A Little of This, A Little of That

Life is sprinting along right now in the most hectic but delightful way. Our church hosted a twelve night revival in mid-January, with twelve of the world's best preachers coming to church to speak life and truth over our church. We had people come all the way from Canada, California, England and more just to attend. It was a whirlwind, and by the end of the twelve nights (that ended up feeling like one super long day... I don't think I saw the sun for days) I was drained and exhausted but so humbled and honored to have led our production teams through such an incredibly epic (and I hesitate to ever call anything epic, but in this case, very little else applies) event.

Since then, I'm finally starting to feel like a human again. We're nailing down more wedding plans - we've picked the linens (a mix of burlap and slate gray pintuck!), started collecting ladders for our reception space (one of the details I'm most excited about), attending our Dave Ramsey classes each week, AND I finally received the call that my dress is in! I'm so in love with my gown and can't wait to try on the one that I'll be wearing down the aisle. Next Friday I'm so excited to head to J. Major's to slip it on with my mom and mother-in-law-to-be accompanying me. I can't wait to spend this special day with two such extraordinary women! We won't start fittings on Friday, but we will make sure that there's nothing wrong it and take a look at what tweaks we will need to make before April.

On Friday night, the fella and I took a dance class at the Y with dance extraordinaire The Lobster and her He-Lobster. We had such a blast learning the East Coast swing and Rumba. Our first dance will be to Ray LaMontagne's "You Are the Best Thing," and being two of the whitest people around we're more than happy to learn a move or two, so we don't stand swaying prom-style at the reception.

This weekend I've been busy work, but the highlight has been the fella landing a new gig as a chef at a fabulous privately owned, high-end restaurant in town! He starts Thursday, and the opportunity is really incredible. We are so excited for this next step in our lives and his career. Goodness, I love this man!

My New Obsession

Right now salads are my best friend. Not because I'm on a greens-only wedding diet (less than 3 months now, y'all), but because I can't get enough of the symphony of textures and flavors. I've rediscovered Dean & Deluca this week and spent a solo lunch there this morning relishing my new favorite - field greens, chicken, chickpeas, goat cheese, pine nuts, roasted red peppers, dried cranberries and avocado - and people watching while the rain drizzled outside. I caught myself jealously watching a lady in her 80s chug a glass of wine before excusing myself to head into work. Odd to me how much I enjoyed a few minutes of decompression eating alone and savoring a salad. A pointless post, really, but I want to remember how utterly relaxed I felt in that moment and remind myself that sometimes a few deep breaths and leafy greens are all it takes.

Satisfaction

After posting my to-do list on Monday I got a spurt of motivation and knocked out our wedding site from The Knot. Check it out! There's still information to be added, but I'm thrilled to be able to highlight it off the list in my notebook.

Checking It Twice

Wedding plans have been coming along swimmingly. I took a break for a few weeks to work my way through 30 extraordinary Christmas worship experiences at work (we had Christmas attendance of more than 21,000 people and saw 2,182 people give their lives to Jesus) followed by a glorious week off in which the fella and I moved him into my condo, and I moved home until the wedding. We don't want to live together before gettin' hitched, and his lease ended, so it made sense to let him get settled into our home and save some money while I live with mom and popsicle. I have a long list of bridal to-dos awaiting me in 2012 that look a little something like this...

- Groomsmen socks (pink and gray argyle are not so easy to find)

- Rehearsal dinner (we're nearing a final decision on this)

- Invitations (we're nearing a final decision on these too, and I love that they're being custom made by a talented friend)

- Parental gifts (again, we know what we're doing, we just need to pull the trigger)

- Linens

- Alcohol (our reception will feature an open wine and beer bar, but we're opting not to serve liquor)

- Reception art being done by a sweet friend

- Collecting ladders

- Purchasing the fella's wedding band (we're nearing a final decision on this)

- Considering day-of coordination (so far I can't stomach spending money on this, although I have no doubt that the peace of mind it will provide is priceless)

- Finalize the registry

- Finalize gift baskets for out of town guests

- Finalize music selections for the ceremony

- Decide on programs

- Finish tweaks on my mom's veil

- Find someone to do my day-of hair and makeup

- Find shoes

- Decide whether or not we want a videographer

- Create our site on The Knot

- Decide on a layout for the reception (our venue is a 10,000 square foot refurbished warehouse, so it's a HUGE blank canvas)

- Guestbook

Twenty Twelve

My only resolution this year is to become a missus. I'm thinking my odds are looking pretty good.

What They'll Wear

My biggest fear when it came to choosing bridesmaids dresses was that my lovely ladies would loathe my choice. Honestly, I'm still worried about it. My five maids represent a wide range of style choices, so finding one frock to embrace all of those different opinions made me feel pretty nauseous. The only things I knew for sure was that I wanted them to be gray, I wanted them to be short, and I didn't want them to be dupioni silk. I also knew I wanted each girl to have a chance to express themselves a bit and not be too matchy matchy. I took my little sister with me try some on, and we both ended up with the same favorite - something that isn't a naturally common occurrence, so I knew we'd chosen a winner. I instructed my 'maids to also pick out a pair of bronze-ish peeptoe pumps to complement the look, and I'll decorate them with cluster earrings and a different cocktail ring each. So, how did we do?

STDs

This week we finished mailing our Save the Dates (yep, we gave all of our loved ones an STD). I was so excited about how they turned out. My sweet photography intern gifted us with an engagement session, and another talented friend gifted us with the design. I couldn't wait to hear the feedback since the fella and I love them so much, and it's been nothing but wonderful. I still have to pinch myself that in less than four months I'll have the honor of being Mrs. The Fella.

My Sunshine

I adore these people.

The Inedibles

It's no secret that I'm a sucker for finger foods. I would rather eat my weight in cheese and crackers, Goldfish, and appetizers than a full meal. So I guess it shouldn't come as a surprise that my eager spirit to dip my hand into a bowl of munchies would, at some point, become a liability. In fact, not just once, but thrice...

1. While at the fella's parents' house, he grabbed a bowl and made a trip into the pantry. As he exited the closet of tasty delights, he shook the bowl and held it out to me. Excited to have snacks offered to me I immediately reached in, grabbed a morsel and popped it in my mouth, and cringed. "BABE!" the fella exclaimed, "That's dog food! I just wanted you to put it on the floor." Thoroughly embarrassed, I quickly spit the kibble back in the bowl, silently counting my blessings that I wouldn't have to pretend that my future mother-in-law had invented a savory and delicious new treat.

2. I stopped by my parents' house the other day to drop a few things off for Little. She wasn't home when I swung by, so I opted to scrounge through the house to create a delicious (free) lunch. After prepping my whole wheat naan, hummus and feta, I decided I needed a sweet bite to finish it off. Sitting on the counter was a cookie jar filled with small chocolate rounds topped with peanut butter. Excitedly, I threw two in my mouth and crunched down. Foiled again! Chocolate-peanut butter goodies quickly turned into puppy training biscuits upon a taste bud examination. Trust me, even the sweetest dog biscuit does not equal a dessert.

3. To improve the atmosphere of the production studio of the church campus I oversee, I asked my intern to pick up some niceties, including reed diffusers, lamps, etc. When I entered the studio the following weekend I was ecstatic to find two small bowls full of my favorite Gummy Bear flavor - that pineapple-ish, semi-clear one? How sweet of my intern to know those were my favorite. With an odd amount of flourish I tossed two in my mouth and nearly cracked four teeth as a I bit down on the scented rocks, posing as... well, scented rocks. Upon closer inspection it was clearly that these were dummy gummies.

One would suppose that after my first, um, slip up, I would be more observant about what I was eating before I actually tried to ingest it, but, that would be a poor supposition.

Not a Creature Was Stirring... EXCEPT For a Mouse

I was so excited to decorate my condo for Christmas with the fella this year. Last year I didn't decorate at all, and with the hustle and bustle that working for a church brings around Christmas, I woke up on Christmas Day wanting to start the season over and relish it. I knew this year would be different, and I would spend every moment soaking up the holiday. It was also fun (although, a little touchy, if I'm honest, from time to time) to combine our traditions, ornaments and miscellaneous Christmas decor. There were definitely a few moments of tension deciding whose to use and whose to toss, but thankfully we compromised over a lovely glass of wine and pushed through and got to work.

As we pulled out a skinny faux tree of the fella's to adorn the foyer, I saw something small and furry drop onto my living room floor. "That's a mouse!" I shrieked... more out of amusement than terror. A mad scramble ensued with the fella trying to trap the mouse, me trying to restrain Sadie and find a bowl or cup to house the little critter... all while I laughed hysterically. When we finally restrained and contained our new friend we rushed it outside to find a new home in my flower beds. The fella quickly followed with the tree and discovered a nest of the rodent variety consuming an entire side of the tree that had previously been stored in his shed. As he batted the nest into the bushes we heard an ominous squeak and discovered yet another mouse being housed inside. We noticed quickly that both of the mice appeared to be babies.I wondered aloud where the momma might be. "Well," the fella mused, "probably my car since the tree has been in there.." I nodded that he might be right. Slowly, however, my nodding and laughter turned to head shaking and a groan as I realized that in actuality, the tree had been housed in my car. Nothing says "Our First Christmas" like mouse droppings and phantom squeaks ringing through my vehicle. Cheers, y'all!