Planning Stages

I have to admit, I'm really good at a number of things (finances, insurance, drinking beer, sarcasm, things that I can't say on this blog because come on, let's keep this at least PG-13) but when it comes to planning? Not so much. I get bogged down in the details and seem to lose sight of the end goal, whatever that may be. I freak out over the small things that I have control over and freak out even more when it seems that I have no control over anything.

When Thomas and I met we had both decided that at some point we would definitely want to get married again. Having not been completely and utterly emotionally damaged by our former spouses and knowing that we could do it better, SO much better, together it was worth the leap. I remember the day he asked me if we were to get married what kind of wedding would I want. I looked at him and said, "I don't do weddings". Which is true, in a sense. Due to the circumstances surrounding my first wedding (basically meaning my family and friends hated his guts and would never have come in the first place) we made an appointment at the local J.P. and got married on a Saturday afternoon. My marriage license was signed by two witnesses I had never met before in my life. We proceeded to go out to lunch and then he went to work that evening. How romantic! Good times, yessiree. However, I knew it wouldn't be like that this time around. I warmed up to the idea that a real and true wedding could actually be fun, as long as we did it the way WE wanted it.

So far this wedding has remained mostly non-traditional. I will not be wearing a white floor-length wedding gown, we won't be sending out invitations with bows and tissue paper, my mom actually saw a picture of the dress I wanted and deemed it "slutty", and we won't be married in a church. We're getting married in Las Vegas. Our "invitation" was sent via Gmail and told people to come, get drunk, watch us get married, and then maybe we'll hit a strip club. I'm still amazed, and grateful, for the number of people who didn't just say, "Yea, sure. We'll be there." But instead said, "Are you kidding?! We wouldn't miss this for the WORLD!" God I love our friends.

In another way that this has become the completely un-traditional wedding is that I have been pretty hands off on the planning. I did not check with the travel agent about prices, not just for our flight and hotel but for other flights and hotels for our guests, I did not book the wedding chapel and limo service. Hell, I didn't even write the email out inviting everyone. I have picked out my ring, looked for wedding dresses, agreed to specific hotel rooms, chapel packages, and dinner reservations. When it comes to planning this thing Thomas has been top notch and I couldn't be more grateful. He has taken some of the biggest stresses off of me and I absolutely love him for it.

September will be here before we know it, and even though there are plenty of stages completed I still have a lot of my own work to do before I walk down that aisle. I'll freely admit that most of my stress is self-induced. With work being in the "busy season" and knowing that I am not physically ready to fit into my "slutty" wedding dress I've been a little hard on myself lately. There's a lot I want to get accomplished and I know I have the ability to do it but even if I don't I know that at the heart of it all I am going to marry the man that I love. I am going to be the happiest girl in Vegas on September 26th. No matter what.

Food And Guns

My only sibling, my baby sister, graduated from high school on Friday. Thomas and I made the haul up to Missouri the day before and seeing her walk across that stage was worth every boring mile of the trek. The child was BEAMING with glee and my family and I were proud. She's not a baby anymore. She's not the 4 year-old I keep imagining her to be. She's a full fledged ADULT now and I wonder where time went.



Of course something HAD to go wrong for this poor child. It was raining cats and dogs and cows and frogs the night of the ceremony and I thought we were all going to DIE from either the epic holy floods or from a tornado. The kid got caught out in the rain and her cap was all warped and her hair was a wreck but it didn't matter to her. She was DONE with high school. Look at that beautiful smile! LOOKIT! I've never seen her happier.




Of course with any family function we have there must be large LARGE amounts of food. I knew going in that my diet was shot as soon as we crossed the border into Missouri. My taste buds were thanking me but my thighs were screaming "NO NO NO! Do you REALIZE how much time you're going to have to spend on the elliptical to work this shit off?!"



Obviously my taste buds won.



Like any red-blooded American family from the Mid-West we celebrated my sister's graduation by going on a family outing to the shooting range. Yes, you read that right. And yes, we're a little rednecky. Don't hate.



Just when I thought I couldn't eat anymore. When I was sure that my belly couldn't handle ONE MORE piece of food in it, out came the cake. A cake big enough for 30 people. A cake that 7 of us almost finished off. WITH ICE CREAM. Insert more screaming from my thighs here.

BUT WAIT...THERE'S MORE!



After my sister had opened her gifts Thomas and I were told we had a surprise as well. We were given our very own cake to take home!! In celebration of our recent engagement my family gave us the cake, a card, and a couple of small gifts. We were floored. This weekend was about my sister but during this time they had all thought of Thomas and I. They wanted to do something special for two people they love so much. Those people never cease to amaze me.



To my sister,

Good job, kiddo. You make me proud. Looking forward to seeing you graduate again in 4 years.

I love you,
Sissy




Graduation set on Flickr

Lucky

At one point in the not so distant past I had come to the realization that I may never find that one person for me. I was content with my life and happy knowing I had a roof over my head, food (and beer, lots of it) in my belly, and a job that paid the bills. I had a wonderful beautiful group of friends who I knew would be there for me no matter what. I had a family that, even though I complain about them on a regular basis, loved me unconditionally. I had made it through some dark and desperate times and had come out the other side a smarter person. I had learned from my mistakes and did my best not to repeat them. I was a lucky lucky girl.

Then one day I met someone. Someone who made me smile, made me laugh, made me think, and made me want to be a better person. Someone who completely turned my world upside down and showed me that I was special.

When I met Thomas I thought he was too good to be true. Me, being the cynic and skeptic that I am, I waited for the other side. I waited for something bad to happen. I waited for my heart to be broken and for the disappointment that I thought was inevitable. It never happened. He proved to me time and time again that he was genuine.

Our first weekends spent together were amazing and I couldn't get over how well we clicked. We started finishing each other's sentences and almost became mind readers. We would laugh and talk for hours. Talk about our past, talk about the future. Talk about family and friends and tell old stories. What was once a leap of faith, a shot in the dark, turned into love. A magnitude of love that I never imagined I could feel. For once in my life I felt understood, loved, and accepted no matter my flaws.

After months of talking about it and weeks of planning Thomas and I have made it official. With a blessing from my family we picked out my ring and couldn't wait to tell the world that we are engaged.






As I think over the last 10 months of my life and as I look down at the beautiful ring I am wearing on my left hand I am reminded once again that I am a lucky lucky girl.

Lordy

I know, I know, I should've done the SWMH Club update by now but I haven't. Hell, I was GOING to blog from Arizona but you know, shit got in the way. Like DRINKING, and HAVING FUN, and being LAZY. Seriously, we didn't go anywhere last weekend. Oh, wait, scratch that. We went to Walmart where I saw Elle start to lose her ever loving shit because everything in that store was switched around and under construction and SUN SCREEN WAS BY THE DOG FOOD ZOMFG. I can't blame her though, all homegirl wanted was some damn rotisserie style chicken and they were out. OUT OF CHICKEN. All I wanted was something in my belly to help with the alcohol I had started drinking at 8 that morning.

This weekend was so good for my soul. There is nothing better than sitting around on Elle's back porch and laughing til your side hurts. I hadn't seen these women in almost a year and when we were all sitting around it was like I was just there the weekend before. A lot has changed for all three of us in the last year but in the end we are still the same. Funny, loud, drinking, smoking, cussing, kick ass women.

Thank you Princess and Elle for a memorable and wonderful weekend. Thank you for my gifts and thank you for being amazing friends. Friends that are always on your side but will call you on your shit if need be. I am one lucky bitch to know you both.

SWMH Club - Cinco de Drinko - May 2009 in pictures

Mojangle OUT

In less than TWO hours I will be well on my way to see my gurls in the big A-Z. I'm wearing jeans and GOD I hope that wasn't a bad decision. Cause ya know, it's fucking hot there. And don't give me that bullshit about it being a "dry heat". When it's hot it's HOT and at 110 degree at 8 in the morning it don't matter if it's wet, damp, humid, or dry. Hot is HOT. My only defense is that I look damn cute in jeans.

While Thomas may be over the moon about FINALLY getting some damn piece and quiet around here and having the entire bed to himself so that he may SPRAWL I will for sure miss him and the puppehs. However, a girl's weekend (especially with these girls) are muchly needed for the soul and I cannot wait to revel in the laughter and just fucking enjoy the time (what little of it there is) to be with these women.

Stay tuned for pictures and drunken blog posts and lists of these we say that are funny as HELL to us but may not make any damn sense to anyone who isn't hammered or wasn't there. Or both.

Let the SWMH Club - Cinco de Drinko commence!!