The wonderful and generous Em over at Burning River Bride was kind enough to mention this blog as one that she enjoys reading. So, I wanted to mention 6 bride's blogs that I enjoy perusing as well:
Burning River Bride, mainly because she gives me the courage to negotiate with vendors and we're in the same place job-wise right now. Thanks again, Em, you made my day!
Marrying, Marathoning, and Milestones, because Emily and I both run and we both have husband/fiances who run...this means that we know what insanity is and regularly participate in it.
Luzel over at iDIY because she is so diligent and wonderful about posting free goodies.
Shay at That Sister, That New Bride.
I read Jenna every day, and I think she counts in this list because I got hooked on her blog when she was a bride: That Wife.
A Practical Wedding....Meg keeps me sane.
Sara at 2000 Dollar Wedding is so encouraging, I stop by her blog every other day or so.
I am so excited to be a part of the blogging world!
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
Losing It
I had a total meltdown a few nights ago.
Ryan and I went to see Transformers (it was really good, definitely a good movie for ladies and gentlemen both). I had just switched out my birth control the day before, so I was on the hormonal side anyway. On the way back to Ryan's apartment after the movie, he brought up his moving out this week. Ryan hasn't found a distance running coaching job...people just aren't leaving their jobs in the current economic climate, and there haven't been nearly the amount of openings this year as in years past. He is moving out of his apartment here in my hometown and moving back home to St Louis, about 2 hours away, to try and find a teaching job. Seeing his apartment empty out is depressing, and I had been squashing how sad I was about Ryan's impending departure for a week or so. I'm also really sad that Ryan can't find a coaching job...he's such a good coach, and I know that he was put on this earth to coach. So if you take the hormones and ignored feelings into account, and emotional meltdown was imminent.
Anyway, after the movie he brought up something or the other about the moving process. Here's a re-enactment of the conversation:
(Ryan says something about moving away).
Stacy (me): I don't want to talk about this. If we talk about this I will cry. (starts to tear up, blinks rapidly to try to stop the torrent)
Ryan: (Says something else about moving, I was too upset to remember)
Stacy: I will cry, seriously, so talk about something else.
Ryan: (Continues talking about impending move, clearly asking for emotional meltdown)
Stacy: (wailing) I don't want you to go.... (turns into a 5 year old girl and crys for an hour, wailing things such as/but not limited to "I don't want to come home to an empty house...I don't even want to live in this stupid town.....I need hugs everyday.....")
Oddly enough, I feel so much better now that I got it all out of my system! I'm certainly not excited about the fact that Ryan and I are probably going to be living in separate cities for the year before we get married, but I feel less panicked about it now.
I bottled up my sadness all week because I hate getting really emotional in front of anyone, especially Ryan. I want to be the best that I can for him, and to me that means not losing it emotionally. I have always taken some pride in the fact that I am not a big crier, and I don't have a short temper, so I tend to hide big emotions from people. To Ryan's credit, he was as sweet as can be about his normally well-balanced fiance losing her sh*t for a while. He let me cry it out and talk, which is what I needed. He even rubbed my shoulders and hugged me for a long time, which was icing on the cake.
In conclusion, I learned lots about my relationship with Ryan. I need to not try to be so stoic, and not be afraid to show big emotions in front of Ryan. He's not going to think I'm stupid because I'm crying, which I guess I was afraid of, deep down inside! I think I'm afraid of that with everyone, not just Ryan. I'm marrying him, he's someone I need to be emotional around, even if the emotions aren't nice. Ryan is wonderful, he can handle it and handle it in a way that it makes me feel 1000x better...he knows me so well. I also need to acknowledge my feelings before I have a meltdown. All week I've been telling myself how stupid I was for feeling the way I've been feeling. It's not stupid to be upset that my fiance's moving away, it's perfectly reasonable.
Did you have any meltdowns that helped you learn something about your relationship with your fiance?
Ryan and I went to see Transformers (it was really good, definitely a good movie for ladies and gentlemen both). I had just switched out my birth control the day before, so I was on the hormonal side anyway. On the way back to Ryan's apartment after the movie, he brought up his moving out this week. Ryan hasn't found a distance running coaching job...people just aren't leaving their jobs in the current economic climate, and there haven't been nearly the amount of openings this year as in years past. He is moving out of his apartment here in my hometown and moving back home to St Louis, about 2 hours away, to try and find a teaching job. Seeing his apartment empty out is depressing, and I had been squashing how sad I was about Ryan's impending departure for a week or so. I'm also really sad that Ryan can't find a coaching job...he's such a good coach, and I know that he was put on this earth to coach. So if you take the hormones and ignored feelings into account, and emotional meltdown was imminent.
Anyway, after the movie he brought up something or the other about the moving process. Here's a re-enactment of the conversation:
(Ryan says something about moving away).
Stacy (me): I don't want to talk about this. If we talk about this I will cry. (starts to tear up, blinks rapidly to try to stop the torrent)
Ryan: (Says something else about moving, I was too upset to remember)
Stacy: I will cry, seriously, so talk about something else.
Ryan: (Continues talking about impending move, clearly asking for emotional meltdown)
Stacy: (wailing) I don't want you to go.... (turns into a 5 year old girl and crys for an hour, wailing things such as/but not limited to "I don't want to come home to an empty house...I don't even want to live in this stupid town.....I need hugs everyday.....")
Oddly enough, I feel so much better now that I got it all out of my system! I'm certainly not excited about the fact that Ryan and I are probably going to be living in separate cities for the year before we get married, but I feel less panicked about it now.
I bottled up my sadness all week because I hate getting really emotional in front of anyone, especially Ryan. I want to be the best that I can for him, and to me that means not losing it emotionally. I have always taken some pride in the fact that I am not a big crier, and I don't have a short temper, so I tend to hide big emotions from people. To Ryan's credit, he was as sweet as can be about his normally well-balanced fiance losing her sh*t for a while. He let me cry it out and talk, which is what I needed. He even rubbed my shoulders and hugged me for a long time, which was icing on the cake.
In conclusion, I learned lots about my relationship with Ryan. I need to not try to be so stoic, and not be afraid to show big emotions in front of Ryan. He's not going to think I'm stupid because I'm crying, which I guess I was afraid of, deep down inside! I think I'm afraid of that with everyone, not just Ryan. I'm marrying him, he's someone I need to be emotional around, even if the emotions aren't nice. Ryan is wonderful, he can handle it and handle it in a way that it makes me feel 1000x better...he knows me so well. I also need to acknowledge my feelings before I have a meltdown. All week I've been telling myself how stupid I was for feeling the way I've been feeling. It's not stupid to be upset that my fiance's moving away, it's perfectly reasonable.
Did you have any meltdowns that helped you learn something about your relationship with your fiance?
Tutorials
I love tutorials, and if you do too, then you should definitely check out the birdcage veil tutorial over on Once Wed. I didn't think I was a birdcage veil kind of a girl, but I tried one on and loved it, and I will definitely be attempting one of my own.
Oh, and while you're over there, check out this beaded headband tutorial. I can't pay $30 for these, and I want one, so I guess I will be trying my hand at these as well!
Is your DIY list getting out of control? I am up to DIY bouquets and boutonnieres, DIY table runners, DIY ring bearer's pillow, DIY invites, DIY corsages, DIYmake up, DIY centerpieces....
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Running2Win Log of the Week
I ran 4 miles in 35:10, which is 8:47/minutes per mile. I had to run hard to get this pace, which is unfortunate. This heat makes every run feel like a tempo run, but my pace isn't close to what it should be considering the effort I put in. I am sick of this heat--the heat index has been over 100 degrees every day for the past 2 weeks. It's miserable even at 5 am. Yesterday I did the Jillian Michael's No More Trouble Zones workout dvd and my legs hurt so bad from it, so I don't think that helped. That woman is trying to kill me, but I hope that it will get me nice and toned.
Has the heat of the summer had any effect on your workouts, or is it just me?
Has the heat of the summer had any effect on your workouts, or is it just me?
Friday, June 26, 2009
Poems and Readings for Weddings and Civil Partnerships
I picked up Poems and Readings for Weddings and Civil Partnerships, compiled by A. Vasudevan at the public library in town last week, and I found quite a few readings that would work for the wedding ceremony in it. They had a sizable selection from the bible, as well as lots of classic poetry and readings. There was a wide range of readings in here, from sermons by the Buddha to Toni Morrison. I did feel that it really lacked a selection of contemporary readings, and all of the readings in here were serious. I wish there was stuff from kids books, or something on the humorous side. It was useful for serious, classic readings.
What readings are you using for your wedding? Where did you find them?
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Picking My Battles
The bowtie issue was resolved. I agreed to drop it, and Ryan has turned the invitations over to me, as we couldn't agree on anything in the world of paper. Ryan didn't feel particularly strongly about the invitations, so they are now in my hands.
Potential Invite #3. Pro: Nothing but script, lots of white space, unique horizontal design. Con: Ryan wasn't super crazy about it when shown. Then again, he wasn't super crazy about any of these!
A quick word about Ryan's invitation preferences: He likes absolutely nothing on them except for writing. He wants them to look like wedding invitations. Fair enough. Even though I have free reign with this aspect of the wedding plans, I don't think it would be very nice to totally disregard his preferences.
Potential Invite #1. Pro: Relatively simple, leaf motif in initial. Con: One initial looks kind of weird to me, I feel like it should be the full mongram. Also not crazy about the flower on the bottom.
I am definitely leaning towards Potential Invite #3. Even though Ryan wasn't crazy about it, it does fit his all text preferences while still making me happy inside.
The only thing I am confused about with the printable invites is how much the online printing service is going to cost. We'll need to print about 200 invitations and response postcards, 300ish programs, and 200ish thank you cards, and probalby 200 direction cards. The online printing services use lots of lingo I am not familiar with, so I am having a hard time getting a clear idea of the price. I am afraid that after printing, these might be cost prohibitive. By cost prohibitive, I mean over a dollar per invite. I know that's not much, but invites are just not high on my spending-money list, what can I say. I would be perfectly happy with these printed on some nice 80 lb paper instead of letterpress and custom maps.
I never thought programs were really necessary, but since Ryan and I are having a Unitarian ceremony that many family and friends might now be familiar with, I think we need it. Also, I have more readings than I can fit into the ceremony, so I want to print some on the programs! I know people can Mapquest, but I have really made use of the direction cards for the last couple of weddings I've gone to, so I think it would be helpful for our guests.
On the other hand, I could just whip up an invite in Microsoft Word or Publisher and be done with it. Why not simplify matters on something that isn't high on my priority list?
Any tips on online printing services? What did you do for you invitations?
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
I just finished reading...
It's by Frank Schaeffer, and it was hysterical. The book is about a hardcore evangelist missionary family living in Switzerland, and is from the point of view of their mischevious son who isn't totally on the Jesus wagon. The matriarch of the family, afoul-mouthed sinner, is forced to move in when she breaks a hip, and the way the family deals with her is so funny. I laughed so much when I read this. The timeline is kind of confusing, as half of the book is backstory that eventually meets up with the events of the other half of the book. I figured the timeline of it out about 1/3 through the book. It's a refreshing read, a really different storyline than you normally see.
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