1st Anniversary!

Today the hubs and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary.  Hooray!  We celebrated by spending the night in Boston, grabbing some Italian food, some pastries, and going to a comedy club.  We had a lovely time and are now back home basking in the heat.  In honor of the day, here are some of my favorite wedding pictures:

Another Weekend Down

Another weekend down!  And it was actually a productive weekend.  Here's a little recap:

Friday

I actually spent some time analyzing data for my thesis.  This is super important and really should be the focus of all my attention, but it has been really hard to get my thesis advisor to give me stuff to do.

Saturday

I woke up earlier then Patrick and I headed out for a 10 mile bike ride while he continued to sleep.  It was sunny and cool (thank goodness the heavy rain had let up!).  The legs felt good and I averaged a strong pace (~15 mph).  Here are some pictures from my ride:

Yesterday afternoon we went to a wedding!  I really love weddings.  The wedding was by a lake (pretty, but a little cool and windy) and the reception was in a church basement.  Here's the happy couple:

Here's Patrick and I looking fabulous:

And here are the awesome favors I made for them as a gift (need some?  I think I may need to start a business):

Today

This morning I got out for a three mile run.  And I ran the WHOLE THING!!!  Yay!  This really hasn't happened in quite some time.  The time wasn't stellar, but who cares?  I love this time of year because it is perfect running weather.  This afternoon I've gotten my homework and lab reports graded so I am ready for the week ahead.

What did you do this weekend?

Worst. Blogger. Ever.

Well, I think I can say that I've officially had a blogger FAIL!  I have been slacking and I'm sorry!  I never really realized how much time and energy goes into planning and recouperating from a wedding.  I was doing good at reading your blogs, but now I've even let that slip.  Really, I'm going to try hard to redeem myself here.  So here's what I've been up to:

1. Changing my name - this is quite the process in and of itself.  I'm almost done though...I think.  Having the new last name is a little wierd, but I'm getting used to it.
2. This past weekend we moved a ton of stuff into our new apartment.  We don't start officially living there for another week and a half, but it feels good to be mostly moved in.  Thank goodness all our stuff fit!  Although Patrick and I lived together last year, this is the first apartment that is just ours.  We're really looking forward to it!
3. Not exerrcising - I've fallen off the bandwagon and desperately need to get back on.  I've been trying to be careful with my food, but I need to get back to my routine.  I've really only exercised a handful of times since the wedding.  It's going to be tough, but I need to do it!  Motivation, please!
4. And I've been busy orgainzing wedding pictures.  So as a reward, here are a few more of my favorites:

Three Things Thursday

1. I won't leave you in suspense: my pro pics came in yesterday!!! I am so excited. My biggest fear with my wedding was that I wouldn't like my pictures, but I love them! There are so many great shots and some awesome candids. Now that I've got all those, I'm going to get a recap up. I only wanted you to have the very best. :-) I won't torture you too much and I'll share a couple of my favorites here:

My mom and I:

The whole bridal party:

With my girls:

And my favs of Patrick and I:

And, last but not least, my absolute favorite:

2.  I finally got my haircut.  I grew my hair out for the wedding, even though I knew I was going to wear it up.  So I guess I could have kept it shorter, but I'm glad I didn't.  It looked really nice for the wedding and now it is all gone!  I feel about 10 pounds lighter.  Here's a before pic (not the greatest, but I picked it to demonstrate the length of my hair):

And here I am fresh from the salon.  I really love it like this.  However, I'm a bit too lazy to do this all the time.

So here's how it looks most of the time.  My hair is naturally curly and I just assume let it do its thing.  Besides, I think this look is cute too.

2.  Did I show you the best wedding gift ever?  It's from my wonderful new husband.  Check it out:

I am soooo excited to have a Garmin.  I'm tempted to wear it everywhere, but I've been limiting myself to workouts only.  Having it definitely motivates me to get back into my exercise routine (and I need all the help I can get right now!).  Patrick got a new bike and we're dog-sitting this week in a neighborhood that is right next to a bike trail so we've been doing that.  Last night we went out after dinner when it was cooler and the trail was shadier.  It was a great ride and I'm loving having stats that are accurate.  I'm a number cruncher, so this thing is addicting.  Once I get back into a regular workout routine, I'm really hoping that the Garmin will help me have more productive and higher quality workouts.

Life is good!  :-)

Note:  All the wedding photos were taken by Amanda Perkins Photography.

I'm Back!

And I'm a married lady!  Everything was so amazing, I hardly know where to begin.  So I think my plan is to start by working backwards.  I'm assuming it's going to take me about a week to get the wedding and the honeymoon all recapped and organized.  It was all such a whirlwind though and coming back to the real world from the honeymoon has been a bit of an adjustment.  I didn't realize what a mess I made in the process of getting ready for the wedding and now I have to clean it all up!  On top of that, I haven't exercised in almost 3 weeks.  Yikes!  And we're moving in about 4 weeks, which means there are tons of things to organize.  Just writing about it makes me feel like I have way to much to do!  Anyway, I know what you really want are some pictures, so here are my favorites from friends and family so far:
This is right after I got into my dress:

This was in the limo right when I got to the chapel.  My girls were sitting there yelling "Someone give us a camera!  This would make a great shot!"  And they were right:

And this is Patrick and I leaving the chapel.  I love how happy we look:

And this is the best shot of the bridal party (minus one bridesmaid) with Patrick and I.  I think we're laughing at a joke or something:

There will be tons more pictures to come, but there are so many to sort through!  Please be patient!  And I'm slowly catching up on everything I missed in blog world.  So I'm reading, but not commenting.  Hope everyone has had as great a couple weeks as I've had!

Mush. My Brain Is Mush.

The alternate title to this post would be: Mood Swings.

Well, only 3 days to go and I feel fried.  I go from being giddy and excited, to overwhelmed, to exhausted, to just not wanting to deal with it all to wanting to cry.  We went to pick up Patrick's tux last night and the woman commented on the emotions on my face.  She said she'd never seen anything quite like it.  Awesome.  Then seeing Patrick in the tux made me want to cry.  Seriously, I feel like I'm PMSing 24/7.  I think these mood swings are contributing to my exhaustion.  It's making me really glad that I went ahead and scheduled a massage for myself.  That's tomorrow and I'm really looking forward to that.

Today is my last day at work, thank goodness!  I can barely concentrate because I'm distracted thinking about the wedding.  Besides, I am soooo ready for some vacation time.  I totally plan in sleeping tomorrow before I have to go run errands.  And then Mexico is going to be awesome!   I'm also looking for some book suggestions for the honeymoon.  We've got a bit of a plane ride and we'll be on a beach, so I do want to be prepared with a book, if needed.  ;-)  Thanks!

Welcome July & Some New Goals

Wow, July already.  The year is already half over.  And I'm getting married this month.  Holy cow has the time flown by.  We got our marriage license yesterday and we only have a few small things to finish up.  We'll be hitched before you know it. 

And now to recap my April-June Goals and to set some new ones.  For all you new readers, I decided at the beginning of the year that I would set a few goals every three months instead of making a whole list of resolutions at the beginning of the year that I knew I probably wouldn't keep.

April - June Goals
~Finish the first triathlon of the season. - Check!  In fact, I've already done my second tri of the season as well.  Did you miss the recap?  You can find it HERE.
~Lose at least 10 pounds. - Yeah, this didn't happen.  At all.  Oh well.  My dress is now altered to fit me perfectly so I'm just trying to maintain my weight until the big day.  I kind of knew this wouldn't happen.  I guess I should have been a bit more realistic.
~Try to stay calm through the end of the semester and through wedding planning. - Really, things have continued to come along quite smoothly.  Minus a couple of minor (and I mean minor) aggravations, things have gone great.  I think my poor mother is more nervous than I am.
~Manage my money better. - This is hard when you have wedding things to pay for, but in general we've been trying harder to be careful with our money.  Because I did a crappy job of setting goals and this one isn't really quantifiable, it's hard to say what managing my money better would look like.  All I know it that we're back at work and we have money in the bank again.  So I'm calling it good.
 
July - September Goals
~Get married and get a major haircut. - Ok, so this one is kind of cheating, but I'm using it.  I can't wait to get my haircut post-wedding.  I started growing my hair out when we got engaged and I'm ready for a change.  I promise some before and after pictures when it's done.
~Start tracking my food again (at least 5 days a week). - I think tracking is a great way to stay in check and I haven't been doing it for awhile.  I'm trying to be realistic in my goal, so I'm excluding the week before and after my wedding.  I am NOT tracking on my honeymoon because that trip is all-inclusive baby and I plan on getting my money's worth.
~Start half-marathon training (again). - I really wanted to do a half back in March and I started training for it.  I felt like I was ready for it and I followed a training plan.  But after a month and a half of training I felt like I was going to injure myself so I stopped.  I want to try again and see how it goes.  I plan to start in August, with my sights set on a potential race in November.

A Dress, Ikea, and Mine Falls Trail Race Week 3

Tuesday already?  I've been meaning to post all weekend, but somehow the time got away from me.  How does that happen?  Well, I kicked off the weekend with a 16 mile bike ride.  The weather was gorgeous and it got me feeling good for my final dress fitting.  That's right, the dress is done.  I think it came out pretty good.  Unfortunately, you'll have to wait until the big day to see the final product.  It's still all a bit surreal and I'm struggling to be super excited about it.  They do have to adjust something at the bust, so while it's technically done, there is one final stitch to be put in. 

Saturday night Patrick and I headed into Boston for the evening.  We were really in need of a night out.  It has been a busy couple of weeks trying to get the wedding stuff done.  And between that, him trying to find a job, and family stresses, we needed to get away for a bit.  We strolled through Boston Commons and down Newbury St. (i.e. shopping galore) and just took it all in.  Then we headed to the North End for some yummy Italian food at this place:

The service was so-so, but the food was delicious!  After the meal we walked back up the street to Mike's Pastry and got a cupcake, a brownie, and a piece of cheesecake for $8!  What a deal!  We saved it until we got home because we were full.  No pictures of that because we were too busy stuffing our faces.

On Sunday I went to Ikea for the first time.  That place is like Crate and Barrel on crack.  Seriously, that place is out of control.  I've never seen anything like it.  Personally, I don't think Ikea fits my personal shopping style, but it was an experience.  My friend and I kicked the trip off by indulging in a cinnamon bun for $1.  It sure was worth the dollar, but maybe not the calories.  Oh well.  I did have to restrain myself from spending a ton of money.  I ended up with just a couple things for our bathroom in our new apartment for about $30.  It's probably a good thing that our new apartment is going to be tiny because there's less room for me to fill with crap we don't need.

And finally, last night was week 3 of my trail race series.  It was another hot and humid evening.  There was even a heat warning in effect, but I hydrated all day and figured I be ok.  Final time: 35.43 minutes.  However, I did stop about a half mile in to help another runner out.  The poor girl was on the side of the trail and having an asthma attack.  A bunch of other people ran by her, but no one was stopping.  That just seemed absurd to me.  So I stopped, gave her some water, and got her walking.  Finally, a friend of hers caught up to us and took it from there.  Talk about scary though!  I was just so surprised that no one was stopping to help.  I mean, it's only a trail race.  I would feel so guilty if I had just kept going and found out something really bad happened to her.  So all you runners out there, listen up: if you see a runner hacking on the side of the road or trail, stop and give them a hand. 

TGIF!

Don't forget my CSN stores $50 gift certificate giveaway!  It ends tomorrow.

All I can say right now is "Thank goodness it's Friday!"  I haven't been this glad to see the end of a week for quite some time.  I don't know what it was, but something about this week was exhausting.  Two of the mornings I literally had to drag myself out of bed.  I felt like I could have stayed in bed all day long.  It must have been the heat and the humidity.  That has a tendency to zap all my energy and motivation to do anything productive.

I did, however, convince myself to go for a walk with my mom last night.  I hadn't done anything exercise related since Monday and I was justifying it by telling myself that is was a "recovery" from my triathlon.  Except that my legs felt fine and I was really just being lazy.  Whatever, it is what it is.  We got out last night around 7:30 and it was refreshing.  The sun had started to go down and it was much more bearable out then when I got home from work at 3:00.

The race photos from the triathlon I did last weekend are up.  For the first time, I actually like some of them  Too bad they're $6 a piece.  Is that not ridiculous?  And I can't even steal borrow them from the website and post them here.  Total bummer.

The other thing we did this week was meet with our DJ for the wedding.  Oh yeah, my wedding is like 3 weeks away.  Crazy!  Back to the DJ.  Do you ever have expectations about someone you've never met because you've heard so much about them?  Well, Patrick had told me all about this guy.  Really, the music is probably the one thing that Patrick is actually excited about for this wedding.  So I had a certain idea about what the DJ was going to be like.  Well, he was nothing like I imagined and I was totally thrown off.  I felt bad because after the meeting I was a little flustered about the whole thing and I was just trying to process.  Patrick was practically beside himself because I wasn't as excited as he was about our DJ.  I know he's going to be awesome and everything is going to work out, but sometimes you feel a little let down when things don't meet your expectations.  Would you agree?

Sorry for all the randomness.  Hope everyone has a great Firday.  Anyone have any cool weekend plans?

Threee Things Thursday

Have you seen my totally awesome giveaway yet?  No?  Check it out!

1.  As of today, there is one month left until my wedding!  Oh my gosh I don't even know where the time went.  I am very excited (obviously), but the perpetual to-do list that keeps running through my had is very distracting.  It does help that most of the stuff I have left to do is the stuff I don't really want to do.  It'll all be worth it in the end, I know, but I'm really starting to look forward to the honeymoon more than anything.  Can't wait for that beach!  I am excited about all the family and friends that will be travelling in because we don't get to see them often.  I'm a little bummed we won't be able to spend more time with them.

2.  Last night was the awards night for juniors and seniors at my high school.  My little brother is a junior and super smart.  I thought I was super smart in high school, but this kid out-does me all the time.  Like the semester he came home with straight A+.  Yeah, you can't compete with that!  Last night he made us proud and got a book award from RIT and a social studies department award.  Way to go little bro!

3.  I think I am cursed in terms of the weather.  It has rained on all four of my last workouts.  First it was the Hollis Fast 5K, then it was my miserable Saturday bike ride, and then the trail race on Monday, and then yesterday I went out for another ride and it started to rain!  What the heck!  Not only that, but they were doing some paving so when I got to that part of the road, the road was hot and little pieces of hot pavement were being thrown up by my bike an hitting me in the legs.  No thanks!  Since I was at about the half way point, I just turned around and booked it home in an attempt to beat the heavy rain.  I'm pretty sure the weather for my triathlon on Sunday is supposed to be sunny, hot, and humid but you never know when I'm around!

Happy Thursday everyone!

Holy Hotness

Do you like free stuff?  Than you should check out my giveaway.

Like I said in yesterday's post, I've been lazy and haven't exercised since Sunday.  However, yesterday I packed my running clothes so I could run home from work.  I'm proud to say that I completed said run.  I ran 3 miles in the nasty afternoon heat and humidity.  When I got home and looked in the mirror, my face was super red and I was dripping sweat.  It was gross.  I'll spare you any photos of that!  I could have waited until later, but I was trying to beat the thunderstorms, which I did.  But the storm lasted maybe 10 minutes and I totally could have gone after when it was about 15 degrees cooler.  Oh well!

Catching up with my friend last night was fun.  I meant to take some pictures but I forgot.  I even had the camera with me.  What a bad blogger I am.  In chatting with her I was starting to realize how close my wedding really is.  It's only 6 weeks away!  What?!?!  I must say that I feel pretty calm about the whole thing, but I admit that I'm not looking forward to having to meet with all of our vendors within the span of about a week.  I don't understand why those appointments can't be a little more spread out.  I'm also not looking forward to peeling off the price tags that are on all the candle holders I've purchase.  Then I have to wash them too.  I think this tedious stuff is going to be the worst of it.  Then comes the all the fun stuff - the rehearsal dinner, the wedding, the brunch, the honeymoon.  We are going to have quite the wedding weekend!

This weekend brings a yard sale (yay for getting rid of stuff we don't need!).  I'm also hoping to get a longer bike ride in and I'm taking my grandfather to rent a suit for the wedding.  What's everyone else up to?

Three Things Thurdsday

Did you check out my giveaway yet?  No?  Well you should...

1.  I haven't exercised since Sunday.  Yesterday was National Running Day and I really wanted to get out there.  Well, I had told my family I would cook dinner and I ended up having to go to the grocery store instead.  So today I brought my running stuff with me to work and I plan on running home from here.  Luckily Patrick works at the same place so he can take the rest of my stuff home.  I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that it's not raining when I get out of work.

2.  Tonight I'm meeting up with a friend for dinner.  I've actually known this person since I was in first grade.  I actually kind of find it impressive that we've stayed in touch all these years.  We really only get together in the summer so it will be nice to catch up and see what she's up to.

3.  We're starting to get more and more RSVPs for the wedding.  It's kind of fun to check the mailbox when I get home.  Although I must confess that I was a little relieved yesterday because we got a 'no.'  As much as I would love for everyone that we invited to come, it would be better, in terms of budget, if a few people said no.  While some people may find that a horrible thought, I think I'm not alone in thinking it.  There are just so many people that you have to invite, that by the time you get to add people that you want to invite, you're already over the limit.  And whoever says that "you don't have to invite people, it's your day" is lying.  There are definitely people you have to invite that maybe, deep down you don't want to.  Oh well, it will all work out.

Three Things Thursday

1.  Yesterday:
My mom and I waited until after dinner to go for a bike ride.  It was over 90 degrees here for the second day in a row and it was still pretty hot when we went out at 6:30.  It was good to get a ride in though because on Tuesday the heat totally zapped my motivations and I didn't exercise.  It could have been the same story yesterday, but I'm pleased to say that I got out there.  The only tough part is that when I go with my mom I have to remember to go slower so I don't leave her behind.  I'm used to cycling alone, so it's hard.  It can also be frustrating when you know you're going to stop for ice cream at the end and you just want to get there and she's dragging behind you.  See that, I'm so mean that I care more about ice cream than my own mother!

2.  Today:
This afternoon I have my second dress fitting.  My maid of honor is coming with me and we're going to hang out and grab a bite to eat after.  This is nice because at my first dress fitting I drove the 30 minutes to the shop only to put on the dress and take it off within 15 minutes.  It was kind of silly how short the appointment was.  I'm hoping I get back early enough so I can squeeze in a run after dinner.  We'll see what happens.  If not, I'll just have to do a couple extra laps around the mall.

3.  Tomorrow:
Tomorrow is Friday.  Which is so very welcome because it's a 3 day weekend!  My plans include sleeping, exercising, and generally sitting around and doing nothing.  Tomorrow Patrick returns home from a short trip to Maine that he had to take to finish up his student teaching.  I'll be very happy to see him.  And with any luck, I'll be able to get in a longer bike ride tomorrow.

Bridal Shower Goodness

I had good intentions of posting before today, but that all got messed up because I had my surprise bridal shower on Saturday!  So I spent Sunday filling out thank you cards and yesterday I brought them all to the post office.  Besides, I wanted to make sure I came armed with pictures before I posted about it.
So I started figuring out my shower was this weekend on Wednesday.  By Friday I had it pretty much figured out, but only Patrick knew that I knew.  So we played along.  When I did get to my shower, I walked into a room of about 40 people.  It was absolutely overwhelming.  I was so surprised at how many people were there.  And I also couldn't believe the huge number of presents we received.  Everyone was far too generous.

My godmother, who is also our JP, made a beautiful cake for the event.  Check it out:

Once I gave everyone a hug, we jumped right into opening gifts.  I think my poor guests were afraid that gift opening was going to take forever.  It did take quite awhile.  Patrick stayed through the whole thing and actually helped open gifts.  It was fun because he was making the whole thing silly.  You can see what I mean:

Patrick was also really excited that we got the toaster oven:

Patrick and I also got a really nice shot with his grandmother:

And here I am with my fabulous bridal party, who put on an amazing shower:

I did want to share one cute story from the day.  My grandmother had decided that she was going to buy Patrick and I a set of really nice towels as a shower gift, which she did.  Apparently my grandfather didn't seem to think that was a good enough gift for his granddaughter.  I should mention, I'm the oldest and only female grandchild of three on that side of the family.  So one night he slipped my mom money and told her to buy me something nice.  My mom bought our comforter, sheets, and a throw pillow for our bed.  She marked them from our secret admirer so my grandmother, who was at the shower, wouldn't know.  Is that not the cutest thing ever? 

I couldn't have asked for a better shower and I am so appreciative of everyone's generosity.  It was hard to express how grateful I was in the thank you notes.  I hope all my guests know how sincere I was when I was saying thank you.  I hope everyone's week is off to just as great a start!

That Time Already?

Wow, I cannot believe this week is finals week.  Honestly, it doesn't even feel like the end of the semester.  Besides, I really just have a bunch of projects and just one exam, which is tomorrow (yikes!).  Then at the end of the week we have to pack up the entire apartment and we're leaving for NH for the summer after Patrick's graduation on Saturday.  It doesn't even feel like the end of the year at all.  It has just flown by.

So yeah, that's why I've been missing from blog-land for awhile.  In the meantime, I've gotten a 4 mile run in, a 5 mile walk, and a bit of a sunburn that is NOT going to work with my dress.  I put sunblock on, but apparently I missed a couple of spots on my back.  Um, hopefully that goes away before July.  Also on the wedding front, invites went out today.  Now we're actually going to have guests!  The time has just been flying by.

I have my first dress fitting in a week and my first triathlon of the season in two weeks.  It's time to get cracking.  Ever feel like you don't know where the time has gone?  I have a couple of interesting posts planned for the week, so stay tuned!

My Dress is Here!

I got the call yesterday that my wedding dress is in.  That made me so much more thankful that I missed the call because I was on the treadmill!  This is definitely making things feel more real.  Of course, I won't see it or try it on until May because I'm here in Maine and the dress is in Nashua.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that there's nothing wrong with it because there won't be anything we can do about it.  I think I'm also lucking out because the alterations I'm going to need are so simple.  This means that I can start my fittings later than normal, which gives me more time to get in shape!  Now that it's here, it's on my mind and keeps me going.  I thought you might appreciate another teaser:

I can't wait to get it all doctored up and have it fit like a glove.  And everybody that is in the wedding now has something to wear.  Thank goodness for that!

Three Things Thursday

1.  The sun is finally back out here in Maine.  Hooray!  Originally I was going to make this week's Three Things Thursday about my pet peeves, but I'm in a much better mood now that the sun has returned.  I find that my mood it completely correlated to the weather.  Do you feel the same way?  I just think I need the vitamin D.

2.  Speaking of sun, Patrick and I booked our honeymoon to Cozumel, Mexico!  We have been going back and forth on this and we finally decided (after much research) to just do it.  We're staying at the Park Royal, which is an all inclusive resort for six nights.  We figured we'd have fun no matter what because we'll be together.  I'm a little nauseous just thinking about it because a) I'm so excited and b) I just dropped a ton of money all at once, which makes me slightly uncomfortable.  But then I look at the pictures and I get excited again.  Here are a few I stole borrowed for the Travelocity website:

3.  How could anything else on this list compare to that last one?  Other than the fact that my morning class was canceled today.  And really, I had the best intentions of getting some homework done, but instead I've sealed all the envelopes to my invitations and read blogs.  Oh well.  I was also going to try my new workout DVD, but both the Xbox and the PlayStation we have in this apartment are not working.  Go figure.  I'm trying to do a yoga DVD to relax and instead these machines won't read my disc which just makes me more aggravated.  I guess I'll have to go for a run later or maybe hit up a spinning class.

Operation: Fit Into Wedding Dress!

Well, we're officially less than four months away from our wedding.  I'm still rather calm about the whole thing, except maybe my dress.  It's due to come in next month, but I won't get to try it on until I'm home from Maine at the beginning of Maine.  I'm nervous about it fitting.  What bride isn't nervous about that?  In particular, I know I'm up a couple of pounds since I ordered it (dang holidays!).  So I have begun Operation: Fit Into Wedding Dress.

I was really good last week.  I exercised every day and stayed on track with the eating.  And what did the scale say?  I lost nothing.  At all.  And if we want to get technical about it, it says that I'm up 0.2 lbs.  Clearly, I'm not doing enough.  So here are my goals for this week:

• Workout 6 days
• Step up the intensity of my workouts
• Eat at least 3 servings of fruits and veggies a day

I just have to get myself focused and on track.  Having my wedding dress fit is certainly good motivation.  I also need some accountability, which is why I'm posting here.  What kinds of things do you do to stay motivated?  How do you stay accountable?  Any other words of wisdom?

Wedding Detail Overload

I planned on doing a San Fransisco recap post, but that will have to wait since I thought I had my camera cord here in NH, but I don't.  Instead, I plan on torturing you with all the things I've been getting done for the wedding.  Although, if you're like me, it's not torture.  I love doing it all and Patrick jokes that I shouold drop out of school and become a wedding planner.  Oh how I wish...  Anyway, on to the pictures!
First thing that got accomplished while I was home was getting dresses for the moms.  My mom is on the left and Patrick's mom is on the right.  We all went shopping together and had lunch and made a day of it.  I'm glad everyone found something that they like and they were comfortable with (both with fit and price).  It was a nice day out.

I also got my invitations put together.  I made them myself and was really happy how they came out.  I could justify spending a few hundred dollars on something people were just going to throw out anyway.  In total, I think I spent less than $100 doing them myself.  It did take more time, but I think it was worth it.

I also made our cardbox.  This was one of the few things Patrick had an opinion on.  He really wanted to use a mailbox as the cardbox.  I had almost bought something else to use as the cardbox and he actually complained about it and said he thought we were using a mailbox.  How could I say no after that?  So I spruced it up a bit and I think it's a cute touch.

While shopping with my mom, I also found some cute sandals for the reception.  I have nicer shoes for the ceremony, but my feet don't like nice shoes.  Not for very long anyway.  So I plan on wearing these when I hit the dance floor:

The other day my grandmother and aunt came over and we made the ring bearer pillows.  Call me old fashioned, but I really enjoy sewing and I enjoyed making these.  I love how they came out.  My little cousins will be so cute carrying these.  Hopefully they don't beat each other up with them or otherwise. 

Patrick's wedding band is on order and I already have mine.  It's so hard not to wear it because it's so pretty.  I'm planning on having them soldered together before the wedding so it's a set.  I can't wear the band by itself because it looks funny and I'm a little anal retentive about things being lined up, so I think having them fixed together is a good choice.

Finally, I'll give you a little sneak peak of my dress.  It's due to come in soon, but I won't be able to see it until I'm home in April.  I'll put it up because Patrick doesn't read this (and if you happen to be, look away NOW!).  Besides, I'm not going to show you the whole thing anyway, just the back.  This is the sample, but mine is going to be the same exact size and color.  Obviously the straps will need to be shortened, but other than that it fits pretty dang good.

Alright, I'm done now.  I just love seeing all the pieces starting to come together and I can't help wanting to share.  Hope you all have a great weekend!