42 Days In

It has been a whole 42 days since Christopher and I tied to knot to officially become husband and wife!

I know that I haven't posted updates as I intended to, but I beg your pardon for that because we were ridiculously busy and exhausted with the whirlwind that came after the wedding! We went to Monterey for four days and enjoyed ourselves relaxing and just enjoying the peace of our mutual company.

When we got back, however, we had to dig in. We returned just before the end of May and we needed to be moved out of our apartment by the end of June and, similarly, moved into a new apartment in Los Angeles by that same time since my internship was scheduled to start on July 5th.

The first couple of weeks were spend packing, packing, and more packing until we took a trip to LA to search for our apartment. We did find the place, and more on that - with photos - soon, I hope.

Then, four weeks to the day after Chris and I married, my best friend - and one of my bridesmaids - was married herself, so that kept me busy for a good few days. (It was so lovely and I definitely cried lots!!!)

My little brother graduated high school, so we helped with a party for that - yay!

So, see, after the wedding we had a move, finding a place, managing Chris' injury, my bestie's wedding, and my brother's graduation.

We have been busy.

But this week, Chris and I - with the generous help of my family members - packed up two vehicles, drove to LA, and moved everything into the new apartment here. We arrived on Monday, Chris left early Wednesday morning, and I have spent the time since then both settling into the new place (I'm ALMOST there) and catching up on things that first had to get put off because of the wedding and then later because of the move.

In addition, I received the news this week that my internship will now be starting on August 15th instead of July 5th for some very frustrating reasons that I won't get into here and now. That means that I am here in LA without my husband for six weeks without my 40-hour-per-week job. There are upsides (finishing projects and taking a breather) and downsides (being ALL alone virtually all day, every day) but hopefully I'll be back in the bay for a visit soon and often.

It is going to be an interesting chapter, this first year of our marriage.

I suspect that, even with the challenges we're seeing ahead, it will be a good one...

WE DID IT!!!!

So, as many of you know, last weekend we went ahead and did it:

WE GOT MARRIED!!!!


Thank you to EVERYONE who came out and celebrated with us, and to those of you who were there in spirit.

We also went to Monterey for a mini honeymoon.
Now we're back and enjoying being home and preparing for our move to Los Angeles!!!

Lingerie and Karaoke

Last night, my maid of honor - with the help of other family members - threw an incredible bachelorette lingerie and karaoke party for me.

I just want to send out a HUGE thanks to everyone who came and especially to those who helped make it happen!  I had such a wonderful time and it really made me feel special.

Plus, you know, I got to take home some very pretty and sexy pieces that will be well-appreciated.

In the other part of the very large house, Chris had a poker-bachelor party, and I think he had some fun, too.


Oh yeah and they made me dress up a little silly...but the photo would not be safe for work, so I won't post it.
BUT I will post this picture of me and my adorable niece just before I donned my bachelorette gear:

Thanks, everyone!!!!!

One Week!

So now there is just one scant week before the wedding.
It's amazing.

The wedding is so close now that I can taste it.  I am down to my last days before the wedding, and in good news I am completely finished both with my practicum and with my online coaching class!  This means that, for the next week, my attentions are entirely focused on the wedding and preparation, which is definitely a good thing.

With just one week left, most of the major wedding preparations are complete and now it is a matter of finalization and tying up of loose ends.  We had a conversation with the caterer yesterday to finalize rentals and numbers, we completed the placement of our cupcake order, we have a reasonably good seating chart done, my dress has been brought in from the shop, and lots of other checks on the list.

For me, getting the major things nailed down in a simple fashion is the easiest kind of thing to do; I am definitely more adept at creating the structure and skeleton for things....refinement and details are more difficult for me, I find that I get irritated and often bored if I over-focus on the details of something.  This is something I have a tendency to do.  I know that I do better on assignments if I either: (1) send in a first draft with only a cursory review and edit, OR (2) really, really, really spend a lot of time reviewing and re-reading and editing a paper.

For the wedding, it's tempting because there are so many details to potentially review and refine to go with door #1....which will be fine for something (e.g., the cupcakes) but not so much for other things (e.g., the seating chart).  There are so many moving parts to the wedding that I am still trying to strike the balance of paying enough attention to the details without feeling overwhelmed by them.

I just need to trust myself that it will all get done as much as it needs to and, if it doesn't by the time the wedding actually rolls around, then someone else will take care of it OR it wasn't that important in the first place.

After the other night, I haven't had any panicky feelings, but I definitely float between anxiety and calm, although the anxiety is often short-lived and easily allayed.

Wish me luck!!!!

Hot? Cold? Wet?

I have been obsessively checking the weather prediction for the wedding beginning two weeks prior because that is the farthest out the accuweather.com will post a prediction (other weather sites do not even go that far).

I had checked on the historical weather for the wedding date, but that only tells me so much.

So I have been checking and saving the results and the predictions thus far have me feeling pretty good.
Here is the latest prediction:

This is a great forecast, which essentially means that it may rain at the venue this weekend, but by the time the wedding day comes, it should be warm, bright, and dry!  

I am definitely excited about this because earlier predicions (AccuWeather.com does 14-day forecasts) were much less positive and reassuring.  See below:

As you can see, most of the previous forecasts predicted more rain for the week, and a variety of temperatures for the actual wedding day, with the high varying from 65 all the way up to 80 and one with rain on the actual wedding day.

Fear not, however, as I will likely post again for a weather prediction in the middle of next week so that we have an even better sense of how warm/cold/wet/dry the wedding day will be.

Fingers crossed!!!!!

Honeymooners

Among the many questions that people ask when we talk about the wedding is about the honeymoon that Christopher and I will take.

Unfortunately, I have rarely had a satisfactory answer.
That is because the plans, by necessity, have been flexible.

Because of his job, Chris is not able to take off much time in a reliable fashion.  That is, his schedule for the month of May has his working Wednesday-Sunday with his days off Monday and Tuesday.  He requested to use vacation days (the whole two that he gets to last him until October) for the day of the wedding and the day after (Saturday and Sunday).  He only got Saturday off via this request.  He also got an unpaid day off on the Wednesday after the wedding.

Thus, as of right now, Christopher is working the day before the wedding, the day after, has the day off for the wedding itself and has Mon-Tues-Weds off after the wedding.

He has requested that his coworkers agree to work his shifts for the 20th and 22nd (Friday and Sunday), and also for the full week+ following his days off.
He will be doing everything that he can to get all the time off that he can, but depending on the factor of time our honeymoon will be one of three options:

1. A week or more using his uncle's vacation home in the Florida Keys
2. A few days in San Diego
3. A few days in Carmel-by-the-Sea/Monterey

Right now, though, I am less concerned about whether or not we're able to take the week+ in Florida, but more so that Chris not be scheduled to work at 5am the day after we get married....or be scheduled to work until 12pm on the day of our rehearsal.

Wish him luck!

Panic Update

I'm feeling better.

Let's hope that keeps up.