Deer, Bears and Dog Bites

Deer - what my parent's dogs chased while I was out walking them today (do they realize that the deer is five times the size of them?!).

Bear - what has been visiting my parent's neighbors house the past couple of nights.

Dog Bite - what I got when I came between one of my parent's dogs and the dogs across the street.

Needless to say ... I'm not in Atlanta anymore.

Just another day, just a couple more things checked off of my list.  My parent's phone rang ALL DAY.  My family is getting ready to make the trip to CT so a lot of them are just checking in before they finalize their plans.  People also want to know what they can do to help, which I'm simultaneously touched and overwhelmed by.  It's amazing to me just how many people are reaching out to me right now.  God has blessed me with so many people in my life and words CANNOT describe my gratitude.  At one point there was a lull and I was home alone and I managed to finish my scrapbooks, wrap presents, pack up the candles so they're ready to be brought to the community house, put together a first draft of the seating charts and added some more music to the playlists.  The caterer also dropped by to pick up her deposit so I talked to her for about an hour to talk about timelines, schedules for set up, etc.

After all of this, I did what I absolutely needed to do - I went downstairs to run on the treadmill!!  I think treadmills were invented after the wedding industry started to become what it is today.

One final note ... it's been POURING all day and it's supposed to do this all week, but look at the weather report for Saturday ... 

Partly cloudy.  Lows in the mid-50's.  Highs in the low 70's.

That sounds just about perfect.

Favors and Tiaras and Make Up, Oh My!!

It's been a crazy couple of days, but one by one I'm getting things crossed off my list!!

On Sunday I went over to Cindy Tyler's house - I went to school with her kids and she still does costumes, props, hair & make-up for my dad's shows - to do a trial run with my hair.  She had a friend of hers come over and we played around with some different things and then found a style that we all loved.  It was so much fun!!  While we were doing that we also played with makeup and I settled on what I wanted for that too.  It was fun to get all dolled up for the afternoon!!  Seriously.  I think that grownups should get to play dress up every now and then, too.  I stopped by the high school on my way back to my parents house to raid my father's costume closet.  I got mirrors, music stands (to prop mirrors up on), a steamer and more.  We're getting ready at my parent's house and I think I have everything we could need.

When I got home Bethany and I got ready to assemble 250 wedding favors!!  It seemed more daunting than it ended up being and we got through almost all of them while we watched the Tony awards (did anyone else see that opening number? WOW!!).

This morning after everyone had left for work, I poured myself some coffee, turned on soapnet and did some scrapbooking while the dogs slept.  It was actually quite peaceful!!  My mom came home around 2 and we went S-H-O-P-P-I-N-G.  We actually didn't need that much.  I needed some ribbon, a pillow for the ring bearer and makeup.  My mom wanted to look at dresses since she decided she didn't like the dress she had picked out a couple of months ago.  Well ... we got that and then some.  But it was a fun day!!  At 5 we picked up our friend Courtney from work and went and had dinner and then to the mall and David's Bridal to get the things we needed.  It was fun to get out of the house and get some things checked off the list while having fun.  So far I've been blessed and fortunate to have a balanced combination of time alone and time with friends and family.

I got home tonight and finished assembling the favors - they're ready to be taken to the Community House.  Wedding favors - done.  Jewelry & Make up - done.  Ring bearer and flower girl pillow & basket - done.  Mother of the Bride dress - done.  Scrapbooks - almost done.

Bruce gets here on Wednesday!!  I'm SO very ready for my groom to with me.

Love to all,

Sarah

I think I missed my calling ...

... I should have been a wedding coordinator!!  My mom was doing a wedding today and she asked me to come along as a wedding coordinator and I had a ton of fun.  It was completely low stress for me since I didn't know the couple, so I just (among other things) moved everyone into the church, got the wedding started, pushed the little ones down the isle and opened the doors for the bride so she could make a grand entrance.  How fun!!

Bruce and I left early Thursday morning and drove up the coast to New Castle, DE.  We were making great time until we encountered the stalled trap that is D.C. and Baltimore traffic.  Ick.  We got (okay, well since I was navigating maybe it was my fault) frazzled because of that and ended up in New Jersey (I thought we were supposed to cross the Delaware River!!), had to turn around, got back into Delaware, got off the highway and promptly drove past our hotel.  Oy.  We finally got to our hotel and then went and had dinner with Sarah!!  Of course, on our way to dinner, we drove past the restaurant and ended up in Pennsylvania.  Double oy.  Regardless, we made it and I hadn't seen Sarah since November 2007, so I was thrilled to see her and to know I'll see her next week!!

Then next morning we got up and drove in the pouring rain to Cape May, NJ for Jason's graduation.  I guess the rain kind of showed WHY it's so important to have strong men and women in the Coast Guard (if I were stuck on a boat in the middle of a hurricane, I would sing praises if I saw the Coast Guard pull up) but it was still wet, cold and windy outside.  Not a great day for driving long distances or walking around a base (or looking cute - my hair was have a "Monica in Barbados" moment).  The graduation was amazing!!  I took a bunch of videos, but blogger isn't letting me upload them right now.  As soon as I can get it to work, they'll all be posted!!

I drove through the rain and traffic up to CT that night while Bruce went home to Myerstown with his family.  He'll drive up here with a couple of his groomsmen on Wednesday.  It's probably good that we're spending a couple days apart, good that we have this time with our families, great that we got an extra two days up north, even better that we saw Jason graduate - we would have traded all of this for Jason to be at the wedding.  But we're making the best out of a tough situation.  When life hands you lemons, sometimes all you can do is put them in a glass of iced tea.

In the meantime, I'm moving in a million different directions trying to work out last minute details, favors, music, bulletins, etc. etc. etc..  If I keep myself busy, I don't think about all that needs to be done, or the fact that in less than a week I will be married!!  I'm taking it one day at a time, one hour at a time, one moment at a time, one prayer at a time.

And I've never been more sure of anything in my entire life.

Stay tuned ...