Tossing and turning

Last night I had another wedding nightmare. This is not the first time and I can’t imagine why I am already losing sleep when the big day is almost an entire year away. Luckily for Brian, these wedding nightmares never involve anything remotely familiar to “Runaway Bride” but always consist of ridiculous snafus that I can’t get under control. Wrong cake, stolen cards, no food, bad music…the horrors!

Last night in REM sleep, I watched our wedding day unfold in front of me. The day (or the dream) began with me trying on several dresses just hours before we were to say “I do”. I finally had to settle on the only white dress I could find. Oddly, the dress I wound up wearing strongly resembled the dress I wore on my Communion day 15 or more years ago. I also was wearing white jelly ballet flats since I can never find heels that fit.  At least they weren’t the patent leather Mary Janes and lace socks that I rocked back at Saint William the Abbot on Communion Day.

Anyway, in my nightmare I also had to do my own makeup and it was not pretty. I can imagine this thought probably stemmed from the fact that I haven’t secured an actual make-up artist yet and I haven’t stopped thinking about it. Some people say it’s no big deal, but no one wants to see me do my own airbrushing that day, trust me.

Lastly, in the dream, our wedding day flew by and I barely recall even seeing Brian. I saw friends and family sitting uncomfortably at tables in a dozen different rooms and I never got to talk to them. How sad.

Hopefully the big day is everything we’re dreaming of and these nightmares of poor planning are nothing to worry about. If nothing else I’ll end up married to Brian at the end of the day on October 13, 2012 - so it’s a win no matter what.

Amish country

This past weekend Brian and I packed up our Under Armour and Coleman products and headed to Lancaster, PA. For Columbus Day each year his family spends several days on the campgrounds that sit neatly next to Dutch Wonderland. I may not be a camper, but I am fascinated by the Amish people that live nearby. Here are a few of my favorite shots.

A home life

We headed off to Macy's and Crate and Barrel this weekend to begin the registering process. We spent some time adding things to MyRegistry.com as well. What a fabulous site that allows you to post items from a variety of stores!

Bless Brian for he was so patient on this shopping excursion. Many thanks to my mom and sister also who knew more of what we needed/ wanted than we did.

Here are some of my favorites!

Lady in white

This weekend I turned from just an engaged woman, to a bride when I said “yes” to my wedding dress! With my mother and sister at my side I picked out the most perfect dress to marry Brian in. It’s elegant and simple and fun all at the same time! 

Of course, I cannot go into any more detail because we all know the bride’s dress is meant to be a surprise. It is challenging though! I feel like a little kid just dying to tell my groom every detail. Every couple of hours I tell him a little bit more about the shopping experience hoping he'll ask questions but he is so good, he never pries. I’ll do my best not to spill the beans because the pictures and description don’t do it any justice. The way I feel in it, is what makes it perfect. The dress, much like Brian, makes me feel at ease, beautiful and complete. 

Jonesin' for campus

I am feeling a bit nostalgic this morning…to be honest it started on Monday afternoon and I haven’t been able to shake it. After leaving the movies on our day off, I asked Brian if we could drive through our Alma-mater. BIG mistake. Students walking to the old hangout dressed in Rowan garb brought tears to my eyes. Not sure if you’ve noticed, but it is also perfect back to school weather. The extra chill in the air each morning and the nonstop rain makes for the ideal weather to sit in a classroom in a Profs hoodie. Not to mention, I can’t even go food shopping without bumping into an assortment of school supplies calling my name. “Pleaseeee buy the 24 box of Crayola and the Mead journal." I don’t really need any of those things, but here is what I do need…

• GRE study guide. I need to get back to school to pursue a Master’s in Higher Education: Administrative. The MAT book filled with practice analogy tests has officially become a coffee table book and not a study guide. Time to try something else!
• Picnic at Rowan. This always makes me feel like I am a student again, even though I am not.
• Trip to the bookstore. Time to stock up on new college gear. I can pretend it's still appropriate to wear Sofee shorts and a t-shirt right?

* Logo courtesy of: http://www.feathermerchant.com/?category=sports%3Ecollege

Calm during the storm

After work on Thursday night I headed to Wal-Mart for a pre-Irene trip to gather a few necessities. After fighting my way down each aisle and a short-lived power outage throughout the entire store, I finally headed home with a handful of hurricane essentials.

When I arrived home I immediately brought in the outdoor bistro set and filtered several pitchers of fresh water, just in case.  We were going to be just fine, I had never been so prepared for anything like this. Within our reach, no matter where we were in the apartment, I set up flashlights, candles and made sure we had plenty of charge on all our electronics.

My pre-Irene imagination was filled with ideas of Brian and I coloring, and playing cards in the candlelight but when our power went out at 9:30 on Saturday night, the actuality of what happened was far from what I had imagined. I panicked; I had never seen it so dark. While I get up to use the bathroom every night (at least twice) I suddenly found the walk to the bathroom impossible to navigate without scraping my shoulders on every corner.

Strong winds and heavy rain had me alarmed and I began forcing Brian and I to pack an emergency bag in case we had to leave. Extra sets of clothes, medicine, granola bars and bottled waters were quickly shoved in to one of our gym bags. Where would we go? I have no idea. I could not relax. It was hot, I was sweating and I was thinking morbid thoughts. As far as I was concerned, we had just enjoyed our last meal… Brian’s mom’s sauce…that’s what he always tells me he would want as his last meal.

My pre-Irene preparation had me convinced I would be able to stay calm during the storm. However, as winds were whipping around our building it finally registered that being the composed one in our apartment is not my role. It never will be, no matter how hard I try or no matter how bad I want to be that person. Brian is the one who continues to act cooly and logically when I am spinning in circles. He assured me several times in spoken words and in actions that everything would be alright. Even though I will never understand how he can remain so relaxed all the time, I am so grateful that he's always the calm before the storm, during the storm, and after the storm. 

Green thumb

Have I mentioned that Brian and I plant flowers on our balcony every year? For two years now we carefully selected the most brightly colored flowers, planted them and cared for them with love, and encouraged them to grow into all they could be. This year and last year our flowers died before August. I suppose we are missing our green thumb. R.I.P. balcony garden.

This year we planted beautiful cherry colored and white Impatiens.

After our vacation, this is what we returned to. Apparently this is what they meant when they said Impatiens don't do well in direct sun light. I guess the heat wave didn't help either. Oops. 

Last year we planted gorgeous Pansies! While I don't have a graphic picture to show you their demise, let's just say a bunch of determined bugs got to them and destroyed them. 

Looking forward to next year when hopefully our flowers last more than 2 months!