Monday, June 21, 2010

5 days :-)

It's so weird to believe that I am getting married in 5 days.  Actually... scratch that.  It's not weird that I am getting married.  It's weird that the day creeped up and it's only 5 days away!

Today some of my bridesmaids are coming over to finish the programs.  We have to fold 150 pieces of paper and 150 pieces of card stock, put them together, and tie 150 ribbons on them!  WOAH.  But then... guess what?  I. AM. FINISHED.  It is literally the last wedding "thing" on the list.  That itself feels very weird!

So excited!

Sunday, June 20, 2010

My Second Confession: UPDATE!

Remember how I told you I was spending too much time on those place cards?   Well, they are finished!!!

First, I took one of these envelopes (design by Martha Stewart):


Then I cut little cards from 5x7 note cards to fit inside and punched a hole at the top to put the hearts:
(this is the packet of hearts that I got):
I wrote the person's name on the bottom of the envelope and their table number on the little card.  All they have to do is find their name and pull their card:
And after alphabetically arranging them on large foam poster boards (I alphabetized by first name), this is my result:

6 more days!!!

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Something I Would Like to Share With You...

 What I Know for Sure, by Oprah

I remember being fifteen years old, standing in the drugstore three corners from my house, waiting for the September issue of Seventeen to arrive. I was a faithful reader all through my teens, until I turned 18. But the back-to-school issue was the most anticipated, and I couldn't risk having it sell out.

I never had enough money at one time to buy a subscription, but I would sacrifice two school lunches a month for the 50 cents to buy the magazine filled with spectacular fashion, ideas, and dreams. It gave me hope that one day I could live like the girls in those pages.

The September issue heralded the beginning of a new school year—a chance to grow, make fresh impressions, and move forward. I loved everything about going back to school, including shopping for supplies, like a new notebook filled with crisp sheets of paper. I liked to have lots of paper and lots of pencils. I would fill my book satchel with them before school and come home empty-handed after sharing with all the kids who forgot their own. My stepmother soon started rationing—only 20 sheets a day and one pencil—to stop me from giving everything away. To this day, I still get a little thrill when I see stacks of clean white paper. To me each page represents a fresh start.
 

What I know for sure is that every sunrise is like a new page, a chance to right ourselves and receive each day in all its glory. Each day is a wonder. I forget it sometimes when I'm caught up in my own stuff—deadlines, obligations, expectations. But this summer, I was able to strike a fine balance between work and renewal. Not only did I see the USA in a Chevrolet (on a road trip with my friend Gayle), but I also traveled to South Africa to oversee the Leadership Academy for Girls I'm building there. 

In July, I sat on my porch in Hawaii and took pictures of the sunset each evening. Every day I would hike the hills in back of my house with my three rambunctious white retrievers. At 4:30 one morning, Stedman and I drove to the top of the Haleakala Crater and watched the sun rise. That's on the list of things to do before you die. You get to watch the day slowly unfold above the clouds. The sun casts a pink haze over the sky long before you see its rays, and the ridge below the cloud begins to glow. It's so still up there, you can hear life whispering to you. I could feel the depth and potential of my own existence. 

No matter what our troubles, when the earth turns on its axis one more time and we see what appears to be the sun rising, I feel it's the universe calling for a change in ourselves. You have one more day. Rise with it!

Friday, June 18, 2010

My Fourth Confession!

I have yet another confession to make...

I am SCARED TO DEATH to walk down the aisle!!!

Let me make myself clear...

1. I am so very happy to (almost) finally be married to my (future) husband.

2. I am so excited to finally have the wedding day I have been planning for.

3. Just thinking about the cake, dancing, flowers, family, friends, etc. makes the butterflies in my stomach start to flutter.

However,

The idea of everyone looking at me all at once scares the pants off of me!  What if I cry?  What if I sneeze?  What if I fart? What if I get so consumed with everyone else looking at me that I forget why I am here?  What if I laugh (which I often do when I am nervous)?  What if I drop my bouquet?  What if I trip and fall on my face?  And my nose bleeds onto my new, expensive, white dress...?

Wait.  This is ridiculous.  I am probably going to come through those doors with my dad, see Josh, and forget that everyone else is there.  I will be so happy that I am walking toward my future husband that I will have a huge, genuine smile on my face and be so excited to marry my best friend.

...just pray that I don't trip.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Dear God, Thank You...

...for giving me 23 years with my Pap

...for a very supportive and loving family

...for an awesome future husband

...for providing us with what we need to live

...for what will be a beautiful wedding

...for giving me time to get to know you

...for Oreos

...for the things that make me happy:
art.





love.



and relationships.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

11 days... Time Has Passed Quickly... What Have We Been Up To?

Wow, this wedding is really creeping up.  We are almost finished with everything.  Just a few little details: finish place cards, have programs printed.  Done.

We have been so busy lately.  My last day of school with students was Wed, June 2.  I went to my dress fitting that evening in Cumberland to find out that it still doesn't fit right.  Then I went and visited my pap for the last time.  That was hard.  I went to school on Thursday for in service... AKA sit around and do nothing.  So I took Friday off and got ready for my bachelorette weekend!

We went to Deep Creek Lake and staying in a beautiful little cabin.  We had a wine tasting, relaxed in the hot tub, went out to dinner, and just hung out.  It was really nice.

We got back on Sunday and that night in the middle of the night, my pap passed away.  So I left Monday afternoon and went home to Cumberland. 

I spent the entire day on Tuesday with my grandma.  We went shopping and picked out some outfits for her for the funeral and viewing and whatnot.  We greeted the people who came by with meat trays (4 of them!) and answered calls and made important calls.

Wednesday was the viewing.  It was really nice and lots of Pap's old friends from work showed up.  It was nice for my grandma to see how many people loved him.

Thursday we drove to Altoona.  My grandparents purchased burial plots there in the 60's, so we had the funeral there.  I spoke and it was really scary, but turned out really nice, too.

My mom and I finished some wedding stuff in Cumberland on Friday and then Josh and I drove back to Morgantown.

Saturday we went to Glen and Annie's wedding and we had so much fun!  I was so excited for them and they will get to share our day with us soon!  A picture of a bunch of friends at their wedding:

Sunday, June 13, 2010

My Third Confession: RSVP Horror

My RSVPs were due 2 1/2 weeks ago.  Here are the trials and tribulations of RSVP horror:

I am still missing a bunch of them.

We had more than one of our guests RSVP with people who were not invited to the wedding.  For instance, we would send an invitation to a family of four, and the RSVP would say '6 attending'.

One person sent in two RSVPs--both said the exact same thing.  Still not exactly sure how they got two invitations in the first place...

Recently I ran into 3 people who hadn't sent their RSVPs.  I assumed they weren't coming until they said, "Oh, I can't wait for your wedding!"  I guess they will be there...



My confession:  This makes me insane!  

And I thought my situation was bad... until I searched online and found these RSVP Horror Stories:

We are having a formal plated dinner and have gotten back two RSVP's with no names at all... just post marks from cities we didn't even send invites to! Now how do you figure that out?!?

I received an R.S.V.P with no name, no return address, just no checked on the invitation

I’ve had people write 6-8 on the number of attending even though it says 2 reserved. Now that is just plain rude.

Our big RSVP issue is since we are having 3 meal choices we asked people to put their initals next to their meal choice. About half the ones we have gotten back just have “x” or checks next to the choices so we have no idea who wants what, unless they want the same thing.

At my niece's wedding, four families (with kids, in-laws, and even boyfriends and girlfriends and dates!!!) showed up when they didn't RSVP. One family showed up uninvited!

 I guess it could always be worse...

What I Read at My Pap's Funeral: June 10, 2010

If you had asked me two or three years ago what I would have done if I lost my pap, I would have told you that I could not even fathom the thought of life on earth going on without him.  I literally could not squeeze that huge thought into my brain.  I honestly believed that if my pap died three years ago, life on earth would have come to a screeching halt… stopping everything in its path.

Ask me today how I feel about my pap being gone and this is what I would tell you:

I have many, many wonderful memories of my pap.  When I was just a little girl, he came and set up my swing set.  The very same swing set that my brother and sister and I played on for over a decade.  He could and would fix anything.  Whenever anyone had a problem, we always called pap.  I learned all of my curse words from my pap!  I have used those for almost two decades. 

And in the last five years, he had cancer.  We have all been angry that cancer exists and we have all seen what it does to its victims.  And I used to pray, “Lord, help me feel better.  Help my pap feel better. Make my grandma feel better.  Make this easy for her.”  But He creates these circumstances in our lives for a reason… and that is to make us more like Him.  We exist for God’s purposes, not vice versa.  I heard someone once say, “Why would God provide “heaven on earth” when he’s planned the real thing for you in eternity?”  God gives us our time on earth to build and strengthen our character for heaven.  I have tried this prayer instead, “Lord, Use this to make me grow and be more like You.”

Paul said, “Our present troubles are quite small and won’t last very long.  Yet they produce for us an immeasurably great glory.  If we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.  What we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will give us later.”

When I look at my pap’s earthly body, I can’t help but to just smile.  Because I am thankful for knowing him for almost 23 years.  And in the last five, I have gained more respect for him than ever before.  I truly saw him not grow old, but grow up.  And that is what I will remember.  And I am genuinely happy for him now that he is in Heaven.  Both of my grandparents will be at my wedding in two weeks.  And although it might seem like forever away and it will be a long road, it’s really just the blink of an eye before we are all at that family reunion again.