JK Divorce Entrance

I'm sure by now all of you have seen Jill & Kevin's Wedding Entrance



but have you seen the spoof called JK Divorce Entrance?



It's a must watch........

Oh, Happy Day....

I had a terrible start to the week with losing my cat and all, but I must say....today has been an incredible day.

Last night we met with the rental company and picked out our canopies, tables, chairs, linens, china, stemware, etc and it was so much fun. Seeing everything in real life finally made all this seem real. But, the best part about it was that our rental costs came in about $3,000 less than what I had intended it to be....CHA CHING!!

Then today the DJ company called me back and oh, what a story this is. I'll try to give you the short version in hope that I won't confuse you too much. Well, the owner of the DJ company called me today and he began the conversation by asking about our wedding/ceremony, the atmosphere, the theme, what we were looking for, what was our vision, etc. He has 12 disc jockeys and he wanted to make sure that we were matched up with someone who fit our needs and personality. When he told me the name of the person we were matched with I couldn't believe it. We were matched up with someone I know......what a small world!!

Back in the day, (when we used to not have a care in the world, when we didn't need to be in bed before 10pm in order to function the next day, when we didn't have house payments or husbands, when traveling to see good friends and listen to great bands wasn't so expensive or tiring, when sleeping on the floor of your friends apartment only seemed natural, etc) we used to follow this band called Oregon Dreamchild (they are awesome). Well, to make a long story short (as I said I would do in the first place) one of my girlfriends and her boyfriend (at the time) stayed in touch with the lead singer, Rich. He actually played at her wedding this past year and oh, what a great time we all had. Well, Rich is the "match" that the owner of the DJ company set us up with. I couldn't be more excited.

I also got in touch with the caterer today that we would love to use, and he was such an awesome guy. He had a great personality and boy oh boy is he giving us a great deal! Next week is our tasting so I'm excited. If we decide to go with his company we are going to save about $1,000 versus using his competitor. Another CHA CHING!!

We are not doing a wedding cake, but instead using cupcakes. I am 100% sure that I want to use one of the local bakeries (regardless of the cost, which we will discuss in a second). They are amazing and I don't think anyone around could compete as far as flavor. Well, I call them today to set up an appt. to discuss what we want, but they aren't accepting any orders for 2010 until January....bummer! I will be sure to be the first one on their doorstep in order to make sure that my wedding day is reserved. Now, back to the cost....I am saving over $3 per person by doing cupcakes instead of cake.....CHA CHING!

Well, that's all I have for today......

ID Tag or Microchip??

As you know from my 2 previous posts....One of my cat's got outside and I was forced to put up Lost Cat posters everywhere. If you're a cat lover you can empathize with me on how difficult it is when you see one of these posters. Nothing can approximate the emotions playing hopscotch through the mind of someone who has lost a cat: fear that you'll never see him again; fear that you will see him again-- a broken corpse thrown to the side of a road; paranoia that someone has stolen him; anger at the cat for escaping; guilt and remorse for allowing him to escape; hope that any minute now you'll hear that familiar "meow" (or squeak) and he'll be waiting patiently at the front door; and that heavy, dull, empty feeling of loss.

Whether cats are of the indoor only variety or indoor-outdoor, the fact is that at one time or another, given the right conditions, they may disappear--for a few days, or for forever. My first thought was that there was nothing I could do.......my mind has been racing trying to come up with a better way to identify my cat if he ever comes up missing again. Using "black cat, yellow eyes, red collar, approx. 9 lbs" fit the description of about 3-4 cats in our neighborhood so I needed a better solution.

All cats need an identity. It does no good for a kindhearted neighbor to take in your freightened, lost kitty if he/she doesn't know how to locate the owner. Proper identification could increase the odds that your pet will make it back home.

Both of my cats wear a collar so maybe I could add an ID tag containing my name and phone number along with veterinarian info. The pro's to this idea are that it is inexpensive and I can do it at home but the con's are that they are limited to the amount of information they can hold, they can be easily removed by someone with theft in mind, the collars could break and fall off and the jingly noise of the tag could very well put me over the edge.

Another idea is Microchips. Your veterinarian implants the microchip just under the skin between the shoulder blades. The chip's memory circuit contains a unique number registered to your cat, which can be read by special scanners found in many veterinary offices and shelters. The pro's to this idea are that the microchips are permanent. The chip cannot be dislodged and has a lifetime of 75 years. It's quick (less than a minute), there is no anesthetic involved, the cat is not bothered by the implant and it may deter theft. The Con is that this is more expensive than ID tags and not all people will know to take a found cat to the vet for scanning.

Are any of you familiar with the microchips? What are your thoughts on what I should do?

Missing Cat Update

GREAT NEWS..........My baby is home!!

What a day yesterday was.........I woke at 5am to find my cat Walker meowing like crazy. He jumped up into bed with me and I noticed that his collar was missing. Then I began to notice that he was covered in dirt and his paws were muddy.

Walker

Once I finally got myself awake I got out of bed and then realized that Tucker was missing. I had my fiance get out of bed to help me look for Tucker and that's when we realized that they had broken through the side vents of the air conditioner that's in the window and gotten out. I immediately threw on my bath robe and the search began. I called my mom about an hour into the search and she came over to help us look. We finally found Walker's collar hooked to the fence in our backyard. (Both cats wear a safety release collar so that if they ever get caught on anything the collar will release that way they don't hang themselves or get hurt).

We looked for the cat until about 8:30am and then finally made the decision that it was time for us to take a break. I needed to get to work and Don needed to get ready for an appointment.

Being at work and knowing that Tucker was somewhere out in the world alone and probably scared was horrible. My mind had convinced me that something horrible had happened to him. I can honestly say that yesterday was one of the l-o-n-g-e-s-t days of my whole life. Knowing that there was nothing I could do just killed me. But, being the great fiance that he is, Don continued looking for him all afternoon but was never successful. He drove around for hours on end calling out for the cat, but nothing!

While at work I printed off about 60 missing cat fliers that I could pass out once I got home. I also called the local vets, animal control and humane society. I felt so helpless!

Once I finally got home from work my mom came over and we drove around posting fliers on every telephone pole, putting them in mailboxes and passing them out to everyone we saw. Still no luck!

Mom had to go home but I continued to search. I drove around looking for him and would park my car and walk up and down each side street calling out his name. As the hours passed by the reality started to kick in. He was gone and there was a chance he wouldn't come back. Did someone take him? Did he get hit by a car? Did he get injured and is lying somewhere? Did he get too far away from the house and can't find his way back? I was an emotional mess. About 9:45pm I decided to give up looking for the night. It was too dark to see anything and obviously Tucker wasn't coming to me calling him so it was basically useless at this point to continue. Once I stepped foot in the door I lost it. I cried harder than I've cried in years. My heart actually ached and the pain was too much for me. If you know me, you know that these cats are MY LIFE!! My world revolves around them. They are my kids....my family!

So as I'm in the bathroom having an emotional breakdown, Don decided to go sit in the garage to see if he could hear anything. It was late so the neighborhood was finally quiet. Maybe just maybe Tucker would meow (and when I say meow I really mean squeek. He is such a silly cat).

And the next thing I know Don is screaming for me...."Amy, Amy get out here quick" I come busting through the garage door to find Tucker sitting there! Hallelujah!! I scooped him into my arms and cried and cried (and then cried some more). I quickly got him in the house so I could look him over to make sure he wasn't hurt. And once again....everything in the world was right again! My "family" was whole! The pain in my heart quickly subsided and I thanked God over and over for answering my prayers.

Tucker

WELCOME HOME TUCKER!!!

Tucker....Please Come Home!!

My cat's got outside in the middle of the night by breaking through the air conditioner screen......Walker was smart enough to come home, but Tucker is still Missing. We looked for a couple hours this morning with no luck..........

TUCKER PLEASE COME HOME!! MOMMY IS WORRIED SICK.......

Practical and Comfortable.....

So now that the wedding date has been moved up....I'm feeling a little fire underneath me to get moving on things. Probably the one thing I am most excited about is shopping for my dress. Which is funny because 2 months ago I remember the mere thought of having to put on a wedding dress made my stomach churn. Thanks to weight watchers I am feeling much better about my self image and I'm looking forward to showing off the new bod. Don't get me wrong, I have a long way to go, but I'm confident that by July next year I will be at my goal weight.

The beauty about an informal wedding is that you can get away with a casually styled dress. Ideally, I'm looking for a short wedding dress, as they offer affordable comfort and practicality versus traditional gowns.

Short dresses are practical and comfortable to wear and won’t threaten to trip a bride up as she walks down the aisle....and we all know that if someone is going to fall, it's going to be me! Short dresses are also usually cheaper than a traditional gown due to simplicity of styling and less fabric used, so that's music to my ears (and checkbook). I also prefer a short dress because the weight of a long dress is simply too much to bear. It's going to be hot so the less dress I have to lug around the better. And probably the most important reason for me wanting a short dress is so I can dance, dance, dance!

I love this dress from Nordstrom's. You must go here to see it in full detail....amazing!

Found this one here and I love, love, love the tulle flowers.

But this one by Alfred Angelo has to be one of my favorites. It looks so comfy! Not to mention the chiffon, the rhinestones and the beading are to die for! I want it........badly!

It's Official..........

We are having a backyard wedding at my mom's house!! And to top off that wonderful news....we have changed the date from October 9, 2010 to........(drum roll, please)........July 10, 2010! I'm so excited I'm having problems putting anything into words. This morning I started the day with 444 days until the wedding and now I only have 353.......OMG.....I must start planning. I can't believe that I'm less than a year away from MY WEDDING DAY!

Gotta go.....my checklist needs updated, save the dates need made, engagment pictures need scheduled.....and the madness begins!

Weight Watchers - Week 7

I lost 2.2 lbs this week! That puts me at an even 13 lbs lost....YES!

The Wishing Wall

Most brides, including myself, want to personalize their wedding day. They want something that is different than every other wedding they have attended. Well, I have decided to forgo the guestbook and instead use this Wishing Wall.
You have your wedding guests write a wish for the happy couple and then tuck them into the Wishing Wall. It also comes with a keepsake WishChest that you can store all your wishes after the wedding.

Below is a picture (very blurry picture) of the Wishing Wall.
And here is an enlarged picture.

Product Review:
I'm so disappointed in the appearance....I wish I had read the description better when I ordered!! It is made of 100% recycled cardboard, which is great, but it is actually made out of plain cardboard.....it's going to need a little work. Hopefully, my creative sister will find a way to "spruce" it up a little bit to make it more presentable. I love the whole concept of this item, but it does not look like it cost as much as I paid for it.

Note:
This could also be a great product to find new ways to keep married life fun....both partners can take a moment once a week or so and scribble down a thought, phrase, observation, or stupid movie quote and tuck them away. When either of you are having a bad day or need a good laugh you can pull a note from the frame.

And we start over.......

So after declaring to the world last week our newly revised wedding plans we basically had to start over from scratch. And as much as you would think that the idea of "starting over" would be stressful, it has actually been so much fun! I feel so much more at ease and I'm having so much more fun with the whole process now. I am 100% certain that this is how wedding planning is supposed to feel and I LOVE IT!!!

Step 1: Find a location. We checked around our city for some outdoor venues but as of yet we have come up empty handed. They are either too far away, don't allow alcohol, don't allow tent/canopies or are not handicap accessible. So we are currently hoping and praying that my mom's house will be the ideal location. I have a company meeting me there tomorrow so they can measure and get a visual of the location and then tell me if this spot will be do-able or not! I don't know if I've ever prayed so hard for something, but I want this to work....I need this to work!

Step 2: Decor. In some ways we are keeping some of the same ideas. I will still be using black, red & damask which will allow me to use the damask table runners that I already purchased. (thank god, because I love them) The only major change might be the centerpieces. I don't think I will be doing such large, formal centerpieces as I had once planned. I love the casualness of the outdoor wedding so less formal is okay by me. And cheaper too.....so many good ideas I just need to decide on one and go for it. I found some black felt candelabra's yesterday at Micheal's that are PERFECT for my damask theme but they only had 4...I bought them immediately. I also am going to pick up the 1 they have at the Michael's in the town where I work. But that only makes 5.......if any of you have a Michaels near you and would be willing to help a girl out......let me know!

(FYI ~ this is NOT the same one I bought, but you get the idea)

And since my mom's yard is full of tress, why not hang some paper lanterns??

Step 3: Food. Okay, I have to be honest.......I can't wait to decide on the food (probably because I love to eat). But really, we are thinking more of a BBQ type setting with pulled pork, ribs, potato salad, mac n cheese, green beans etc. I think the food will reflect the personalities of not only us, but also our family and guests. Some of my most favorite memories are those which contain a backyard BBQ for the backdrop.

Step 4: Dress. Before we changed our plans, I was totally picturing myself in a princess ballgown, but now that things are less formal (and outdoors) I'm really not sure of the type of dress I want. I'm thinking along the lines of something shorter that will show off some fabulous shoes (and won't drag on the grass the whole time).

I'm really loving this little number by Alfred Angelo

Now if only my legs could look like that models............

Well, that's about as far as we have gotten on this whole planning process........now we just need to finalize some details and keep forging ahead!

Revised Wedding Plans

So I just might have made one of the most grown-up, responsible decisions to date......We have completely changed our wedding plans and hopefully with this change it will save us about $10,000 (or more). I've been bouncing ideas around for quite some time but just recently decided to voice them and when it comes right down to it.........It just doesn't sit well in my stomach that we were going to spend such a large amount on the wedding. We've got a new house and our project list for improvements keeps getting bigger and bigger as we find more ways to build equity. I think I would rather take the money we would have spent on the wedding and put it into home improvements. Some of you may think I'm crazy, but I've got to do what feels right for me (and Don).

So as of last night........we have decided against the grand hotel, crystal chandeliers and ballroom that takes your breath away. Instead we are going to have an outdoor, down-to-earth, more casual event. Even up to the last minute I wasn't sure if this decision was right, but when I woke up this morning and felt like the earth had been removed off my shoulders I knew this was the right thing to do.

If it's even possible......I'm even more excited for our wedding today, then I've been the past 8 months since we've been engaged! I'm proud of Don and I for having the courage to stand up and do what is best for US........

Weight Watchers - Week 6

Whooo Hooo........another loss! A whopping .4 lbs.....haha! I'm so happy with this loss considering I haven't worked out in a week due to my medical stuff going on. Also because my food choices haven't been the best with me not feeling good. I'm staying within my point range, but my meals are lacking any nutritional value.

My main goal for this week is to DRINK WATER!!! I only drink water, but it seems like the past week I just haven't drank enough.

Surgery Update

I would like to note here that this post may become graphic and it definitely contains "too much information". Stop reading if you have a weak stomach.....this is your only warning.....

Where do I begin? So much has happened in the past few days.......

Let's start with Thursday morning, 3am....Take double dose of Cytotec. Cytotec is a pill that is used to induce labor. For me it was going to start dilating my cervix for the implant. This phase was horrible. I don't even know how to put it into words other then I was basically "in labor" without actually being in labor. There were contractions which started 30 minutes after each does that started about 5 minutes apart and would get down to about 2 minutes apart. This would last for about 4 hours after each dose (which I had to take 8 doses over the course of 3 days so you can imagine how fun that was).

Thursday was the day of my procedure and things went fairly well. The doctor dilated my cervix and implanted the laminaria. Laminaria is a thin rod of seaweed used to slowly dilate the cervix. It is mostly used to induce labor but in my case we just needed it to dilate the cervix. The rod is inserted into the cervix and over the course of several hours (or days, in my case), they slowly absorb water and expand, dilating the cervix. The procedure went as planned and I felt fairly well for the remainder of Thursday (other than cramping and the "contractions" caused by the cytotec).

Friday was a recovery day and the day that I would remove the laminaria (there is a thread/string attached to the implant that I just pull and it comes out, similar to a tampon). Friday evening couldn't come quick enough....I just wanted this thing out!! So I pull and pull and nothing happens. My fiance then assists me to try and pull...nothing happens. 30 minutes into this process I am in excruciating pain. I ask my fiance to pull one last time with everything he has and........the string breaks off! By this point I'm screaming, crying and in more pain than I have ever felt in my whole life. Immediately it was decided that I needed to go to the emergency room. So here it is 9:15pm and we are loading the car and heading to the ER.

After 40 minutes of the ER physician attempting to get the laminaria out....he finally gets it. Mind you.....I'm screaming and crying through this entire process. I've never experienced something so horrible in my entire life. I have physically never felt such pain (and to be honest, I didn't think it was possible). I was in pretty bad shape at the ER so the doctor decided to give me some morphine for the pain. I will forever be grateful to him for that decision. It was the first time in 48 hours that my body was able to relax. The pain subsided so quickly and all I could think of was going home and getting some sleep...........WRONG!!! My body reacted to the morphine like it was "crack" or something. I was wired ALL NIGHT LONG!! I finally fell asleep around 6am Saturday morning. So, needless to say, by today I was pretty exhausted and I can't wait to get to bed early.

I spoke with my original doctor on Saturday and we are going to set up a "check up" appointment for this week. At this time he will check my cervix to make sure there was no damage done by the ER physician and we will also discuss what our next step is. At this point, the implant was unsuccessful! It never dilated as it was intended to and in the short amount of time that it was in, my cervix had already started to close around it.

I will post another update after meeting with my doctor this week. To be honest, I'm so worried that at some point he's going to recommend a hysterectomy.......please God, I'm not ready to make that decision yet!!

Prayers

I don't want to go into too much detail, but 5 years ago I was diagnosed with Cervical Cancer. I had surgery and ALL the cancerous cells were removed. I have been "cancer free" according to my doctors for 2 1/2 years (I'm not sure how they do the math, but it has something to do with the length of time I've gone without any bad cells showing up). As a result of my surgery 5 years ago I have been diagnosed with Cervical Stenosis which is a narrowing of the cervix. I will be having surgery today for this reason. Please keep me in your prayers that all goes well. Thank you!

People Irritate Me.........

Okay, so it's not like planning a wedding is easy.....or cheap!! In our case we are spending $30-$40 per person for dinner alone. It is for this exact reason that we keep narrowing down our guest list, which is not an easy task. There are people we would love to invite, but just don't have the funds to make it work, but we know they will understand.

So, I get a message on my Facebook from a woman who is the mother of a classmate of mine and they also used to live down the street from me while we were growing up. I haven't spoken to this woman or her daughter (my classmate) in over 15 years and she has the audacity to send me a message telling me that she is counting on an invite for the wedding and she'll just be crushed if her (and her family) are not invited.........seriously, is it just me or is that totally inappropriate for someone to do???

To be honest......there are about 300 other people who would be invited before her!! I'm just so irritated! Urrrrgggghhhhhhhhh...................

Weight Watchers - Week 5

I lost 2.2 lbs this week (10.4 total)........and praise the Lord above because I don't know how!! I ate like it was my J-O-B this past weekend. For the first time ever I used all of my extra weekly points along with a few activity points.

I worked out 4 times and met my goal from last week and I also tracked every point. However, I did not do so well on planning ahead for meals and BBQ's. It will be so nice to get back on track this week. I hate when my life gets out of whack and my daily schedules are all messed up. I need order in my life and tend to "slip up" when I don't have it.

Wish me luck for Week 6.........bring it on!

Independance Day

July 4th isn't necessarily one of my favorite holidays, but I can't tell you how excited I am for the holiday this year. I will be surrounded by family and that makes my heart skip a beat. My mom's brother and his family from Ohio will be here tomorrow along with my grandmother, my sister and her family and possibly a couple of my brothers. We will watch fireworks, watch the hot air balloons, cookout, swim and just be together hanging out! Who could ask for a better weekend?

Happy 4th of July!!