Monday Mini-Rant...

Well, it's another Monday...which wouldn't be a Monday without a boat load of stress!!

Today, I received a letter from my heath insurance company, notifying me of my wonderful annual rate increase. *eyeroll*

So, as of now, my monthly heath insurance payment is already more than my rent and car payment combined! And! With my lovely increase in cost, there's a decrease in benefits!! How lovely! *more eyerolling*

My coverage was already 'meh' in the first place...and, oh boy, I can't wait to start paying more for even less services!! *so much eye rolling, my eyeballs have fallen out of my head*

Angry face!!!

Now, I'll be the first to admit, I don't know everything there is to know about politics. And I don't know much about the health insurance industry and why it's so complicated. But, I do know that it's horribly broken and is beyond ignoring or passing along to the next batch of incompetent political blowhards. What crap is this?!? Muck up the insurance system so much that even the most basic of plans in unaffordable...and then, charge us a penalty fee when we can't afford it!! Seriously?!?

*sigh*

Sorry for the mini-rant there...

It's just super frustrating. The fiancé and I are trying our hardest to save up as much as we can...but life has this obnoxious habit of getting in the way.

However, as much as I'd like to continue to complain about finances, I also need to acknowledge some of the positives!

We are in the teens of days left until our wedding!!

My fiancé and I met with our pastor to go over and finalize the order of ceremony...and she liked what I'd come up with! [I brought her a copy of my working draft of the wedding program to look at] So, in the next couple of days, I'm going to go have them printed off ^_^

Also, this week, I'm going to pick up my dress from alterations and we're supposed to be able to pick up the kiddo's suit...

I can't wait for the wedding to get here....and to finally be finished with all the craziness that comes with wedding planning!! But, I wonder, what will my brain do with all the free time when everything's finished?!? [Mostly kidding! I'm sure my INFJ brain will find plenty of other things to ponder!]

Flowers, Timelines, and DIY...

Hey, hey!

Hope this post finds you well ^_^ I'm doing okay, just more of the same [work, parenting, wedding planning, repeat...]. Just a few more weeks, though, and wedding planning will be an ordeal of the past!

Since my last post, I've taken care of a few more wedding things! We've made a practice bouquet and boutonniere...and they both turned out surprisingly great! Feeling fairly confident that we could handle the flower arrangements for the big day, we went ahead and ordered the flowers today! [Such a huge relief!! For some crazy reason, flowers have ended up being a source of contention...flowers. Of all things...] So! I'm hoping that since they've been ordered, the flower drama will end! *happy dance*

There's been lots of pencil twirling and staring
at blank sheets of paper *sigh*

Over the last few days, I've been putting a lot of effort into coming up with and streamlining an order of worship and reception. [Man, I had no idea that I would have to come up with and place all the pieces to that puzzle! I guess I thought it would just...happen?]

I feel pretty good about the basic format and timelines I've come up with, and we meet with our pastor this weekend to hash out the details. As tedious as this has been, I can't help but start to get more excited about the wedding day!! Writing down the bits of our ceremony, I can't help but daydream and imagine what all of those things will be like....hearing the organ play, seeing all my friends and family there to support us, and *big smile* getting to marry my best friend and love of my life? Yeah. It's going to be pretty awesome!

We've also taken care of getting the kiddo a suit [he's going to look pretty darn snazzy!], getting some accessories for the groomsmen, and solidifying ideas for reception decor. I even got my fiancé to help out with painting some of our signs! [We're going to use these arrow signs to help guide our guests to the venue...gotta love country roads with spotty GPS service, right?!]

I feel like, as stressful as the whole ordeal is, all of the pieces are definitely starting to fall into place...

Guys...We're going to get married, and soon!! *squee!*

Thursday...

Hey guys!!

I've decided to move my blog from WordPress to Blogger...I find that Blogger is an easier platform to use, and I'm more able to customize my blog the way I'd like. I transferred all of the posts from my "Realism and Reverie" blog to this one and will continue to write new posts here!

So, October is a big month for TV shows...Several of my favorite shows return from hiatus this month and I am super excited!

Hehehe ^_^

This is Us started it’s second season a couple of weeks ago (at the end of September, but’s it’s close enough to be counted as October, I think), Supernatural kicked off its 13th season last week, Walking Dead comes back on Sunday, and Stranger Things returns right before Halloween! And it’s just in time, I finally finished watching all of The Office a couple of weeks ago...hanging out in Netflix limbo with nothing to watch is no fun, at all!

Favorite shows aside, everything else seems to be going pretty well! Wedding planning is still chugging along [less than a month, now!!], the kiddo made the honor roll this 9 weeks [**happy dance**]...yep! Everything's pretty great! ^_^

This is going to be a quick, short post...just wanted to write one for the new blog!

Progress

I can relate, Anne! (Anne of Green Gables ^_^)

Do you guys remember how upset I was over wedding planning details?

Well, I am in the depths of despair no more! (For now at least)

The last few days, we have made a pretty significant progresss! I’ve finished gathering gifts for my bridesmaids, my new veil arrived (and it is gorgeous!), I picked out a hairpiece and earrings....we ordered our favors for our guests, ordered our cake topper, and made some good decisions on reception decorations!

I went out to our wedding and reception venue with my grandmother and the lady that will be playing organ for our ceremony...she said the organ plays great, and it sounded wonderful! 

We picked out songs for the singers that will perform during the ceremony (guys, it’s going to be awesome!) and we’re starting to pull together everything we need for programs...

And earlier today, I took my dress to get it altered. I haven’t seen myself in it since the day we bought the dress, which was almost 9 months ago! Luckily, it doesn’t have to be altered too much...it’s a bit too long, but when you’re short, everything’s too long! I do feel good about my dress though! I was a bit torn about the dress, my mom had mentioned that it might be too plain. But seeing myself in the dress again definitely helped! It is a simple dress, but it rather suits me ^_^ I’m not really a fancy, glam kind of girl...so I think keeping the dress on the simple end of things makes more sense! 
Besides, the new veil that I picked out will really tie things together...it’s longer than my original one and it has beautiful lace appliqué...I think the veil being a bit ‘fancier’ will help to balance out the simplicity of the dress. After the dress alterations are complete, I’ll definitely try it all on together ^_^ (crossing my fingers that it looks like I think it will!)

Continuing on the progress train, we are going to pick up my fiancé’s suit today!! I’m super excited to see how handsome he’ll look in his suit! (I think he’s excited about it, too!)

See what I mean? We’ve made progress! 

Oh yeah! I forgot to mention that we’ve figured out a contingency plan in case of rain! The man that owns the venue has a ‘tent guy’ that we can rent a tent from, if we need to. It’ll be an extra expense, of course, but one that can’t really be helped...unless it doesn’t rain! (I hope it doesn’t!) 
In the next few days, we are going to get a suit for the kiddo and order flowers and ribbon...and we’ll order tablecloths and design our programs...and we are going to check into getting our wedding license!!!!

It won’t be too much longer now, I can’t wait! 

Weekend...

I decided to write a separate post on some of the other, non-wedding things going on...

The fiancé and I had some actual free time this weekend!! Surprising, isn’t it?

My wonderful parents kept the kiddo for a couple of nights, giving us some much needed time off (and a quiet apartment for the first time in weeks!)...it was sorely needed and very, very appreciated. ^_^

My fiancé had to work some on Saturday, so I took advantage of the time and took his wedding band to have it engraved...I think I picked out the perfect inscription, and I’m so excited for him to see it! I’m planning on keeping it a surprise for the wedding day, but I may cave and let him see it beforehand...

Pumpkin Spice frappe...would NOT recommend...

I also had time to meet up with on of my best friends for coffee ^_^ she’s awesome! We’ve been friends for about 15 years now...she’s been there for me through all sorts of ups and downs, and I could not be any more thankful! It was good to catch up with her, and she gave me some helpful tips and suggestions for our wedding. (She got married a few years ago, so she knows what stress I’m going through) All in all, it was a fantastic coffee date...two hours passed by before I’d even realized it! Good times ^_^

I’ve also had some time to play some video games, which is always a plus, in my opinion...

I’ve been playing some Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Undertale with the kiddo...and it’s been awesome!! Not gaming nearly as much as I used to, which is probably a good thing...but it does feel good to be able to do something that’s me. Plus, it’s something the kiddo and I do together, which makes it all that much better!

So, yeah ^_^ this weekend was full of friendship and fun, I’ll definitely call it a win!

Wedding Weeds...

No one tells you that wedding planning is like pulling weeds...as soon as you feel confident that you’ve gotten it under control, more weeds pop up! Out of nowhere!!

Over the weekend, I found myself in a naive happy place, wedding planning-wise. Invitations have been mailed out, we finished our final pre-marriage counseling session, I came up with a method for keeping up with RSVPs as they come back in...sounds pretty good, right? [I surely thought so!]

Fast forward to this afternoon. My mom asked me a very simple question, one that I’m shocked that wasn’t addressed much earlier in the planning process...what if it rains?

Queue the instant panic.

I hadn’t thought it was a concern! Our wedding venue is indoors and so is the reception venue....mostly.

What I hadn’t thought of, is that most of the dancing/entertainment portion of the reception will be outdoors, while the dining and food areas are indoors. The reception building is oddly shaped...it’s narrow and long, but with sliding glass doors on both sides. So, typically, the doors are opened so that guests can come and go while they eat and dance. Which sounds good! Unless it rains. /sigh
So, now I’m scrambling to find out information on tent vendors...So much fun! (If anyone is knowledgeable in this area, please help!)

I’m sure that we will handle this slight wedding emergency and be back to feeling good about our progress, right???

Stomach Bugs and Accomplishments...

/waves

Hope you guys are having a good week so far...

All is good with us, things are chaotic, as usual. After all of the birthday stuff, the kiddo came down with a mild stomach bug...he’s feeling better now, but had gotten sick while at school twice! (He stayed home today to recuperate and seems to be feeling fine, now)

Despite the upset tummy, we managed to hit a pretty big wedding planning milestone! Today, I mailed out our wedding invitations! /woohoo!

Well, I mailed out most of the invitations...there are a few stragglers that will be going out tomorrow. Hey, some addresses are hard to find!

I expect that in a few days, I’ll have to start keeping up with RSVP responses...and that’ll be a whole new task with new stresses...but until then, I think I’ll enjoy the feeling of accomplishment from checking ‘invitiations’ off of the to-do list!

[Well, I’ll enjoy it in a few minutes...after I check on the kiddo and finish the last few invites!]

Less than 50 days left!! Will keep you all updated with the crunch time craziness ^_^

Birthday Madness...

Oh, boy, we had quite a weekend!

The kiddo's birthday was Sunday, so we've had our hands full with celebration stuff...this year, we let him invite two of his best buddies over to go to Treetop Adventure with us and then stay for a sleepover...now that is a daunting sentence! (The kiddo hasn’t ever had company stay overnight before, and I was seriously intimidated by the thought of having 3 boys at home!)

All of the kiddos had a blast at Treetop! (It’s like Chuck E. Cheese but with laser tag, go karts, jump houses, and bowling...it’s a ton of fun!) The boys played a few rounds of laser tag and loved shooting dinos in the Jurassic Park arcade game...the show stealer was definitely the go karts! All of the boys had such a blast driving and riding in the go karts, including my fiancé! (He’s really a big kid, which is one of the things about him that I love ❤️)

I was really nervous about the slumber party...but it turned out to be just fine!! Now, I’m not saying that I’d want to have one every weekend, but I’m actually looking forward to my kiddo having his buddies over from time to time! It warmed this mom’s heart to see them all smiling, laughing, and having a great time ^_^ Plus, hearing his friends say things like, “best birthday party, ever!,” “your parents are pretty cool!,” and “your house is the best! Can I come back over?”...all pretty awesome ^_^

So, all of that was our Friday afternoon and evening. Saturday, my brother came over and brought the kiddo a birthday gift and brought me a belated birthday present (my birthday is in August lol). Guys, my brother brought me a Nintendo Switch!!!! /happy squeals (Totally awesome move by my notoriously awesome brother...and I am eternally grateful!)

My brother had managed to get one of the newly released snes classics (the mini Super Nintendo) and he brought that with him, too...so we spent the afternoon and a good part of the evening playing awesome, vintage video games and just hanging out. Especially as we get older, there are fewer and fewer opportunities for us to just hang out together like we used to....so I cherish those times and hang on to each of them.

This brings us to Sunday, the kiddo’s actual birthday! Every year, I do birthday morning balloons for the kiddo...we blow up somewhere between 50-100 of them and flood his room with them, turning his room into a birthday celebration balloon pit! It’s a cute little tradition ^_^

I’ll admit, blowing up that many balloons is quite a task, even with my wonderful fiancé helping! (We blew up 75 this year and it took us around 40 minutes! Next year, we are getting air pumps!) However, I know there will come a time that my kiddo says he doesn’t want them anymore, he’ll grow out of it, and that time will get here much sooner than I’d like. So! Until then, I’ll blow up the balloons and marvel at how much he’s grown since the last time we blew them up for him.

All in all, it was definitely a great weekend!