Hope & Faith

A while back I blogged about not making people a priority in my life that clearly did not do the same for me. Well I've tried to do a better job of it lately but the closer my wedding gets, the harder it is. I am honestly not surprised by the actions of those around me most of the time, but nevertheless, I am surprised that I continue to let myself be disappointed by their actions. Why? Knowing that someone is going to probably let you down and disappoint you, does not automatically mean it hurts less.

I guess it boils down to being hopeful and having faith. I am always hopeful that a situation will not turn out as I imagine, but it usually does. Maybe my faith in God allows me to continue to have hope in others around me. Otherwise, why would I continually be so hurt emotionally?

"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him."

5 more weeks!

FYI, I'm getting married 5 weeks from today! Woohoo....it's almost here!

They came, they went...

My invitations finally arrived Monday afternoon as promised by the ever-so-talented Amber. I hurried home after work and began hand-writing all 72 addresses and placing 2 stamps and a return address label on each envelope.

Meanwhile, I was able to get Scott's help in sealing them all. Because I forgot the glue stick at work, my suggestion was just to tape them. His suggestion you ask? Well lick them all of course. Clearly he has never done any mass mailing before.... Any Seinfeld fans out there? Remember the untimely demise of George's fiancee?

Needless to say, he used a wet cloth and a bowl of water and got the job done. Thankfully, all of the wedding invitations were in the mail on Tuesday morning except for 2. As of today, I am still missing only 1 address and I've already got my first RSVP card "yes" back. :)

Presents everywhere

So I didn't blog much about my bridal shower but it was very nice and I was overwhelmed with all the nice things I received. I couldn't have imagined getting all those great gifts with just one shower of about 20 people...but I did.

Not only that, but people are starting to send wedding gifts and my delivery address my office. I don't know how much I am really "allowed" to do that, but I figure it won't happen that often right? And the mail room has to bring the office mail anyway right? HA, I've been getting a wedding present that someone bought online everyday now for almost a week. It makes coming to work exciting. My boss said he doesn't care what gets me here as long as I keep showing up.

My only problem now is where to put them all. Currently they are in two piles (no reason) on either side of my tv in the living room. I even still have some in the trunk of my car that I need Scott's help carrying upstairs. I am so thankful for the gifts....just a little overwhelmed with the clutter right now. I guess it will motivate me to do some Spring cleaning before the wedding and reorganize the apartment.

He's back...

Woohoo, Scott finally made it back from the big China trip. I was so happy to see him but it was short-lived. He stayed awake during the entire plane ride over here and finally crashed after dinner. I managed to finish up my laundry and his, get a few more thank-you cards out, and made it to bed early. He was starting to wake up a little by then so I drugged him with 2 benadryl tablets and he slept until this morning!

Being the sweet fiance he is, he picked me up for lunch and unlike last night, was very chatty. I guess if I hadn't slept in 24 hrs, I wouldn't have much to say either. :)

Random facts about me #20

#20) If I have a few pieces of trash in my car, I wait until I get gas to throw them away. I just can't seem to remember to take them in the house.

Random facts about me #19

#19) My favorite thing to do is read. I used to read more before college, but now that I've graduated, I'm finally starting to enjoy it again.

Personalized thank-you cards

I think I've mentioned it in previous posts, but I've started going to a monthly stamping club taught by demonstrator, Bev Victory. The products are absolutely great and I love learning new stuff. Meanwhile, Bev has become much more than a demonstrator to me, she's become much more. Words can't describe how thrilled I am to have her in my life. I think God has truly placed her in my life just when I needed. Ok, enough gushing....

I wanted to share the cards that she made for me to send out as thank-you's after my bridal shower last Saturday.

This was from an example card in the 2008 Spring/Summer Stampin' Up catalog that she used and incorporated my favorite colors. I had hoped to recreate the example in the catalog but mine would not have turned out this nice. Aren't they pretty?

Random facts about me #18

#18) I don't like tomatoes, but I love tomato soup, ketchup and pico de gallo. No sense right?

Random facts about me #17

#17) I have hiked/climbed the highest peak in Texas; Guadalupe Peak. It was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do physically, but was by far the most rewarding.

(photo left to right: me, Dave, my Dad, sister, Mike)

I was sitting because I was too scared to stand up too much. Long way down....

Random facts about me #16

#16) Growing up whenever my mom cooked spaghetti, she didn't make a salad to go with it, she made a big pot of mashed potatoes. I was in high school before someone pointed out that those two dishes don't "normally" go together as a meal. Always seemed fine to me....

Random facts about me #15

#15) Since I've lived in an apartment for so long, I automatically lock the door when I walk inside. This habit is great except when I'm at other people's house and try to lock us inside. :)

Random facts about me #14

#14) I am the tallest woman in my family.

Random facts about me #13

#13) My favorite color has been purple since I was a little girl and I don't think that will change any time soon.

Thoughts on marriage prep

Well I've had about a week to mull over the things we discussed in our Marriage Prep seminar last weekend. My initial reaction is that they should come up with a t-shirt that says "I survived Marriage Prep and got married anyway". There were a lot of moments that I thought ya know, these are not fun questions to answer. And of course, if they aren't fun to answer, they will certainly not be much fun to deal with in real life. My favorite piece of information was that you potentially have the next 50 years of your life to work through, practice, and learn everything you can about each other, good and bad. I guess I thought that was comforting because no one is expecting or suggesting that we will get it right away. Everything comes with time....

Overall, I would highly recommend it to any couple. I can see some true benefits to taking this seminar either when you are dating, engaged, or even after you are married. Because if we took care of our personal relationships as much as we took care of everything else, would the divorce rate be so high?

My Wedding Invitations!!!

My dear, sweet, sweet friend Amber is hard at work on my wedding invitations all the way in Syracuse, New York. I am so in love with what she has done because they are exactly what I was imagining. I love them. I am so blessed and honored that she would do these for me that it makes them all the more special.

Here are a few pictures of what they look like so far:

This is the front, minus the Bible verse that will be stamped on the white part. I also told her for sanity and time's sake, she could leave off the make-shift bow with the accent.

This is the invitation opened up. The top is the rvsp card w/envelope and then the actual invitation with the directions/venue information behind it. I'm so excited to get them, I can't wait!!! They are so pretty and I love them because they are original!

Random facts about me #12

#12) I always sleep on the same side of the bed no matter what!

Random facts about me #11

#11) I've had tubes put in my right ear twice and in my left ear three times.

They still make those?

I saw a guy walking today (for exercise I think) wearing a walkman attached to his jeans. It looked like the old school walkmans....do they still make those, or does he have an antique?

Random facts about me #10

#10) I have a light-colored birthmark that is in the shape of a heart.

Random facts about me #9

#9) I HAVE to have the dishes stacked a certain way in the dishwasher...otherwise I'm sure they wouldn't get clean.

Random facts about me #8

#8) I'm right-handed, always have been, but I used to practice writing with my left so I could be different!

Random facts about me #7

#7) I have to eat my french fries in 2's. One is never enough for ketchup....

Random facts about me #6

#6) I was almost completely bald until I was 3 years old. My mom thought I'd NEVER get any hair.

Random facts about me #5

#5) I am the first child of my parents, and the first grandchild of both my grandparents. That makes me the oldest grandchild of 18!