Nightmare on Denver Street

After I started planning our wedding, I was told about the "wedding nightmares" that were common to girls preparing for their big day. I was excited about this concept because I have always had some pretty crazy dreams and have been given the "gift" of remembering most of them. I recently started having these wedding nightmares and I figured I might record a few of them so (hopefully) after the wedding I can say "Whew! Thank God that was only a dream!"

A dream from a few nights ago: It's our wedding day and I have forgotten to make the makeup appointments for the girls. I'm frantically trying to find someone that can help. Then I realize, dun dun duuuuuun, I don't have a dress either. So I decide that I'm going to go for the casual look and wear a white skirt and white tank top. I know it will be a pretty ensemble. So I put on my "beach wear" and start wondering where my mom has been the whole day. She finally shows up mere minutes before the wedding and lets me know that she has been at the beauty shop all day getting her hair and makeup done. She looks at me, tells me I "look like shit" and then comments, "At least one of us is going to look good today." And then I wake up. WOW.

Last night's dream: It's the day of the wedding and I receive my flowers. They are HIDEOUS! My calla lilies are the color of some awful pink mess and the stems have all started breaking. The bridesmaids flowers are one single daisy each. I'm furious so I call the florist and they make all new arrangements. I put my dress on, which is a 2-piece short dress that has sparkly blue puffy sleeves (I'm not kidding) and shows about 3 inches of my stomach. What's so sad about this dream is that I don't freak out about this dress, I actually think I look uber hot. Now it's time for the wedding, but in order for me to get to my "place," I have to walk in front of the entire congregation so everyone sees me before the wedding. I take my new flowers (which are about 2 feet by 2 feet in size and resemble monkey grass) and hide behind them as I walk to my spot. My bridesmaids are waiting for me and I notice the processional group is massive. Turns out there is a parade nearby that is going to walk down the aisle and get the congregation "pumped" for my wedding. I tell the girls I'm not that excited about this idea and Leslie says, "Oh don't worry, I had them at my wedding and they were a huge hit." And then I wake up. WOW.

I need to stop eating so late before I go to bed. :)

The Only Things Missing Were Braces And Acne

This past weekend, Kaitlin, Stephen, Michael and myself drove to Arlington, Texas for a weekend of adolescent fun. Friday night we met up with Stephen's friend from college, Johnny, and his wife Lindsay. The 6 of us went to the Rangers vs. Astros game, which turned out to be a blast. Sammy Sosa hit his 601st homerun about 20 feet from us. There were 2 other homeruns hit during the game and one of those also landed in our area. It was pretty neat. We drank $6 beers (they were not covered in gold, I checked) and I even managed to get a wave from the Rangers right fielder. Afterwards, we split up from the other 4 and stayed the night at Michael's parents house. I went to sleep at 1:30a but woke up at 7:30a with the biggest grin on my face. It was the day I had been looking forward to for so long: SIX FLAGS! We met the other 4 at the park right when it opened and spent the next 7 hours riding roller coasters. Not to be a penny pincher.... but Six Flags is officially ridiculous. To park your car it costs $15; tickets to the theme park are $47 each (luckily we were given comp tickets so we didn't pay a thing). While both prices are absurd, my main problem was with lunch. I had a cheeseburger, Michael had chicken strips and we shared a coke for a total price of $25.00. AHHHHHH!!!! "I remember when I was a kid and it cost $1 for a decent hamburger. I also walked to school every day, uphill both ways."

Enough ranting on Six Flags--we had a great time and left the park exhausted. Michael and I had dinner with his parents and our friends Karen and Myers, and I was asleep by 10p. A little depressing that a theme park kicked my ass. The next morning we had breakfast with Michael's parents, picked up Kait and Steve, shopped at Northpark Mall for a bit, and then drove home. It was a great trip with great friends. Perhaps we can have a Rangers/Six Flags reunion in the future but we might wait a few years. Long lines in hot weather is not something you want to do every day.

In other news, Karen and Myers told us they are going to throw us a couples wedding shower in Coppell on August 18. We're really excited and very grateful. It will be neat to meet several of the Coppell families before the big day. Michael is SO excited about meeting the Fort Smith group the following weekend for another wedding shower. Haha. I don't understand why being in a room with 75 women is such a problem for him! :)

We are at 116 days!! I looked ahead and realized July 13 will be 99 days. I do believe that will call for a celebration!!

It's Official!

We received our first wedding gift yesterday!! It's sitting in my parent's house just waiting to be opened. ARGH!

Sleeping With My Eyes Open

It is Tuesday morning and I am in quite the robotic state. It has been a crazy past few days, and while I wouldn't change any of it, the lack of sleep is pretty overwhelming. Over the weekend, I drove with Kaitlin and Aubrey to the lovely city of Kansas City, MO. The reason? My bachelorette party! Friends came from all over the country to share this special weekend with me. Those in attendance: Kaitlin, Julie, Leslie, Emily, Summer, Melissa, Karen, Cari, Aubrey, Jamie, and Sara. I had an absolute blast and I think the others had a great time as well. Putting 12 girls in a small space for 48 hours could have been a tragic site, but everyone got along and enjoyed each other's company. Friday night we picked up several girls from the airport and spent the night at Summer's new house. After several bottles of wine and 4 bags of popcorn, we called it a night. Saturday was spent shopping on the Plaza and then everyone came back to the hotel for the shower at 5:30p. It was so much fun--I've always been a big fan of lingerie so this was my dream shower. Who needs pots and pans when you can get matching unds?! :) We had dinner at Brio and then out on the town to several bars. The first bar, Blonde, was straight out of LA. They had several bouncers at the front and the red velvet rope keeping people out. After thinking about it for far too long, they finally let the 12 of us in. RUDE! We had a good time and I ended up on the stripper pole at one point. Let me explain something: I was not drunk and my "dancing" included hanging on the pole and smiling at my friends. It was peer pressure of the best kind and there are some great pictures from this event. I will say, I was completely sober and appropriate, but if I ever had any desire to run for president, I have ruined all chances--the pictures definitely don't scream "sober" even if that was truly the case. Afterwards we headed to another bar (can never remember the name) and after several hours ended our evening there. I had such a blast with these girls! It was so neat to see friends from every part of my life (child, high school, college, post-college) and see them get along with one another so well. There were several moments this weekend where I had fun memories with each of the girls flash through my mind. I'm glad I have this fantastic weekend to log away as well--it will not be forgotten.

I only have 2 negative things to say about the weekend. The first was the drive home. Not only were we all pretty tired, but the drive was less than thrilling. We had lunch in Iola, Kansas and I can't think of one nice thing to say about the town. I guess it's impressive that a 4-letter word has 3 vowels. That's about it. The other is that I missed Father's Day with my dad. :(

Several months ago after we chose this weekend for my bachelorette party, I decided I was going to go home on Monday (yesterday) to surprise my parents for Father's Day (Sunday) and for my mom's birthday (today). I left work early yesterday, picked up a cake in Ft. Smith, and definitely surprised them! I hope it was a good one--it was so great to see them and be back in AR, even for one night. I woke up early this morning and was on the road by 6:30a.

So now you might understand why I am at work and able to sleep with my eyes open. I've had a few co-workers come in and say hi and I believe each of them has been greeted with a wave and a yawn (oops).

If the only repercussion of this fantastic weekend is a bit of drowsiness, I believe I can consider it a great success. I'll take the yawns any day if it means having all of my best friends together in one place and being able to spend Fathers Day and mom's birthday with both of my parents. That's what vitamins are for, right?! :)

I'm A Blogger!

Hello all. I'm not sure how long this will last--my record for journals/diaries is 2 weeks. But, this is such an important time in my life that I thought a blog would be perfect. I have several friends who have a blog to showcase their ever-growing belly or their ever-growing children. Seeing that I do not have children (can't say the same about the ever-growing belly, thank you metabolism for halting), I guess the pictures will just be from weekend festivities where a camera was invited.

I am SO excited about the next 4 months. I remember getting excited when the countdown reached 299 days, and now it is at 130. I hibernated with wedding planning for about 5 months and now my type-A personality has reared its OCD head and I'm back in action. We sent out the save-the-date cards last week and are ordering the invitations tomorrow. Mom kindly let me know that once the invites are ordered there is no turning back. Thank you mom. :) All joking aside, she has been a fabulous wedding planner and I would be going crazy without her.

Michael has been the perfect fiance throughout the engagement. He has been a part of every decision, even if the conversation goes something like this...

Me: What do you think about these invites?
Him: They are nice, what other options are you considering?
Me: That is not important. Pretty sure we're using these.
Him: OK.

What a great guy!! :)

My bachelorette party is this weekend in Kansas City and I am so excited to see my friends! They are coming in from all over the country, which I never expected could happen! Last time I was in Kansas City I ended up on stage with a band and a tambourine. I'm hoping for a second go at that because the tambourine has become one of my favorite instruments. :)

Alright, I'll wrap this up for today. Have a good one!