We Made it to NH

After a very late night for me last night (to bed after 1:00am) and an early rise (up at 7:00am) plus a long drive, we have made it to NH. I was packing, putting things together, etc. until almost the last minute so I think I over packed as I began to just throw everything into the car. Hopefully I remembered all the important stuff!

You would think I would breath a sigh of relief since we are here and settling in. However, I am not because Tony is sick. He has a headache, sore throat, stuffy and then runny nose and I think he has a fever. Sigh...

I will keep you posted. As we speak I have pumped OJ, Tylenol, and Benedryl into him and asked him to try to rest while I stepped out for a bit. My mother reminded me, I better be careful so that I don't get it!

WOW!

The past few days have been such a whirlwind. Starting Friday I had a minor health scare but all seems well for now so that is good. From there, things have just been crazy. I am officially getting little sleep because the stress has kicked it up a notch. Thanks so much to my Uncle's wife, Karen, who got me a massage for my bridal shower. I just had that today and boy was I tense!

Everyone asks me about nerves but I don't have them. At least not in terms of "is this the right man." Perhaps the fact that I have been dating him for almost 12 years and living with him for 5 years helps a little as well as the fact that I have such a great guy. Sure he pushes my buttons but he really cares, listens, and there really are days I fall in love with him all over again.

Okay, enough of the mushy stuff :) Things really are rolling along pretty well. I worked on favors last night after a long last minute shopping trip with my Mom (thanks Mom for hanging in there!) All my major contacts have responded to me and things seem set. Now I just pray for good weather, good health, and good luck :)

Fun Was Had By All

As mentioned in my last post, my parents, my fiance, brother, brother's girlfriend and myself went to the Brad Paisley Concert last night. It was excellent! My fiance enjoyed the Taylor Swift performance, which I must admit, after the concert I am a bigger fan of her than I was. Brad Paisley I absolutely love and think is really good-looking. However, after last night, I think Rodney Atkins may have beat out Brad Paisley in my book. Rodney Atkins is better looking in person and Brad Paisley I actually think looks better on TV (not that he was ugly by any means!)

My brother and his girlfriend were close enough to get two guitar picks and shake hands with Brad Paisley and Rodney Atkins. My fiance and I were close enough to get a guitar pick of Brad Paisley's and my parents were very close too. It was surreal to be that close to these people. My fiance and I were saying it allowed us to realize they are human too. I know that may sound weird, but when you are close enough to these people to reach out and touch them you realize they too are actually just like you; they just have a lot more money than me in my case :)

Anyway, it was such a good concert and I just let go of all the stress of the coming wedding and enjoyed myself. The one down side, it has been forever since I attended a concert so I didn't know cameras were now okay to bring in. Not wanting to risk losing my digital camera so soon before the honeymoon, I didn't bring it. I sure kicked myself repeatedly over that! I was so close I could have gotten some great shots...instead, I will have to go with my memories and for those of you who know me well, my memory isn't' that great!

Brad Paisley Here I Come!

Tonight Tony and I along with my parents, brother and his girlfriend are going to the Brad Paisley concert in Portland. I am not really excited about it because I have kind of hit zombie mode to get me through the 9 days and counting until my wedding. However, I know it will be a blast as we have 4th row floor seats and I just love his music (he isn't bad to look at either!) My last client for the day was a no show which has made it kind of a nice end to the day. Thus, I think I will call it a day a little early and get home so I can get ready fo the concert tonight!

Have you Seen a Fat Giraffe?

If you, like my fiance, have never seen a fat giraffe then you are going to get your chance within the next month (that is, if the giraffe herself isn't too horrified to allow a public posting of a photo of her!) After trying on the dress several hundred times, I have decided that since I really don't have an alternate picked out, the giraffe dress will have to do for the rehearsal dinner. Thus, the fat giraffe will be making a rare appearance at a restaurant in Littleton, NH on the night of September 21st. For the guests at my rehearsal dinner and the other guests of the restaurant, they will be lucky to be part of such a rare sighting. So, stay tuned and if you're lucky, the giraffe will allow a photo of her to be posted so all of you may partake in such a rare sighting as well.

Little Things Mean Alot....

I tried to post last night but the dinosaur of a computer we have is acting up. Anyway, you may be wondering why I have a picture of a trash can in my post. It is the newest purchase I made from Walmart and for just $5.50, it could be yours too! It stands about to my knee and tucks perfectly between the entrance to our bathroom and closet in the bathroom. I bought this yesterday after walking by it several times before. Noticing that the selection was getting smaller, I decided to go for it and I am so happy!

For those of you who have seen our bathroom you know it is REALLY small. This thin cylinder one takes up less space but still holds almost as much as our other one (holding the same amount was a very important thing because my fiance insisted on this if I was to get a new trash can.) I have been telling him for about a month that I wanted a more compact one because of space (and after stumbling into ours at times...I am not the most coordinated gal.) I also wanted one with a cover so that people wouldn't see our bathroom trash since there is no place to tuck away the trash can. So, I found this and I love it. The swing top cover glides with ease and hides our trash!

My fiance stated that he was upset because he can't throw the trash basketball hoop style into the trash can anymore (basketball was his life for many years so I guess now he just gets it where he can.) I said "good because sometimes you miss and I have to pick Q-tips off the floor." So, I thought I would share my new addition with you and let you know just how much a cheap little trash can has the ability to make a girl happy :)

Happy Birthday Trent!

Today I am dedicating my post to my brother. It is his birthday and I can't believe he is now 22 years old. I still think of him as my little brother who needs protecting but deep down I know he can take care of himself. Sure he is REALLY spontaneous, sure he sometimes appears not to have a care in the world, and sure he still lives at home :) but he is grown. He grew up a long time ago when his life changed forever when he was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease and watching him determined to live life to the fullest and not let the disease define him sure has been amazing. I admire his ability to "take life as it comes" and I admire his strength and determination. I feel blessed to have him as a brother and although he sure can push my buttons at times, I love him just the same and wouldn't trade him for the world. So here's to you Trent, happy birthday and may God grant you many more of them. Love ya! :)

When All Else Fails....Drink!

For those of you who know me well, you know that I do not drink. I never have and never felt the need to start...until last night. Feeling stressed, as you could probably tell from my last post, I decided to break open a bottle of champagne to help me relax. Again for those of you who know me well, you know that I do like champagne :) I even took the time to drive to my mother's house to get the Christmas tree bottle stopper she had for me to cork the bottle! (I know nothing about preservation so hopefully the cork will do the trick.)

My fiance has been telling me for years that I need to drink because it would take off the constant edge I seem to carry with me. However I always responded that I was not going to depend on a substance to do that for me. Well, last night I ate my words. I poured myself a glass of champagne and quickly began to relax because for someone who never drinks, it doesn't take much :)

So the question I pose to you all, should a wedding really drive someone to drink? While I wait for a response I am going to go pour myself a glass of champagne :)

Just Breath....

So I know you are going to get sick of hearing my stress with the wedding but man, it seems like I am suddenly constantly remembering one more thing I need to do. On top of that, suddenly all the people I need to contact about the wedding are needing things from me and asking questions I have already answered! Why is it that things run so smoothly up until the last minute?! Sorry everyone, I just needed to vent a little. Sigh....

Procrastination is the key....to stress!

So all of you who know me well, know that I procrastinate. Yes, I even procrastinate when it comes to big important things like the wedding. So, here I am working on Labor Day (well not right now because I am typing my post...hmmm...I guess that means I am procrastinating with my work!) Anyway, as I was saying, here I am at work, and I am changing my calendar to September when I look at the calendar more closely and for some reason it dawns on me even more than my last wedding post that I am in fact getting married in just over two weeks! OH @#$%! I have so much to do. I have favors to make, people to call, a dress to pick up, a guest reservation to cancel, a tux to pick up, a hair appointment, welcome baskets to make and a wedding ceremony to write! The list goes on! "Why did I let myself get so far behind" I ask. "Because you always do" I tell myself as I look at the paperwork I was supposed to have turned in to Home Health 3 days ago. Perhaps it isn't that I procrastinate but that I can't focus, my mind wanders too much and I start a bunch of things and never finish one until I realize I was supposed to have finished it a day, week, or even a month ago so then I finally scramble to do it. In fact, glancing at my plant now I realize I have even neglected that, it is limp and I suspect needs watering. I better go do that. So what was it that I was originally writing about????

Gutsy Guys and Gals

Some of you may have noticed a link on the right lower side of my blog. If you click on it you will be brought to a page where if you scroll down you will find the Portland, ME walk for Oct. 14th. Click on that and you get a page where if you look to the right you will see "Gutsy Guys and Gals" listed under "teams." Click on that link and you can click on "General Team Donation" or my name. Both of which will bring you to a page where you can enter a dollar amount you pledge by using your debit or credit card. You probably are thinking, "that's nice, but what's this all for?" This is a walk my family participates in each year because it supports the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA). Why do I care about this? Because my brother has Crohn's Disease.

As my personal fundraising page says, my brother has been living with Crohn's Disease since he was officially diagnosed at 14 years old. It has been a roller coaster ride but with the help of research funded by donations from people like you, my brother has been fairly stable with the help of Remicade infusions every 6 weeks. Remicade is something that would not have been possible without the research money from walks such as the one my family and I do each year. Crohn's disease has no cure and Remicade is kind of the "last straw" treatment at this point. However, if people like you donate to support my family in this walk, that money may help find the next treatment and even more hopeful, a potential cure.

Do You Hear Wedding Bells?

I can't believe it is now September. Where has the time gone? Even more shocking to me is that this is the month I get married! Exactly 22 days from today I will be walking down the aisle to make my almost 12 year relationship official. I must admit I have started feeling the pressure. I was feeling calm, cool, and collected until I reached the "under a month mark." Before then, I couldn't tell you the exact number of days until the wedding. Ask me now and I sure can! We have the big things done but now it is the little things that still add up to a lot (i.e., favors, welcome baskets, etc.) Which reminds me, I still have to write the wedding ceremony! I love our photographer and he is coming early and staying late so no worries there. However, the cake person and musician are traveling from Maine the day of the wedding so I worry if they will make it on time. Especially because the musician is so laid back and always having car trouble! Furthermore, I love our officiant but he too is so laid back; he actually missed our first meeting with him! Please don't let him forget the wedding or write the wrong date on the marriage license (I have heard that has happened before.) Plus, I worry slightly about the weather now. It has been so unpredictable lately. Our wedding in the best case scenario is on the top of a mountain outside. Worst case scenario, a lodge at the base of the mountain inside if it is raining and too windy to go up the mountain. I keep trying to believe what everyone says, that no matter what it will be wonderful. However, what bride doesn't wish for perfection? Wow...I really need to figure out how to use paragraphs here...this looks like one rambling blob!