An Old Friend...

Hey guys!! Hope you're having a fantastic weekend, so far!

This morning, I decided to do something that I haven't done in years... I decided to play the piano!

So awesome, but so difficult!

I found an incredible Legend of Zelda medley on YouTube a few weeks ago and made it a goal to learn how to play it. [Link to the video here ] I had a few hours of spare time at my parent's house over the weekend, so I eagerly hopped online and bought a download of the arrangement. I printed out the 7 pages of sheet music and excitedly placed it on the piano. As I glanced over the music, the realization hit me like a ton of bricks....oh man was this a challenging arrangement. I've gotta be honest, I was very disappointed in myself.../sadface

I've played the piano practically my whole life. I mean, I started to learn when I was 4! I've played pretty much every day up until about 8 years ago. [I moved, several times, and haven't had a piano in my home since then.] I was definitely more rusty than I anticipated, and it was disheartening. I know I shouldn't be surprised....it's been years since I tried to play anything new...but still.

I miss it.

I miss playing the piano. I miss being able to gracefully skip my fingers along the keys and create whatever music matched my mood...truth is, I never cared to play for anyone else. I hated to perform. Still do!

When I played, I played for myself. I played for the feeling of it, for the release of all of the emotions that clamored inside of my head and heart. Music was such a wonderful outlet for me; there were many times when my piano was there for me when it seemed like no one else was. Ask any musician, I'm sure they can relate!

I guess I didn't realize how much I'd missed all of it! And how much I need my music....
I say all of that, to say this: If you have a passion, pursue it! If you have a hobby or interest that bring light into your life, don't stop!

I've gone far too long without my music, and I thoroughly intend to change it. ^_^

[Cheerful Music]...

Hey guys!

Hope you've been having a fantastic weekend ^_^ Mine has been pretty good!

So, my fiancé has introduced me to my latest obsession...and I'm only 12 years or so behind! I am currently addicted to the show The Office. It is so good!!!

Awesome show, woo!!

If you haven't seen it, I highly suggest you hop on Netflix and watch it before it's removed. [Okay, I just Googled it, and it looks like the show actually isn't being taken off of Netflix] I'm not a big tv-watcher, and it's pretty rare that I find a show that I like enough to follow for more than a couple of seasons. This show is definitely an exception!

Why is that, you ask?

Reasons to watch The Office:

1. It's lighthearted and funny! There are a ton of serious things going on in the world right now. Sometimes, it's nice to get a break from all of the doom and gloom.
2. If you work in an office environment, you'll likely find this show to be pretty relatable.
3. I like that the episodes are short. Streaming an episode takes about 20 minutes, and sometimes, that's all of the free time I can get!
4. The character dynamics are fantastic! Watch an episode or two, and you'll soon learn that each character has their own quirks and the way these quirks interact are often comically brilliant.
5. I really like some of the relationships...well, one relationship, in particular. I feel like my fiancé and I can really relate, and it's pretty great! ^_^

Short post, but I just wanted to spend a little bit gushing about my newfound favorite show. Go watch it! I bet you'll probably like it, too!

Wednesday...

More wedding updates!

We finally applied for our passports! Passport applications are stressful, for whatever reason...and they're quite expensive! One thing's for sure though, I know we're both glad to have passports out of way!

Another wedding thing: I ordered our invitations today!

I'd put off ordering invitations because I couldn't decide on a ceremony time. But, this morning, I bit the bullet, chose a time, and finally settled on an invitation design! Plus, there was a fantastic deal for wedding invitations on Groupon. I got the invitations and RSVP cards for about 40% of actual cost! **happy dance** With the wedding getting more and more expensive, I'll gladly jump on just about any opportunity to save money. We're doing pretty good about staying on budget, but the goal was to come in as much under budget as possible...

Not much else is going on for us right now; more of the same work/school, home, sleep, repeat. Gotta love that daily grind, eh?

Sidenote: I'm very weakly setting a personal goal to try to lose a bit of weight before the big day...the fiancé and I have been talking about it since long before we even got engaged, but we haven't really made any of the changes needed for results. I'll keep you guys posted about this, hopefully I'll have some positive updates for you, next week!

Wedding, Wedding, Wedding...[and More Wedding!]

Okay, so I'm going to have to start this post off with a little complaint...

See that?? See how bent and wonky the left side of that gate is?!? That's the gated entrance to where I live...the gate had been fixed for about 3 days when that happened [this is after it had been inoperable for months!]. This, people, is why we can't have nice things. /smh

Busted gates aside, we've had a busy and productive(ish) couple of days!

Over the last week, my fiancé picked out his suit for our wedding and also picked out suits for the groomsmen! That's one detail that I think both of us are pretty glad to have out of the way!

Another pre-wedding accomplishment: We've started our pre-marriage counseling sessions!
Maybe not the most exciting bit, but I am glad to have the opportunity to sit down with our pastor and talk about potential issues that might arise after we exchange vows. Our pastor is really nice and pretty easy to talk to, so I think all of the sessions will go really well. ^_^

Another substantial thing we can check off the wedding 'to do' list? Rings!!

We finally got to pick up our wedding bands! We picked them out and bought them a couple of weeks ago, but they needed to be ordered since they were 'custom bands.' [I don't really quite understand how they were considered to be custom bands...all we did was have them ordered in our sizes....which are common sizes....sooooooo....???] Little frustrations aside, I was outright giddy when we got the phone call saying we could pick them up! I think my fiancé was equally excited about them, we went the very next to get them. Naturally, we tried them on, and let me tell you....we're totally stoked about getting married! I might be a bit biased, but we look pretty dang awesome with wedding bands on!
And, finally, I had my trial run for my bridal hair and makeup! I think it turned out pretty well...it's more makeup than I typically wear, but I think that's normal for wedding looks. I'm happy with how it turned out, so that's officially one more thing to check-off!

I know that's a lot of wedding updates...promise that wedding stuff doesn't typically take up that much of our daily lives, but it sure did the last week or so!

That's about all I've got for now, hope everyone's having a great week so far! /waves

Updates...

Hey guys!

Hope you're all doing well, I know it's been a bit since I've posted and I apologize...I've had a definite lack of time to write lately, and I've also been pretty stumped on what to write about. So, that being said, if you have any suggestions, let me know!

Since my last post, there's been a few things of note to happen. Here's the quick re-cap!

Me and my fiancé, just before my birthday dinner

• I had a birthday!! Now, I'm not embarrassed by my age, but I'm definitely no longer at the point of being excited by birthdays...however, this one was pretty nice ^_^ I got home in time to spend the afternoon and evening with my wonderful fiancé. We went out to a really nice dinner, spent some quality time together, and then got to watch a seriously kick-butt episode of Game of Thrones...yep! Definitely my kind of birthday!
• If you noticed, I said "I got home in time," which suggests that I'd gone somewhere...which, I did!! Last weekend, I took a quick road trip to Baton Rouge to visit with my roommate from college and her wonderful family. I had a great time and can't wait to see them again in a few months for *drum roll* our wedding! (Eek!)
• Some wedding stuff is falling into place...it's hard to believe that in just a little over 3 months, we'll be married! I'm sure that there are dozens of little details that still need to be attended to, though.
• School has started back for my kiddo...I cannot believe how quickly the summer flew by! I swear that time moves much, much faster than it did when I was a kid!
• I haven't been gaming much, lately. I just haven't had time! Not that it's a terrible thing, at all...but it makes it harder to write about gaming if I'm not playing at all!

*Ponders*

Well, I think that might be about it! I will try to be better about posting on a somewhat regular basis, promise!

Until then, hope you guys have a good week!