND i think i might get a discount from my insurance. It just sucks that i had everything ready to go, and the EXACT dollar amount elected in the my flex. But i am reschedule now. the stress has passed, the new date is February 6th.

Now just looking for another box to check.

TGIF!