Things I Wish I Could Register For

Gifts. They're almost a taboo topic. Obviously we're going to get gifts. It's a wedding. It's part of the deal. But you don't want to be anxious about gifts or anything. You want to be polite. But it's like an on going Christmas. I can honestly say that my very most favorite part about this wedding business has been getting to see people that I haven't seen in so so long, or meet people. It's a bonus that they seem to be holding gifts when I see them! This whole wedding thing has opened my eyes to the gifting business. I was apparently living in the dark. My mom told me that there's a difference between a wedding gift and a shower gift when she told me that she was picking up our shower gift and I explained to her that she'd already given us our wedding gift. I'd like to go ahead and say now that I do not believe in this system and if you already got me a gift NO NEED FOR ANOTHER ONE. Seriously. But that got me thinkin... weddings are going to be a regular thing this next year. Every one is engaged. I gotta think out my strategy for all of this upcoming gifting. I will tell you that my new favorite (and very cost-friendly) gift is to buy return address labels for the new couple for their new home. Isn't that cute? Go ahead, steal the idea.
But I said it got me thinkin, I have no conclusion about how the shower/wedding gift issue works. I think I'm just going to set a budget and if multiple gifts fall under that budget, so be it. If not, well then I guess I'll just drop off the 1 gift at the shower if I'm invited. That seems reasonable to me.
Anyway, we've done our registering which was a lesson on "working together." I swear Matt and I are completely different people. If a miracle of an agreement came along when we registered, it was immediately clicked. I almost had a panic attack when  our plates were being discontinued because Matt and I would
1) Have to find time to re-register and
2) Find something we agreed on again! NOO!!!
My parents bought us our entire plate/bowl/cups selection. Bless them.

But over time, you just get slammed with every possible opportunity for weddings. Well we're not going to register at 20 different stores because that would be silly, so over time, just for my own enjoyment (and a potential blog post) I made a list of things that I wish I could register for. So for your enjoyment, here goes:

Well first, I registered for a whole 4 items on Pottery Barn. Honestly, I think Pottery Barn has super cute stuff, but I think it's over priced. I never advertised the registry because it only has 4 things and is really a waste of time. I tried not to register for anything that I would never buy for someone else. There's a few things on our registry that's totally expensive and nuts, but at the same time, I would buy something really expensive for my best friend or little brother or something if they REALLY REALLY wanted it and it actually had a function like bedding, so there's the rationale on that.  So anyway, there's a couple of things that are actually reasonable at Pottery Barn that I wouldn't mind having and will probably just buy for myself after the wedding.

I would REALLY REALLY love for a blog with a format of my choosing. I am not in love with my current format and I would like it to be more personalized with subject dividers for different topics I want to talk about. Yes, I would consider this a gift. A gift that keeps on giving!!

I'd like to advertise my amazon wish list. Wouldn't that be funny? Shanna and Matt are registered on amazon.com for the following books and movies....

I would LOVE LOVE LOVE WITH ALL MY HEART..... Photoshop. That software is expensive! Maybe I'll work at a snocone stand this summer and save my pennies and buy it. I really want it. I really want to expand my photography. It's a really expensive hobby though.
While we're at it. I would take a 2nd job at a competing sno cone stand to buy an external flash.

For an environmentalist, I have an addiction to stationery. Things with my monogram and just cute stuff. I absolutely adore sending mail to people. I like to brighten some one's day amongst the bills.

I tried to tell Danielle that I wanted some flannel pajamas for my bachelorette party because that's what I'd actually wear. I would tell you what she said but it wouldn't be appropriate. I can tell you that I didn't get any flannel pajamas though.

Finally, there's these measuring cups on anthropolgie.com. Another store that's completely over priced, but geez they're so cute! Before I move out of a town that has an anthropologie, I will have those measuring cups! I think they're more for decoration then utility, and I love that about them. Wanna seem em? Well here ya go.

Hope you enjoyed! Maybe I should invent a website where you can register for things from multiple stores. I could make a killing! We're registered at shannasawesomeregistry.com. Free shipping! I hate paying for shipping. I really do.

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Hello World, How Ya Been?

I'm starting to look like a Cullen. I've never worked so hard on something in my entire life. After upwards of 500 hours, 88 pages, and 19,116 words, I have finished my thesis. I really enjoyed working on it until the end. Towards the end it was really discouraging and I hated it all. Well today I submitted it and there's nothing I can do to change it, so let's enjoy life and get to plannin' this wedding!

What have I been up to the last month or so? Lots.

I had 2 wedding showers in 8 days.

The first shower was the Tulsa shower. It was "vintage" themed and I could not have imagined a more perfect shower. We had so much fun. Well at least I think we did. I had a great time. It was soo wonderful to see people that I hadn't seen in a very long time. My gifts were breathe taking. It was just a great day.

Here's Lucy and I at the shower. I'm Lucy's hero. You get bonus points if you know what that means. I was soooo happy to see her. She lives in Kansas these days so I don't get to see her nearly enough.

The second shower was in Duncan and it was a "display" shower. What's a display shower you say? Well, that's what I said anyway. Well I'll show you.

This is a display shower. Essentially you register at local stores (woo local economy!) and they put ribbons and cellophane around your gifts and put tags on them so you know who they came from. It's like the eco-friendly shower. It's also space friendly. There were a lot of people who came in and out of the shower. I had the opportunity to meet a lot of lovely women that Matt has known his whole life. Oh, and above is only table 1 of 2. We're blessed. Too blessed.

And just for grins here's a picture of Matt and I at the shower. He came to load up the loot. Then we drove down to Midland where I stayed for a couple of days to celebrate Matt's birthday and use up the last bit of my vacation time. 

Matt's birthday surprises! Matt turned 24. You know what's good about that? We'll both be 24 when we get married. Hopefully it takes our kids a long time to do the math and realize that Mom is older than Dad. That's going to be an irritating day. However, I'll have been lying about my age for YEARS before that happens. So maybe it wont be an issue.

Since I came home from Midland, I've been making last minute touches on my thesis and enjoyed an amazing weekend of next to nothing. It was divine!

So here's to more blogging, wedding planning, and general joy and satisfaction with life! Woo!

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Midland Weekend!

I went to Midland last Thursday. I had such a good time and some of the best parts were that we didn't run around constantly. I got to spend a lot of time just spending time with my future husband. But of course we did fun things too!

Friday night, one of the girls down there, Sara, threw me a bachelorette party. I am too lucky and get 2 bachelorette's! It was really fun and a great opportunity to meet some new girls down in Midland.

That is Sara and she hosted the party. It was so generous and absolutely adorable. She and I are going to be really good friends, I can already tell.

Check out the super cute cake!!

One thing about Sara, when she throws a party, she goes all out. She had pictures of Matt and I framed all over the house. She used the invitations as decorations. She's really creative.

Like I said, Matt and I kept it pretty low key. We went to some gardening stores and worked on the garden (can't wait til it blooms!). And we did make time for some good drinks.

What you're seeing here is what they call a "Coronarita". Which is basically what it sounds like: A Corona poured into a margarita. I'll be trying one of those again. Just to make sure I liked it the first time....

And Pistol Pete got his first Pistol Pete!! When you squeeze it, it plays the "wave the wheat" song (sorry, I have no idea what the actual title is....). So we waved the wheat allllll weekend. At least he loved it! True Cowboy!!

We even made some time on Sunday to kill some fake birds. You'll be happy to hear that I can sport an impressive 6% accuracy. What what! Or maybe you'll be happy to hear that I can sport pink eye protection and vest. Which ever you prefer.

So I guess we actually did do a lot, but it didn't seem nearly as crazy as it normally does. It helped that I was there from Thursday to Monday afternoon instead of my old days of 48 hours or less.

I am actually excited to call Midland my home. It will never be home like Northeast Oklahoma, but it will do for a while. I get to enroll at Texas Tech tomorrow! Woo!

Thesis defense is April 13th. I'll be spending the weekend in Stillwater working because that's how I roll these days.

Special shout out to Jessica W for getting engaged this weekend! Wish I could have been there! At my own bachelorette party, she was there, and I may or may not have had a glass of wine or two and I kept thinking... don't ruin the surprise, do NOT tell Jessica. Don't even talk to Jessica too much, don't be an idiot.... It was very stressful. So I wasn't giving her the cold shoulder, I just was very nervous that I could ruin one of the most special days of her life! Or ruin the surprise factor any way. Any way, congrats again!

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Top 17

In an ode to my 17 followers (upgraded from 15, woo!) I'll go ahead and do a top 17 of things lately. My posting has been a little random with long gaps in posts. So here goes.

17. The weather is getting nicer. As an act of rebellion against any colder weather, I packed up the majority of my winter clothes and ESPECIALLY my snow boots to be sent down to Midland this weekend. Sorry weather man, I can no longer dress appropriately for crappy weather so you're just gonna have to call it off.

16. I'm making some headway on my thesis. I sent out my 2nd round of surveys to about 180 people and with in 24 hours I had 40 responses. Heaven help the people who don't return them by the due date because you know I am going to call them.

15. I have 1/2 of my invitations ready to go out. It feels significant because they take so long to put together. Mom has to write the addresses, I have to emboss them with the return addresses, then I have to put bows on the invitations, put them in the envelope, include the reception card, the RSVP card, put the return address on the RSVP and put a stamp on both the RSVP and the actual invitation. It's a miracle that a $0.44 stamp will send all of that.

14. I am saving on shipping. Although Matt insisted that we put a stamp on the RSVP, and so help me if you get one my invitations you better RSVP! Or I'm sending you a $0.44 invoice. through email of course because otherwise that wouldn't make much sense.

13. I get to see Matt this weekend. Only for one night, but it will be good to see him. He's going to a "guys" baby shower where all they do is bring diapers and hang out. This is a genius idea. Takes the awkward out for the guys AND they get to hang out, AND help the future parents-to-be get a good stock of diapers before the baby comes. Genius.

12. Going to see Beauty and the Beast with my mom this weekend. Should be a great time. I got a new dress for it. It has subtle leopard print. Get it? Beast? Come on.

11. I got all of my dresses for all the upcoming events for the wedding. There's like 5 parties before the actual party. Aren't weddings fun?

10. I won an award for the research symposium. It doesn't matter that it was by default because I was the only one who participated, the important thing is that I won! No bursar payment for me FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER. That's a good way to go out. Not paying the bursar bill. I accept.

9. Joe's basketball season ended recently. That doesn't make me happy at all, but he played awesome in those last games. I could not have been more proud. I'm not sure that I am proud of the fact that we are "that family" at the games. I hope he feels our support instead of utter humiliation.

8. I am getting closer to my health goals. For obvious reasons that is exciting.

7. I have been spending more time with my best friend lately. That has been nice. I am going to miss her like crazy when I move. Thank goodness Midland has an airport.

6. I have been getting a lot of really great support for the wedding. A lot of people really seem to want to be involved and help out. That's fantastic because I just can't do much other than my thesis right now.

5. I am really only stressed about 1 issue with the wedding these days. Other than that I am cool as a cucumber (what the heck does this saying even mean???).

4. Matt has been helping a lot with the wedding lately. Took care of the honey moon, special ordered unity candles, made some payments, ordered his groomsman gifts, all in all just good stuff.

3. Matt has been working on our garden for this spring/summer. It's warmer down there so they can get started a little earlier. I can not wait to have our own produce. I hope that my visions for our garden come true and that our tomatoes don't turn out to look like cherry tomatoes. And I hope that Pistol doesn't dig it all up. We're even trying to grow herbs!

2. Matt sent me flowers on Tuesday. It was exactly what I needed. I'm a little over whelmed lately. Some good prayer and a good attitude and I will get through it all. (I'm also praying for the latter).

1. I have been waking up every morning. I am free. I am Saved. I am more blessed than I ever deserve to be.

Take care!

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My Bridesmaids

Getting married is an incredible experience. Well I'm not married yet, so I should rephrase that. The time leading up to the day when you get married is an incredible experience. Lots of emotions go into the planning. Of course there's stress-but honestly, it's not that bad
There's resent -if a certain future husband neglects his "to do" list for months at a time, wondering why it's a big deal
There's lots of crying- I have never teared up so much in my life for the smallest things
There's appreciation- people can be so giving it's unreal
There's definitely excitement- my true sorority girl comes out every day
There's Frustration- What kind of person decides to put bows on 150 invitations? Really?
There's anticipation- 88 days.
There's complete joy- This is a very joyful season in my life, and I feel so honored that so many people willingly participate in making this such a special occasion

A select group of these special people, are my bridesmaids. All of which did not blink when they confirmed they would be one of my bridesmaids. Ready and willing. Those are my girls.

What's interesting about my bridesmaids:
1) None of them know each other that well
2) None of them are related to me
3) No two bridesmaids live in the same city. Only 2 live in the same state.
4) They all have very distinct things that they bring to the table

Amanda-
She's one of my very old high school friends. We even played softball together when we were tiny. She's always been someone that I can talk to and gain a lot from our conversations. We are so different, but we see the world in a lot of similar ways and we'll always have that common ground. She's my publisher. She has an entire business out of writing resumes for people (mine as well!). She designed my bachelorette invitations to perfection and even developed a guest book with  multiple pages in Photoshop because I wasn't willing to throw down the $136. She gets stuff done and although she lives in Denver she's willing to help with any thing she can. Amanda taught me in high school about the power of the "to do" list, and I attribute that to about 75% of my success. I should send her flowers or something. There's no way this wedding would be happening with out the "to do" list.

Krissy-
Krissy is my big in Alpha Delta Pi. Ever since the day I met her, I have looked to her as a mentor. She recently got married. She got engaged after me and got married about 9 months before me. She's my hero. She's taught me a lot about relationships over our coffee dates, how special the first moments of being married are, and not to sweat the small stuff on a wedding. Consequently, she also had one of the most beautiful weddings I have ever been at. She never answers calls or emails. She'll be there though. I know I can count on her even if I can't get a hold of her. She also has an awesome husband who ALWAYS answers his phone so if I really need her, I know how to get a hold of her. Krissy is my inspiration to relax.

Anna-
Anna is my little in Alpha Delta Pi. I like to think of myself as a mentor to her, but I think the biggest thing I ever taught her in the house was that to make a difference, you have to let your voice be heard, and that you can most likely get away with anything legal, so do what you want, just do it with a smile. One time she said to me, and I doubt she'll ever remember this, "We always see what we don't like about ourselves in others," and I reference back to that when I am being overly critical of someone. That's completely unrelated to her position as a bridesmaid, just one more reason why she's special to me. Anna's the enforcer and the do-er. If you give her a task, she's on it. Pronto. No reminders necessary, she'll get it done. She's very organized (you should see her planner, it's hilarious, it looks like a bible). She also doesn't deal with flaky people and their inability commit. She'll happily send a reminder to RSVP or to do your part. That's just how she rolls. She's Greek so I can only imagine what her wedding will be like. I know one thing, every one will know their job and they better do it. She makes my job as a bride much, much easier.

Lauren-
She's my little Lo Lo. She's not my little in the sorority, but I've always had her under my wing. She's a firecracker from Chicago. We clash all the time but we are also very kind to each other. I cried when she moved to CT to work for ESPN and I miss her every day. She's my glamour. She has a lot of "day of" jobs. She's going to do my make up (she did a really good job for our engagement pictures). She's making sure the whole event has video (typical journalism major). She is so creative and she'll take my ideas and make them even better. I can't wait to see her. She'll keep me laughing all day and my day wouldn't be the same with out her.

Danielle-
Danielle is my Maid of Honor and my best friend. As far as I am concerned she is my sister. Danielle has been amazing with all of this wedding stuff. Danielle is my heart. She knows me better than I know myself. I was stressed about my dress because I only tried on a few and just went with it. She told me to chill out because this dress is perfectly me and perfectly my style. That's all it took. She sends tons of emails and thinks of all these great ideas for the parties. She's willing to do whatever I need and listens to anything that is stressing me out. She's just there for me, and conveniently lives 5 minutes down the road. She also gets stuck will monotonous tasks like tying ribbon to 175 bells and just does it with a smile. Danielle is a great person and I don't know what I would do with out her. I would be a mess for sure.

My girls are so great and I could cry just thinking about how much it means to me that they are willing to be a part of this special day. I couldn't have picked a better mixture of personalities and abilities. They're perfect and I wouldn't have it any other way.

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We Love Wine

On Thursday afternoon I hopped on a plane to see Matt and my precious puppy. I used to always take the same flight:
Friday  TUL 5:50 p.m. MAF 9:20 p.m.
Sunday MAF 1:10 p.m. TUL 4:40 p.m.

Then it became:
Friday: TUL 1:10 p.m. MAF 4:40 p.m.
Sunday MAF 5:50 pm.m TUL 9:20 p.m.

Now it's evolved to:
Thursday TUL 12:40 p.m. MAF 4:20 p.m
Sunday MAF 6:25 p.m.  TUL 9:45 p.m.

We're really trying to stretch that $200 (and burn up ever last minute of my vacation time)
So I took my 9.5 hours of vacation (I have a weird schedule these days) and headed south and then west. I think the weather app is my second most used iPhone app (of course behind Facebook). I didn't even bring jeans. 3 straight days of shorts! Utter bliss I say!
I'll tell you one of the greatest feelings in life:
Putting on an item of clothing that you haven't worn in 6 months to have the button come together with out struggle. All that turkey and dressing didn't get the best of me! What a relief, cause it was questionable!

So I got to town and Matt took me to a really nice dinner since we didn't get to see each other valentine's day. I gave him his Valentine's day gift ( a Wii) which was one of the most stressful gifts I have ever given someone. You know how I hate airports. I really hate airport security. I didn't know what the policy would be for wrapped gifts, and I also didn't know what the policy was for gaming systems because they make you take your lap top out of your bag which I decided was in the same category. So, I found a box, flattened it out, included issue paper and put it in my suit case. Then I separately put the Wii in my back pack. So this isn't a funny story where I had to have all of my stuff strung out across the airport to prove I wasn't the Valentine's Terrorist. This is a reference of a lesson learned because these ridiculous stories seem to be what make up  my life and it wears me out.
Anyway, so we went to dinner, split a bottle of wine and a loaf of bread. I went for it. It was delicious. Why does bread have to be so damn satisfying? And well, South Beach says that you are permitted a glass of wine a day. Well I didn't have wine for like a week, so I had 3. Then I had a head ache the next day. Turns out that if you detox your body and put in a ton of crap, you're not going to feel 100% the next day. Stupid nature.
Friday I was sooo tired because a certain puppy kept literally jumping on my head all night from excitement. It's sweet that he missed me, but seriously. Go to sleep so I can too. I am totally not prepared for kids. You can't put your kids in a crate. Or at least you shouldn't.
My friend Meredith recommended a wine, Promisquous, that's only sold in Targets in Texas for the bachelorette party. Well of course I had to try it! Total wine snob here. I'm real picky. (By now you get when I'm being sarcastic, right?). So we cracked open a bottle while dining on kabobs that Matt and I had made. These things were ridiculous, they had 4 types of meat (but no carbs!) I could feel my arteries closing. They were deeeeeeeelicious though. We'll be making that again. Then we ended the night boot scootin at the Rockin Rodeo. Livin in Midland might not be so bad.

Saturday we went and hit range balls. Matt got me another club.
It's pink and that was my only requirement. I wish you could see the satellites that you aim for. You mean like Tin Cup? Exactly like Tin Cup. I think I might make dressy sandals my signature piece of attire. That's what they'll know me for when I'm a pro golfer one day.

Then we went back to the house and watched Going the Distance and drank so more Promisquous. It really is good. Then we went to have dinner at a local favorite, Luigi's. I had some Chianti and veal parmigiana. Yum. Good Friends, Good Food, and Wine?? I think so!

Then everyone came back to our place where we....drank some wine.

I love the stuff. Maybe too much. Maybe it's a weakness. Guess who's gone since September without beer? This girl. Life's a trade. I think I've made a good deal.

So Matt and I just hung out yesterday like 2 best friends do. We worked on planting some flowers and getting the yard ready for spring. We played with the child (Pistol). We watched the end of the Daytona 500. We signed engagement cards (some thing's in the water!). We just were. I can't wait to just "be" with him in 3 months from today. He's a pretty cool kid and I am so thrilled to spend the rest of my life with him. Him and our random adventures.

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A weekend that I needed

37 hours. 37. Hours. That is how much time I spent from Saturday to Thursday last week working on my thesis. I don't know if you know me and my study patterns, but applying that much time and energy in a single week to an academic endeavor just isn't how I roll. As I get older I've done a lot better about procrastinating my projects, but I just don't take 37 hours to do anything. When I get to work, I get focused and I generally get things done pretty quickly. I think this stems from 2 driving forces from my childhood.
1) I procrastinated so I had to get things done quickly and I had to do them well so I didn't get bad grades and my dad wouldn't take away my ability to go play. He's a strict old man.
2) I always preferred playing to homework so I worked quick, efficiently, and got my butt out the door and up some tree that I didn't pre-plan how I was going to get down so I would yell and yell for my dad to let me jump into his arms and free me. He's a soft old man.

I tell you all of that so you can understand that when I say I worked 37 hours in 5 days on my thesis, I can impress upon you that this is completely out of the ordinary for me and utterly exhausting. I went to Stillwater the Friday before last and my advisor said a few choice words that lit a fire under me to get cracking on my thesis. I was under the impression I had been following the time line appropriately (especially since I created it). I was slapped back into reality and told to get with it if I wanted to graduate (which I do!). I spent every iota of energy working on this project so I would have something worthwhile to present this past Friday. I was tired, grouchy, and overall not that much fun to be around.

I also missed my honey. So we planned a weekend to meet up at his parent's home. It's about a 3.5 hour drive for me and a little over 5 hours for him. He likes driving more (or hates it less) than I do, so we'll call it about half way for each of us. I got there before he did and went with his parents to the best Italian restaurant outside of Italy there is. Or the best I have experienced. I threw my simple carb ideals out the window and ate straight carbs and loved every minute of it. We watched the Thunder go into double overtime and WIN and about 30 minutes after Matt arrived I went to sleep (remember, long week!).

On Saturday we registered at a couple local shops in his hometown for the shower we are having in April. Seems a little early, but I have no idea when Matt and I will both be in town at the same time again. The shops didn't seem to mind a bit. Registering really is awesome for stores, because we're advertising for them. Even telling people specifically where to go. I really wish I could make a list of all the random places I wish people would go to get us gifts (if they were so inclined) but I can't just register for a single item from 10 stores. I also don't think people want to buy us random stuff off of my Amazon wish list (see how I cleverly slipped in "us"?). 
After lunch we went through about a gazillion (seriously!) baby pictures of Matt for a slide show I am putting together. We got some great ones, but we worked for it! Now I have to take all of these prints to Walgreens to put on a CD. Oh the digital age.

I got to see my precious puppy who is getting so big! Do you realize how many people would buy dogs if they would stay tiny puppies (house broken, of course) for ever? I guess that's genetically unfair and doesn't help promote the survival of the species, but man I wish he would stay tiny.

The weather could not have been better this weekend. It was just absolutely wonderful to get a break from all of the awful weather, but sadly it's coming in strong for the next couple of days. Maybe the school will actually close and we'll get a snow day without having to take vacation. I'm stingy with my vacation hours.

I took some pictures of his hometown signs and his church that he grew up in. I have a fun idea for a guestbook at the wedding. I really need to stop all of these "DIY" projects, but they're fun and I think will make the day more special. Ask me if I still feel this way after I put ribbon on each of the wedding invitations.

This weekend I didn't think about my thesis at all. I just enjoyed good company and worked on wedding stuff. Oh- we had to assemble our wedding favors which I guess it must have been in the fine print that they didn't come assembled! A little team work got it done quickly though.

Hope the week treats you well. Stay warm!

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Being Engaged

Well folks, I started this blog with the intention of letting people into the going ons of my world without having to regularly call me, because well, I am blessed with a lot of lovely people but we can't be calling each other everyday because we'd get nothing done and I wouldn't have anything to blog about. I also try not to get too personal because I hate when people just spew their life out on the internet. Facebook statuses that say "You'll never know what you missed out on!" with the full intention of letting the guy know what he's missing out on 'cause he's gonna read it in his news feed just make me sad. And more power to the people who do it, I'm not sayin it's wrong, but if I ever decide that having kids is a good idea, I'm not going to give you full detailed explanation about how they came into the world. It's just not how I roll. (However, I do know that people do this because I have read these stories by other people. More than once. Obviously the 2nd time was voluntary).

Now that we're a little over 4 months from the "big day" (the Knot tells me 128 days to be exact and regularly sends me emails reminding me) I'll share a little about how it's going.

First, I have stinkin cool bridesmaids. They're chill, but willing to help wherever. I like that about them. They don't stress me out, which in my experience in dealing with girls in any number, girls can be stressful. I've got 5 bridesmaids, a scripture reader, and 2 guestbook attendants, not to mention the awesome chicas in my life that just like to be helpful.

We have bachelorette party stuff underway. At least the parts I am allowed to know about. This is going to be insanely fun and I can't wait.

Weddings just have a lot of details. I feel like after you plan 1 wedding, you should be given a certification as a wedding planner. I feel like it only takes 1 and then you're on your way to a profession. I bet there's a lot of wedding planners out there that would disagree with me, but they'll just have to write about that in their own blog.

We ordered the invitations the other day. Talk about anxiety. I ordered them online, so if anything is wrong with them, it's my fault. I read it over and over to make sure it was exactly what I wanted. I'm still nervous. Surely they'll turn out great, right? If they don't, no one will care but me. Right?

You want to know what is hard about being engaged? It's really really hard being 9 hours from the person your going to dedicate the rest of your life to. I don't recommend it. Our situation is kind of unavoidable in order for us to both reach our goals for ourselves in our personal lives, but it is an effort every day. I have been sooooo blessed to get to see him every few weeks or so, but it's still really difficult.

I regularly look at my engagement ring and realize how foreign it is. I love it. I love it so much and it's perfectly what I wanted. I just can't imagine that this very new piece of jewelry will feel so comfortable and old news one day. I think women always cherish their wedding ring, but like all things, it will become another part of life that I am used to. I'll feel weird if I don't have it on one day.

Well that's all that I have the energy to muster up in the engaged department right now. There will be more, I promise. Now I have to go do wedding stuff!

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Nostalgia

I'm am just about the most ridiculously nostalgic person you'll meet. I really like to internally savor a moment. Every special moment. I've never left an apartment or a job with out taking that one last look, filing away the end of an era.

I'm that person who saves old IDs and movie ticket stubs.

Yesterday I turned in my last final at Oklahoma State University. I could have cried. I didn't, but I could have. Most people sigh in relief, I do a flash back of all the wonderful moments I have enjoyed at this fantastic university.

Now that my life is going to take a dramatic change in a little over 5 months, I suffer from excessive preservation of every potential situation that I will no longer have after I become half of a whole.

I'm having a really hard time with my name changing. People ask why I don't just keep it. Well...Matt told me to "commit already". It's more than that though. As much as I would love to keep my name forever, firmly identifying myself with my past, my ancestry, and the foundation of who I am as a person, this is something that I do believe is part of creating a new family. That doesn't mean that it isn't hard. For those of you who know my last name, well, it's a cool name. At least I think so.
Every time I sign my name, I briefly think, "Oh wow, I'll only do this a handful more times."

And the holidays....oh the holidays. In reality, I think I might be more into Christmas than my family or his family is. I must have had 1 super awesome Christmas as a child, and I have since defined the rest of my Christmas's needing to live up to that par. Or, maybe I watched too many Christmas movies as a child. I've always found Christmas to be a magical time. A time for generosity and kindness and love and family. A time to forget all the wrong doings and just love like crazy. The idea of ever not spending a Christmas morning with my family just blows me away. It doesn't sit right with me. You might think that's a little ridiculous, and you would be right. It's irrational, but it's the truth. I'm sincerely hoping that at least for the first Christmas as a wedded couple, I can get both sets of families to come to us in Midland and I'll just go overboard and everyone else can just relax and show up. We'll see how that works out.

I'm also having trouble with my age. Obviously I'm not old, but I'm afraid that when I am old, I will say that being 24 was the most amazing time in my life. I need to savor every moment! I need to appreciate every second that the good Lord blesses me with. It's also hard to savor moments, because in our society, it seems no matter how accomplished one is, they should always be ambitious, striving to reach the next level, instead of taking time to say Praise the Lord, I accomplished something that so few people on this earth will do.

While we're talking about appreciation, sometimes I think about what I want to achieve and where I am with my goals and sometimes I get down. What helps me is to think about how truly blessed that I am. Think about your position in life on a global scale. You'll have to do a little research for these numbers, but if you look at the amount of people who are illiterate, you will probably be astounded. So readers of this blog, you are a blessed elite. If you have a high school education think about where that puts you among the world's educated? A college degree? Holy Cow! Even if you're living under the poverty rate in the United States, you could be a King in some countries. I just read on a government website that the United States poverty line for a single person is under $10,830. Do you realize what that kind of money could do for people around the world? That is the level we assign to our nation's poorest people. Granted, in the United States, that might not go far, but on a global scale, KINGS.

So amongst all these changes, the purpose of this post is to say that I appreciate what is going on and the major shifts occurring in my life right now. If you're reading this blog and I actually know you, there's a very high chance that I have thought about how my upcoming marriage and move will affect our relationship. Marriage makes people conduct themselves differently. Well here's my promise, my name may change, but I'll always be the Shanna that you know.

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8 Months to Go

It's Sept 21st and there are 8 months to go until the big day! Oh. My. Dear. Goodness. Am I nervous? No silly, there's 8 months. It's crazy that the first 3 months went by so fast, but I wouldn't put myself in the "under pressure" category. According to the "Knot Book of Wedding Lists" I am pretty much right on track. Theknot.com is trying to give me an anxiety attack though. It tells me TO THE DAY how close we are getting. Want to know? It's 242 days. They also have these crazy check lists with like 500 things to check off before the wedding based on each coming month. The knot is apparently more stressed out than I am. Up to date we have completed:
*Venue Locations
* Food and Beverages
* Hotel Rooms Blocked
* Picked our Wedding Party
* Created a cute little wedding website so everyone can say up to date
* Registries
* DJ
* Pianist
* Minister
* Engagement Party
* Engagement Pictures
* Announced to Newspapers (coming out this week!)
* Hair Stylist

I feel like that's major progress! I think the day of is going to be so great. We have the most wonderful people in our lives and I am so happy to celebrate with them!

Oh- and I said "yes" to the dress and no I'm not going to tell you anything about it. Ever.

8 Months! Woo Hoo!

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Sure Signs I am Going to Cry at This Wedding

You know when you were a kid and your mom would be crying and she would say it was because she was happy? What? That doesn't make sense. You cry for 2 reasons. 1) You're hurt. 2) You're sad. That's it. You LAUGH when you're happy. Well I guess I am getting old. Lots of things make me cry just because they're so darn sweet! When Danielle's baby was born, I cried. When Matt proposed, CRIED. When I asked Danielle to be my Maid of Honor, BIG BABY.

Well those all seem like reasonable reasons to cry when you're happy. Well today I called up a DJ for the wedding (one thing that I actually am soliciting advise for). The guy was hilarious. I even mentioned to him that I reserve the right to withhold payment if they play anything like Shout, The Hokey Pokey, and most importantly the Chicken Dance. I hate that crap. I mean... to each her own on your wedding, but I personally hate it. Then you're a big party pooper if you don't want to "shake your butt." Nope, none of it for me. Oh- I just remembered that I need to add YMCA to my list.

So anyway, these guys are just being all chatty, they're good sales people. Then he starts giving me an example of how they will host the party and they'll say stuff like " And welcome everyone, we're going to have a great night, feel free to help yourselves to some food and drinks and in a few short minutes we'll welcome for the first time Mr. and Mrs. Padgham". I GOT CHOKED UP! I got a little choked up just typing that. Mr. and Mrs. Padgham. Holy cow. I mean, it's not like I had never thought of it before, I just hadn't heard anyone else say it out loud.

I feel like that's just the tip of the iceberg in sappy moments. There's so many people involved that are really special to us. This whole experience will be a great blessing.

In other news, I am thrilled that my Negotiations class has worked like a charm. I feel like I should invite my professor to my wedding because he saved me so much money. Seriously.

I am getting more and more excited about this wedding. It's going to be a great time. YAY!

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Weddings and Resolutions

Well I am back to work. The first day was a whirl wind because it felt like everything was everywhere and not organized my way (however, the girls that helped in my place did an awesome job and I really appreciate them). You know how something can be clean, but not your kind of clean? I mean, I spend more time sitting in this chair than I do... well anything else. So, it's reasonable that I am picky about it. Anyway, now it's Thursday and things feel like they never changed.

Now that I am back and had time to talk some things over about the wedding with Matt, we are hitting the ground running on several things such as the engagement party, venues, bla bla. I read on a website, which may be the single greatest piece of advice I have gotten so far is:
"Don't tell everyone the details of your wedding. For one you'll ruin the surprise and two, you're opening up yourself to the opinions of others." Genius! I have been stressed out about just about every aspect so far from venues to prices to bridesmaids, not hurting any one's feelings, making it beautiful when in all reality, it's about me and Matt. I would be just as happy marrying him in front of a JOP and calling it good. But, somehow I think I might come to regret the decision in the future, and I don't think our parents would appreciate it. So there we have it, it's going to be a surprise for the most part. We'll do what we want, and I am sure everyone will love it because they love us... and if they don't.. why are they coming to the wedding? ha ha

Well every bride wants to look their best at their wedding and I am no exception. I want to look "my" best... not what someone else's definition of my best is, which means I am going the healthy route. No crash crazy diets, no malnutrition, just good old fashion diet and exercise. I have also taken then opportunity to realize my major vices... beer and chips & salsa. Goodbye old friend. I'll see you after the wedding... maybe. One thing I am proud of is that I gave up aspartame for New Years and I actually kept it! It's almost September! People have their opinions about the validity of the danger of aspartame, but really it just keeps me from pop all together because I'm not willing to suffer the calories of a Pepsi...unless it's a really stressful day.

Anyway, I felt like I hadn't posted in a while. Enjoy!

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Engagements & Summer Greatness!

I knew early on in the year that this summer was likely to be the greatest I have ever had, and thus far, it's proving to be completely true. God has blessed me far beyond what I deserve, and I continue to be grateful. I am tickled with glee about how great my life has been, which is nothing short of blessings from God. There's nothing I could do to earn this happiness.

So far this summer I have had the opportunity to spend time relaxing and enjoying the great outdoors. My composting experiment is going pretty well, I've made a couple trips down the Illinois river, and due to some (apparently much needed) physical therapy, my knee is healing up pretty well. My orthopedic surgeon actually referred to me as "knock kneed" which I have never heard of as a term of endearment. At least that came with a prescription for physical therapy, which amazingly works (I'm a skeptic about most medical treatments, and tend to believe things will heal on their own given enough time).

Last weekend I went to Midland, TX to visit my boyfriend for the weekend and help decorate/organize the new home that he bought. We had such a great time together buying furniture, towels, rugs, and other misc things for the house. We ate great food, and most importantly spent some quality time together. Matt really is my best friend and no amount of time on the phone can compare to just sitting next to him and talking. Well on Saturday night he asked me to be his wife. I was really apprehensive about putting the news so early on Facebook and posting pictures of the event. I'm also not going to tell you the story on here because I think there's something to be said for actually having a conversation with a person about the most important decision in your life. In all fairness, I did start my blog because I wanted to provide updates about my life to people with out having to call everyone about every little thing, but I'm going to save this story. It's not grand and crazy, but it's completely perfect for us. I wouldn't have had it any other way. The picture is a hint. You're welcome!! Ha ha.

Well you guys know that I'm a "planner" and I'm trying very hard not to plan anything for this wedding until I get back from Costa Rica because I can't really make any firm decisions with out Matt (although I don't think he would mind too much, ha ha). I have snuck in a little "planning" time, mostly to surf the web and look at ideas that I like. We also need to set a date, which I think Matt and I did last night, so it wont be too long before it's official.

In further news.... on Saturday I will be flying to Costa Rica for 15 days. The first 10 days will be for school purposes and the last 5 I am going to spend with 4 other girls traveling around and enjoying the beauty that is Costa Rica. I'm really really excited and I think this will be extremely fun. If Kathryn makes me get up at 5 a.m. to go check out birds we may have words though. Ha ha, I just say that because I know she reads this.... but really... =)

I'll try to blog while I am there so everyone at home will know how I am doing what I am up to. But in all honesty, it wont bother me a bit if I don't see a phone, computer, or TV the entire time I'm there. Well... maybe a phone. As a new "fiance" I kind of feel a duty to pick up a phone a couple times to confirm that I'm alive.

And it gets better!! After my trip to Costa Rica, I'm going to go down to Midland for 3 weeks to visit Matt. I'm so excited about this! He'll be at work all day and I'm going to do exactly what I want to. I'm going to sleep in, go running, go to the farmer's market, shop for the house, work on the house/yard, cook all the time, ahhhhhhhhhhhhh it's going to be complete and utter bliss. That is basically exactly what I need before I get back to work and school and hammer out the last parts of my master's degree. I'm sooo blessed that my job is going to let me take off work for 6 weeks so I can rejuvenate for another big year. I'm probably going to be broke as a joke but I'm willing to deal with that.

The summer will conclude with Matt and I driving back to OK to go to a weekend float trip with my entire family. He will get to meet a lot of people (distant relatives) and we'll all have a really great time. I'm. So. Excited!!!!!

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Wedding Etiquette

Something that I really am not great with is wedding etiquette. I think I am going to have to buy a book. More and more of my friends have been getting married these days (crazy time in my life! It was like yesterday and we were all still in high school!). It seems like with every wedding, I am a little puzzled by one issue or another.

First- gifts. Okay of course you should buy a gift. BUT- what if they invite you to their engagement party, bridal shower, bachelorette party, and wedding? Do you bring a gift for all of these occasions? Should you just set a budget from the beginning and try to work in gifts from each category? Sometimes I would rather buy someone a big gift instead of several small gifts, but then you don't want to be the girl at the bachelorette party who shows up empty handed. What if the person planning the bachelorette party has spent a lot of money on the whole thing but never consulted anyone about how much they could pitch in? I went to an amazing bachelorette party that was so much fun, and I put in money for the whole thing, bought my dinner, bought drinks, and brought a gift, but I felt like I didn't give enough to the cause. I never knew before the party how much was being spent. That was really awkward and no one made me feel bad, but I wasn't prepared for the whole thing to be soo expensive. Should I feel bad about that? Or is it kind of on the planner, and polite guests should just give what they can? Especially if they're not consulted prior to the event?

Secondly- attire. I really enjoy the opportunity to get dressed up for any event, lets just be honest. But weddings are kind of hard to pick out clothes. First- no matter what the theme (except for the Barn Dance Themed reception I went to- which was super cute) people probably shouldn't ever wear jeans to a wedding. One wedding I had this really cute dress that was black at the top and white at the bottom. Did that violate the "don't wear white to a wedding" rule? I wore the dress anyway, and I don't think anyone even thought anything of it, but I worried a little beforehand.

Thirdly- Guests. Okay, can you assume that you're allowed to bring a guest? Sometimes the invitation will be made out to multiple people like "Shanna and Guest" or it just says Shanna. I've always assumed that I could bring a guest. A lot of times Danielle is my plus-one at a wedding. Who wants to go alone? But what if they haven't budgeted for me to bring a guest??

Finally- Facebook wedding invitations. I don't think there is any way on this planet I would attend a wedding that I was invited to on facebook. I mean, technology is great and all, but this is out of control. This has happened to me twice. I don't even know where to begin with this concept but that's just crazy. If I don't merit a stamp, I'm probably not coming.

That's just a short list of all the things that come to my mind when preparing for a wedding. I really do love weddings, but to a degree they stress me out!

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I am a planner

I attribute most of my success thus far in my life to my consistent planning. I'm not saying that I am extremely successful, but I would be extremely unsuccessful if I didn't plan things out all the time. This started about my junior year in high school when I really started getting organized. I noticed that my good friend Amanda would keep lists of the things she needed to get done and would cross them off as she went. Amanda was high achieving academically and seemed to have plenty of time for social life, so I started to follow her lead. The only problem is that now I am mildly compulsive. I write down EVERYTHING on a list so I don't forget. I generally have my days planned 1-2 weeks in advance (I can be flexible though!).

These are my current "To Do" lists and as you can see they grow and I tape them to my binder. The best day is when I have crossed everything off my list and I can recycle that piece of paper. Oh- what a feeling. The bottom left is for school projects and you can see that I still have plenty of things to do.

This is the bird's eye view for April (today is the 2nd). See, it's not like crazy or anything. I just need structure. I need a tentative plan. I don't feel like this is obsessive, I feel like it is goal oriented. People ask me "How do you work full-time AND go to grad school full-time?" My answer is "I don't have kids, and I plan". (There's plenty of people that have kids and do more than me, but I have no idea how they do it. Super people, I say. I felt like that disclaimer was necessary.) My friend Laura makes fun of me because I told her that I have every weekend until graduation planned.

Something that I have noticed is that planners and non-planners don't really mesh well. I further believe that the good Lord has a great sense of humor because he allowed me to fall in love with a man who doesn't care for planning. Maybe a few days in advance, but that's it. I believe this will probably be the greatest stressor on our relationship and it will probably never change. Hopefully over time I will learn more patience and he will learn more forward thinking. His success is not attributed to planning at all. I suppose that his success is really just God given raw talent but some of us (myself especially) are not so lucky to remember everything that's coming up. But then again I'm also better at getting good deals than him because I plan ahead.

If you need planning help, just let me know. I find that because I plan, I have more time for leisure and can focus on my friends and family more. There's nothing greater than fellowship. However, if you see me in the grocery store with one of those crazy coupon binders, please set up an intervention. Those ladies spend toooo much time on that. But to each his own I guess.

Happy Good Friday. I think in the future I am going to take a vacation day for Good Friday. Something doesn't feel right about being at work. Don't forget to say a little prayer and thank the Lord for his sacrifice.

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