I'm Married Now

I got married earlier this month. 

We had wonderful weather. We all looked awesome. Most things went well, and the things that didn't, didn't really matter. 

Setting up the hall beforehand was stressful. Dealing with my toddlers the morning of was stressful. (It was also hard getting Chloe to leave to go back to her father's at 10pm - she had a crying fit and wanted me.)

Chloe didn't really do her flower girl duties. When Chloe didn't, Madi turned and ran to hide under the table. It was kind of humorous. I can't wait to see the video. 

It was a hot, hot day. Taking pictures got painful after awhile, but worth it. I can't wait to see them. Water was my friend. My dress was also soo tight it almost hurt. I survived. 

The speeches were great. Overall, just great. It went by in a blur. 

Then we went on a small honeymoon that lasted 5 nights before we picked my Chloe back up. We did a lot of touring, shopping, lazing around. We went to a water park. A strip club. Has some amazing meals. Visited my friends for ice cream. 

And so on. 

And here's some pictures...

First married selfie! 

Anniversary, Snow, Mom, and Wedding

Today is my 3 year anniversary. And 5 months from yesterday I'll be getting married. I think that's crazy. I got an anniversary gift that we couldn't much afford, that I hinted at strongly. I love it because Eric, Chloe and Madi can pick out the charms and they'll always be special. I think it's one of the best things I own. 

We've been hit with a bunch of storms around here. I had a snow day on Tuesday. It started snowing Monday night and lasted halfway into Tuesday. By the time evening hit, it was really nice outside. We went out and shoveled out the car and pulled Chloe around in her sled. Then Chloe wanted to climb the 'mountain'. So we did. And somehow we started sliding down on our butts. It was amazing. Some of the best fun I've had in forever. We slide down in 5 different spots. Each place higher than the next. We barely wanted to go in but it was late and supper needed to be made. 

Mom flew away last March. On January 14th I flew out to meet her and we drove back home in her car the next day. It's about 2000kms. We didn't rush. We spent two nights in different places and got home around supper time on the 17th. We had Mom's dog so we couldn't shop or eat in a restaurant or anything but overall a great time. It's nice to have her living in the city and to have someone to stop in and visit after work when I'm bored. 

In other news, I picked out wedding shoes along the trip with Mom. The bridesmaids dresses arrived. Plans have come together for my bachelorette party (most of which I dont know of). Eric's tux is paid off. I won a weekend away at my staff party (that I couldn't attend because I was travelling with Mom) and I booked that for our honeymoon. The hotel room for our actual wedding weekend is almost completely paid off. I've won a few gift cards through work that's helped with that. Air Miles will be used to pay for some of the food. It's pretty amazing how much you can afford on a limited budget when you look at all the options. 

Can't think of anything else too important to talk about. 

I can't believe it's been a month since I've updated. 

An updated on Wedding Planning

I've been doing a lot of wedding planning this week. 

I think we officially decided to just do our ceremony indoors to save money and worry about the weather. 

We've discussed the guest list. 

After discussing the guest list, I finally ordered my invitations. 

I ordered the bridesmaids dresses. They were not cheap. We're paying the shipping, and the girls are paying us back for the dressing. Shipping alone was $70 so hopefully we love the dresses. 

I looked around town for shoes and couldn't find any. I looked online for shoes, found a pair I thought I was going to order, but it was suddenly 'not available' and they automatically took it out of my shopping cart as I was about to pay. That made the decision easier. 

Still so much to do, and feels like so little time. 

303 days until Wedding

Eric worked super early this morning, and it took me a little while to get back to sleep after he left. Of course I went into deep sleep dreaming mode. I had a horrible wedding dream - All us girls forget to get hair and makeup done. All the boys wanted to go to the movies instead of the reception. My mother decided not to come but didn't tell me. Scott said he was coming but still hadn't shown up. My sister fell asleep. And all the wedding boys were hiding in a dark room playing with a tiny baby bat. 

 I hope there isn't a baby bat anywhere near my wedding.

I guess a wedding dream/nightmare is a sign that it's been on my mind a lot. 

A lot. 

I've been selling Chloe's old clothes and other household junk as much as possible and putting all the cash away. We've been making some purchases with Eric's credit card and working hard to pay that back off as well. 

I ordered and received our guestbook: 

It's got a wooden cover, and brown pages on the inside. I quite love it. 

On Sunday, I met up with all my bridesmaids and we pretty much decided on the dress that we were getting. We took some of the girls' measurements and once I decide on the color, we'll probably be putting the order in. 

We picked out our tuxes, but not sure if we're completely sold on the colors. I need to take the fabric swatches from the bridesmaid dresses in to see how well they match. 

One of my bridesmaids and I got together one night to make burlap flowers. Now that the huge burn on my finger from the hot glue is gone, I'm ready for another round of crafting soon. 

I'm making my own bouquets, card box and centerpieces. It's a lot. I need to get it all done as soon as possible or knowing me, I'll find myself rushing to get it all done at the last minute. 

So things are coming along slowly, but I still don't have a ceremony site, and I'm starting to have nightmares. 

303 days to go. 

Wedding Stuff

Wedding Planning: 

Venue: Booked and paid in full. 

Photographer: Booked and paid in full. 

Dress: Paid for, hanging in the closet waiting to be altered and cleaned. 

Bridal party: Chosen. 

DJ: Booked, and deposit paid. 

Make-up Artist: Booked and deposit paid. 

Hotel room: Booked. 

Rings: Paid in full, waiting on their arrival. 

Colors: Eric's okay with light pink if I so choose. 

So basically,all necessities are paid for except Eric's clothing. And our credit card debt is minimal. We only used Eric's credit card for a portion of the rings. Looks like we're almost ready for a wedding. 

Ps, the one year anniversary of our engagement was yesterday. I remembered it all last week, but it slipped my mind yesterday. Eric surprised me with a rose after work. I'm not sure who was more excited, me or Chloe. 

Around here, lately.

It's the first day of my second week at my new job. I'd say I'm settled in well. It helps a lot that I've worked in two of the hotels within the company. It's still a little weird to me that all I do now is answer phone calls, but better than my last job. 

Chloe's been pulled out of daycare due to my slightly later hours, and is now in home care. The person watching her is someone who's babysat her before, and she seems to really like it there. 

I recently got my taxes back, and the tax Gods were smiling down on me. For the last time, since next year Eric and I will be common law so we won't get near as much back. 

But we've made some large payments towards our credit cards. Before the taxes, we booked and paid for our wedding venue. With our taxes, I booked and fully paid our officiant. I plan on writing a nice cheque for our photographer as well, as they are by far our biggest wedding-related bill. One thing I said I would never skimp on was the photography at my wedding, and as big as the bill is, this is one of the cheapest local photographers, but they also take some of the best pictures. Win win. 

I also may have bought a Keurig (on clearance, score!) with my taxes, and of course a few things for Miss Chloe. 

Next up will probably be the wedding rings. After that I'll slowly start gathering decor and everything else we need. I'm still trying to think up a ceremony spot. Using the hall that our reception will be at is my last resort. 

I just need to hurry up and narrow down what I want to do with colors. Colors are hard. 

Otherwise, not much else is going on around these parts.

I bought a wedding dress

So I bought a wedding dress yesterday. It was a great price, a great dress. It was second-hand. Obviously I can't show anyone pictures, except the bridesmaids that helped me come to the conclusion that I must buy it. Eric's sister is the only person who's seen the actual dress, since she was visiting yesterday when it was still sitting on our bed. In the garment bag, of course. But she's also a bridesmaid. 

Eric and I just had this weekend off together. We wanted to sell some crap at the flea market but the weather crapped on that idea, so instead I'm blogging and he's playing a video game. 

So yesterday we bought that dress with money we'd been stashing away for months. Then we shopping around Michael's and they had a 40% off sale on certain fake flowers, plus a 25% coupon for sale items to I used that to buy some pink flowers to play around with later. Bouquets maybe. Either way, amazing deal. 

This past Wednesday we went to look at a wedding hall in the community where we used to live. It looks like it'll do the job, but we were only able to get in and see it while a seniors dance was starting, so it was awkward and we couldn't really look around. So I think we might go with it, but I wouldn't mind getting a second look. I still don't know where the kitchen or bathrooms are, and those are very important. We're leaning more towards this location because we want to have a BBQ/finger foods/potluck style reception. We're poor people. 

I just can't wait to book a venue so our date is locked in and I can finally start planning the other details. 

On another random note, I bought myself this book as an anniversary present to myself (how romantic, I know). I started writing one detail about my day, every day, starting January 1st, 2012. It's been going strong for two years and now they have a book for it! It's probably one of my favorite things that I own. I'm going back and filling in all the old stuff from 2012/2013 right now to get it up to date. It's really fun to look back on, and makes me feel less guilty that I don't keep a real journal anymore. 

We've been up to lots more, but mostly it's just work and toddler stuff so I'll save it for another day. 

Things that have been happening here lately

We've been pretty busy lately, or at least it feels like it. 

Eric's been working later shifts, which means I can't pick him up at work so he takes the bus home. Some nights I'm already watching tv in bed when he gets home. It kind of sucks. 

I've been wedding planning a little more. We've changed venue location (again) and our whole idea of the meal. I've looked into officiants/commissioners, whatever the proper term is. This week I'm going to look at some dresses. I'm not really planning on buying anything but I'm hoping to get a better idea of what's in my price range and what I'd like to do with my bridesmaids. 

We had our work Christmas party on January 24th. It was a really great night with a bunch of really great people. Eric showed up after work. We ate, we drank, we talked, we danced and after the party we went to the bar. All in all, a really great night. I can't wait until the next staff party. 

The next day was Madi's birthday party with Eric's family. She's three now. Hard to believe she was a day shy of being a year old when I first met her. The party was nice. Being there a little hungover and a lot tired wasn't as nice. We visited with his mom after the party and I kept falling asleep on the chair. It was pretty sad. 

On Sunday we had a relaxing family day, then Eric went out with a friend for the evening and I got to eat junk and watch girly tv. Win. 

This past weekend my mother and nephew surprised us with a visit. It was pretty fun. We found a babysitter for the two of them and went shopping for a little while. We got some party supplies and surprised the nephew with a small party since we didn't see him on his birthday. 

Friday when they arrived we went shopping in Target for awhile. Found some amazing deals (cowboy boots and a purse for Chloe, sneakers for the summer for Madi), but Chloe didn't have such a good time. She was having a blast with my nephew until she tripped and landed lip-first on the floor. There was blood and tears but afterwards she held the ice on it like a champ. Luckily, her fat lip didn't stick around very long. 

Saturday night Mom made me go out to a bar with her. I really wasn't feeling it but went anyway since Sunday (today) was her birthday. 

And today everyone left and I came into work at 3pm. Weekend over, just like that. Although it was just a one-day weekend for me. 

Other things worth mentioning? We've been working on potty training Chloe and getting no where. She'll sit on the potty a million times a day but won't do anything. Then she'll pee on the floor or in her diaper. She just won't do the pushing right on the potty, but she pretends really well. A lot of fake grunting. 

Chloe and I went to the mall to look at wedding rings. I'm glad to see some are pretty cheap, cause we sure are cheap people. Eric and I might go look ourselves in a few days. 

Anything else? I can't think of anything. We're generally pretty boring. 

Not so wedding planning

Wedding planning is not my friend. It really isn't.

 

I don't really know what I want in terms of colors or décor.

 

I've picked my venue, but I keep having doubts. I can't think of an alternative spot to have the wedding, and this place is gorgeous and we got a great deal. But I still have doubts about it.

 

And I have doubts about our budget. I'm not sure we can afford this wedding, even with the great deal we're getting. Even if we switched to a cheaper location, what we'd save in money we would lose in quality and decorations.

 

I finally picked my wedding party, and I feel good about that. I only wanted 4 people to stand with us on each side, 8 total, but we've ended up with five. Just couldn't think of anyone to cut.

 

I'm waiting to see how our tax return goes before I start making any payments, just in case we can't swing it. It's a sad way to live.

10 Things I Did This Week

1. Eric went to his friend's house Monday night and having the house to myself was kind of awesome. 

2. I cancelled my wedding venue reservation for one place, since it just didn't feel 'right', and we're going to look at my favorite place on Monday. 

3. Eric and I had an indoor yard sale on Saturday last week. We sold over $150 worth of stuff, and a nice chunk of that was our bead sprites. This is what we had starting out. At least 7 of those sold. 

4. We tried out the 2nd new frozen yogurt place in town. Eric didn't like it at all. I thought it was okay. Chloe was a fan. I'll be sticking to my first choice, even though they have less toppings. 

5. Even though I've seen it all before, I'm addicted to Sex and the City right now. It's my feel-good show, and Eric semi follows the plot :p

6. I saw an offer on Facebook for a free photoshoot at Sears, and went for it with the girls. The woman working was fantastic, and we ended up getting a package, plus a couple of extras. I'll post pictures when they come in. Madi was the perfect little model. Chloe was just there to play, Madi was well aware that she was getting her picture taken. It was adorable and hilarious. 

7. I took pictures at the park for a bachelorette party. The girl who asked me to do it is a friend of a friend of a friend. We drank together once or twice years ago. 

8. My friend Sarah and I went on a girl date. We browsed some shops and wanted to go out for dessert. It was 8:30 pm and we stopped by a new place in town. We got dirty looks because we took a seat out on their sidewalk patio. Then when we asked if we could get dessert the rudely replied that they would have to asked if we were allowed to get JUST dessert, because it was their peak dinner time. We walked out and went to a big chain restaurant and got amazing service instead. Sorry for trying to support local. You'll never see me again. 

9. I need to break my addiction of kids clothes shopping. At least until I sell off a lot of the stuff the kids have outgrown. It's getting ridiculous. 

10. As of right now, I feel kind of happy again. I hope it stays. 

Wedding Planning: Choosing a Venue is Hard

Wedding planning is so hard. 

I never had a dream wedding growing up, like some girls do. I went into this not knowing what I wanted at all. I knew I wanted something small. That's about it. 

Once I tentatively booked a hotel for my reception and dance, I realized I cared more than I thought. It didn't feel right. I went back and forth over it for a week or two, before finally cancelling the hold on that hotel at the beginning of this week. 

That was kind of huge for me, because this hotel was affordable. It was convenient. It just didn't feel like us. 

Our wedding song? We chose that already. It's a song I liked a long time ago. Google tells me it was released in 1992. It was mentioned on a local wedding group on Facebook by one girl who had it as her song. I looked it up on YouTube a few days later and I felt something. I showed Eric a few days later. He didn't say much during the song, and we got distracted before anything was said afterwards. It was only a week or two after that when the song came on and he called it our wedding song. And that was it. 

I found a spot for a wedding that I really liked before I ever booked the hotel. I requested information but didn't get a response so I forgot about it for a bit, but my mind kept going back to that place. When I cancelled the hotel, I called this new place, and when I didn't hear back 48 hours later, I sent an email. I finally heard back today. 

The price is great for what's included, which is the hall, bar, and a lot of accommodations. But in reality, it's more than we can afford. We haven't ruled it out, and we haven't actually sat down to talk about how much it will really cost. We're going to take a look at it Monday evening, and I'm half hoping that we don't like it as much, so it will encourage me to find something cheaper. 

I really don't want to love this place. 

Isn't it gorgeous though? 

Wedding Planning: The Beginning

If you asked me a month ago, I never would've thought that I'd be engaged and wedding planning right now. I haven't dug too far into the planning process, but I have been scrounging up information from as many different places as I can, trying to figure out our budget. Once I know how much we need, then I'll know how hard we need to save and how much money we need to put away monthly to do this.

The hardest part of wedding planning? 

Picking a photographer. If I wasn't on a budget, I know exactly who my top three choices would be. Being on a budget means I'm messaging anyone who's photos I like to get their pricing information. I can't afford to go overboard, but photography is the one part of my wedding I don't want to go too cheap on. Even Eric agrees - we would never have huge regrets if the food or decorations weren't great but we would regret it forever if we didn't have great photos to look back on. And with that same mindframe, we've decided we'll spend the extra to also have it videotaped. 

We've picked our year. 2015. We don't want it too early or too late, so I was hoping for late June or early July. Lately the 4th of July has been stuck in my head. We're Canadian, so it doesn't mean anything to us but wouldn't it be fun to give it some special meaning? 

Eric immediately picked his best man and one of his groomsmen, and they both already know it. There was no question. We know we want 1-2 other people in his party, then there's my side. I know who my options are, and who I'd most like to be in my wedding but it doesn't seem to be as simple as that. I can't fit all the people I'd consider, and some I wonder if they would want to be anyway. 

The night of our engagement Eric told me that I should pick the people who bring it up the most and seem the most excited. That's how you know they want to be a part of it. By that logic my wedding might end up being all male. 

Since the announcement, I've spoken to my mother on the phone at least 5 times, and spent the night at her house. She has not mentioned it once. We've talked about other people's weddings and engagements. I guess mine is so unimportant that she's forgotten it's even happened. Now I'm just playing the waiting game - not saying anything about it to see how long until she brings it up. She would've been happier if I was knocked up, which she made apparent when we called and told her the news. I guess I'm on my own. 

We're thinking of doing a very informal ceremony and reception. We're not high-class, formal people. We're cheap and we just want to party. 

But I'll save more of those details for when they're actually decided. On another note, I finally got my ring back yesterday. Finally!

On a completely unrelated note, Chloe is 21 months old today. 

The Story of How I Got Engaged.

If you're not following me on Instagram, then surprise! 

It happened on Sunday, June 9th. I'll never forget the date because later we laughed that it was the 9th day of the 6th month. 69. 

The day started off like many others - I was alone all day while Eric worked and the girls were with their other parents. Chloe came home early, and since Eric had the car, he decided to leave work early so we could do something with the girls. Our first plan didn't work out, so we went to the park. Since it had rained all day Saturday, the park wasn't fit for playing so we pushed them on the swings and then went home. 

But while we were at the park, he asked if he could take the car for a little while later. He wanted to pick something up. He was being very vague and annoying (as usual) as to what or who he was picking up, and said it would benefit at least 2 out of the 4 of us. 

Um, what? 

Naturally, I thought he was picking us up food of some sort. 

I was especially thrown off, because he gave me the option of him going right after supper, or him going after the girls went to bed. All major stores are closed at 5pm. He said if I tried to talk him into going later, he would've just gotten flowers and got the ring the next day or something. 

His drive was very quick. When he came back, he was sneaky and went upstairs, telling me not to follow. He came back down, and few minutes later went back up.  This time, I had to change my shirt for some reason so I went up. I didn't really look at what he was doing, but he was in front of our safe. That was when it first crossed my mind that he might have a ring. But then I figured that probably wasn't it. 

We put the girls to bed and I headed to the couch and played Candy Crush. (So addicting) He wanted to get my attention away from the phone so he called me into the kitchen to find a snack. Finally, I went in. He started being all weird. Asking me "How much do you love me...Would you love me if..." and so on. For the first minute or so I thought he was just being his weird self. Eventually he got down on one knee and popped the actual question, pulling a ring out of his pocket. 

And I couldn't believe it. My first response was probably "Are you serious?" and eventually I was like "Yes...?" I was just dumbfounded. And that's how it happened. We spent the next little while laying on the couch together talking and looking at the ring. Eventually we called his mom, and later mine. I still didn't believe it was real. But that's how it happened. 

And now I'm engaged.