Life Update {01232013}

Chaotic:  adjective; completely confused or disordered:

I feel as though this is what my life has become.  I don't even know where to start this post - holy cow.

One of the things I wanted to do this year was get back into regular blogging. Meaningful blogging - not just updates on any given photography-related shoot. Not just pics of my kids, or recaps of vacations - though there will be plenty of both this year. I wanted to get back to posts about me, what's going on, random/amusing things I found during the week, and the typical controversial stuff I like to throw out there. I'm not one to censor myself - I find that to be a strong personality trait, within reason. Weekly posts seem to be a good way to break up the picture posts, etc. I also might go back to doing movie and book reviews.

Having said all that, here is this week's post.

We have a little break between all the dental stuff. Carter had a failed treatment this week, which means we pushed out the renewed attempt for a few weeks, to give him time to not be so scared, and to give me time to get him talked into this last session. I don't go in for my next ortho appt until mid-February. We are waiting on pre-authorization from Regence for the oral surgery; I'm told this could take 2-6 weeks. As soon as that rolls in, we are proceeding full steam ahead. I had a bad night where I had myself totally talked out of this entire process. However, thinking of the end result has renewed my drive to see this out.

I'm also crazy deep in planning this:

We switched around two of our vacations this year. Originally, Disney was going to take place in August. Then we realized how insane that was, and moved it to the beginning of May, when the majority of kids would still be in school. This meant pushing out the trip to visit my best friend, Meag, until the end of July. I'm okay with that - some of the series we were thinking about seeing were better in July. I'm soooooo ready for baseball to start back up! I'm also blocking off weekends on the photography calendar for camping. Camping is going to happen in a big way this year. I have missed it so much!

I found this link today and it's right up my alley. I think everyone knows how I feel about a woman's right to her own body, and decisions regarding the same, other women's rights, and equality. This sums that up nicely - excuse some of the profanity.

http://samuel-warde.com/2013/01/the-most-powerful-defense-of-a-womans-right-to-her-own-body/

I also saw this, which made me giggle:

The only thing I'm going to say about all this gun talk is this: it seems like most of the people bitching don't even OWN an assault rifle. How credible do you sound complaining about something you don't even have?! It's not like someone is taking away your favorite toy. If you don't have one, don't act all put out about it. And second (see, I couldn't stop), why do people NEED them? Do defend their home? Are they that bad of a shot that they can't take someone out with a handgun or other single shot rifle? Ok - enough about that because I really could go on.

I took Monday off and rewarded myself with a three day weekend. I've been scrapbooking regularly recently - so nice to be back to that! I need to get caught up! I also spent most of Monday morning watching the Inauguration. Very awesome, and I'm so proud!

Obviously not everyone is an Obama supporter like me. However, I am damn proud to be living in a country where we have the right to choose our leader and celebrate accordingly. It was fun to watch the ceremony and the performances and dances.

Let's do an update, shall we?

One of my goals this year is to get back to regular blogging. As in, more than just photography shoots and vacations. I'm backing off on the wedding photography this year (even though that brings in the biggest chunk of photography income) to focus more on newborn photography.......and trips with my family. We didn't camp one time last year - that will definitely be changing this year. We already have trips to Disneyland (for Carter) and San Francisco (for Eric and me, to visit my best friend and take in more baseball) planned for this year. In between those trips, we plan to get back to camping. It's something I really enjoy and I have really missed it.

Anyway, back to blogging.

Speaking of photography, I am in the middle of developing a new website with the help of one of my friends. She understands all that HTML talk that I would just like to ignore. Hopefully within a month, the new site will be up and running and I can share it with you then!

Life has been hectic lately. Does it ever slow down? Do you ever feel "caught up"? Is there such a thing?

We finally took Kendall in to the doctor and since she has been on ammox for her tiny ear infection, she has transformed back to my happy baby. It's sooooo nice to have her back! I can't believe she's going to be TWO in just a few months. :/  We also moved the crib down to a toddler bed for her. 

For the most part, it has gone really well. Today, at nap time, I kept hearing her toy guitar so I went in and kidnapped her. I wanted a nap anyway, so we snuggled in my bed. At first, every time I would open my eyes, this happened:

 Eventually, this happened:

And we both slept for a couple hours......until the 4-wheelers went speeding down the road with people sledding.

Speaking of sledding, we took the kids out today. We didn't want to drive far, so we ended up at Eagle Elementary School, which has a nice hill around the back side of the building. It was a lot of fun, though Kendall got cold and miserable. Need to find that girl some thicker gloves!

 (Yes, he still has the beard going.....though now he has trimmed it and "shaped" it. Don't ask.)

What else is new?

I go in on Tuesday for my braces consult. 2013 and 2014 will be spent in braces. I'm pretty anxious for the first portion of the treatment, where I have to have four teeth extracted (to make room), but overall, I am extremely excited to have a straight smile soon!

Work is B.U.S.Y.  This last week was INSANE getting caught up on the case and prepping for trial. However, the hard work has paid off as I received a nice raise this week. This firm is just fantastic and I'm so, SO glad I made the decision to move there last year. What a great move!

And it seems like the kids have come to some sort of understanding that testing mommy's patience, at least in a group effort, isn't amusing. So my sanity has returned. For a while, it felt like this:

See you at the next posting!

Wedding Update

So, again, it's been a while since I have posted an update on the wedding. And this will probably be my last update since the wedding is just over two weeks away. Two weeks, folks.

We selected a DJ and we have our final meeting with them this weekend. I will turn in my sheet with my musical selections and then put my trust in them to make it a magical evening.

The flowers are ordered. I'm not a flower person so I have this fear that they will all look like crap. But it's their job to make it look good, so they better do it! I had the final meeting with the florist a week or so ago. I have lost all track of time.

The invitations are gone. Sent. Forgotten about. Hardly anyone has RSVP'd and that makes me mad. But whatever. I can't control the world, right? I wish people would just pick up the phone and make a call.....even if they are assuming that I am assuming they will be there. It would still be nice to have a decent count.

Carter has his tux. He's so darn cute! It needs to be hemmed up a little bit, but that's no big deal. I still need to get him some shoes, but I'm in no hurry on that. There will be shoes any time I'm ready to go fork over my money.

The guys all went in for the tux fitting this last weekend. So that's out of the way, thank god. Somehow, we managed to get them all in on the same day and time - miracles DO happen.

Eric is headed out for his bachelor party this weekend....the boys are taking boats and camping/fishing gear and making a weekend of it. Oh, and there are kegs involved. Surprise surprise. So Carter and I will have the weekend to ourselves. Yee-haw!

My bachelorette party will be Sunday, August 31st......Monday is a holiday, ya know! Party extra late!

The gifts for the bridesmaids have been purchased. That's a secret. :-)

I am still stressing about the little things that need to be bought......picture, matte, frame, tiara, votives for cake table, hotel in Tampa before the cruise, etc. I'm stressing big time. Eric was laid off for a week, so his last paycheck and this coming paycheck will be short, meaning he will literally have no money to contribute to the honeymoon. So I'm wondering if we will even be doing anything "fun" or drinking, lol. I'm sure it will all come together.........somehow. (If you are reading this, ditch the wedding registry and just give us cash - we are desperate)

My out-of-town bridesmaids will be here next weekend and I'm so damn excited to see them. We get a whole week to visit this time, so hopefully we can cram everything in.

Reservations for the venue of the rehearsal dinner were made today....for 20 people. That's a lot of people! Old Chicago-downtown Boise. I am stoked. One of my old stomping grounds back in the day, lol!

My mother and I did a walk-through at the venue for the wedding; making sure the count for tables/chairs/linens were accurate.

I got a new ring. Eric got his ring.

I think that's it. I can't think of anything else right now. I'm just ready for this day to be here so we can get the party on. Hope to see you there!!

Wedding Update

Let's do an update on where we are with the wedding.

We have selected a DJ. We interviewed three different places. I think we found one that fits what we are looking for. Eric was really wanting to do a live band, but I think you are so limited with your options. Not my preference.

The guys' tuxes have been selected and reserved. I think Eric picked out something that is going to look really good, so I'm excited about that.

All the girls' have their dresses. It's up to them to find shoes and have their dresses altered. They are going with silver shoes - we all agreed that silver matches the dress the best.

I have my shoes - I ordered them from a place that will dye them. I received the shoes and a color swatch of the ivory I want, took the swatch over to where my dress is to make sure it was going to match. It did. So the shoes have been shipped back to the company, with the swatch, to be dyed. Hopefully this doesn't take longer than a couple weeks.

Our cruise is booked. Our excursions have been booked as well - those are bridal shower/wedding presents. All I know is that they have been booked - I have no clue who is giving them to us. And my parents upgraded our room on the cruise to a room higher up, with a big window. We were originally on the very bottom floor, with no window. And, as someone who gets motion sickness, I was quite worried about that. As was my family - knowing that I truly do live up to me "hurl girl" nickname. Now I'm just freaking out because we still need to get passports and plane tickets and I have no clue how we are going to afford that. It's three months until the wedding - I can't put these things off anymore. I wish we could just ask for money for bridal shower/wedding presents. That's really all we need. Making a registry was just like going through the motions because we already have a house with all the stuff we need. So we did the registry feeling like we were doing it just to do it. Not really needing anything, but of course, Eric wants it all. He doesn't want to ask for money. So I guess we continue to stress about how we are going to get our passports, pay for plane tickets, and have spending money for the honeymoon. Guess that's something I get to freak out about. Yikes

My mom and I are meeting with a florist this Saturday to see what can be done about the bouquets and other flowers needed. I picked something relatively simple, so I'm not worried. Hopefully we can get some good prices.

My bridal shower is July 12th and my friend, Jenny, will be hosting it at her house. I'm very excited for it.

My bachelorette party will be Sunday, August 31st. The next day is Labor Day, so no one should have to work.

I will be working half days the week of the wedding - Tues., Wed., and Thurs. Thursday, after I get off work, the girls and I will go get manicures and pedicures. The rehearsal will be in the evening, with the rehearsal dinner immediately following at Old Chicago - downtown. I'm sure the wedding party will stay downtown and bar hop. Friday - no one is working. Well, at least the bride, groom, and girls aren't. I don't know about Eric's groomsmen. And I have no clue when the bachelor party is. That's their deal - they can figure it out. Guys never plan like girls do.

So that's basically where we are at. Things are coming together quite well. We still need to finish up on the centerpieces - I have about half the flowers that I need. So we'll be having another spray paint project in the garage soon. And the invitations are all ready to be put together - I just need to get together with Eric's mom and get those all done. The guest list is pretty much finalized. We tried our best to keep it to 100 people and I think we did all right.

The food menu is pretty much finalized as well and I'm happy with the selection that we will have. We are getting two or three kegs of beer, and will have lots of wine. We decided to not pay for hard alcohol for everyone as that would get really expensive. So we will have a private stash for those VIPs - a/k/a the BRIDE, who loves her vodka and rum, and the grandmother who must have her vodka tonics.

So - that's where we are. Freaked out about money, but everything is coming together.

Wedding Update

So, it's been a while since I posted an update on the wedding plans.

Eric's mom has ordered all of the supplies for the invitations. The last thing we are waiting on is a specialty cutter thing - I can't remember what it's called - that comes in on the 14th or so. Then we can officially start putting all the invitations together. It's turning out to be a lot cheaper than just ordering pre-made invitations.

The tuxedos have been selected. They are going to look really nice - the groomsmen will have black jacket/pants/tie, ivory shirt, and periwinkle vest. I think it's going to look really good. And then Eric will have black jacket/pants, ivory shirt, and ivory vest. The ivory on ivory looked really good. I'm not sure what he's going to do about a tie - either black or peri I guess. And the ushers will have just a basic black on ivory tux.

All the supplies for the centerpieces have been ordered and should be in - the mirrors came in yesterday, I think the floating candles are coming in today. All the vases are being stored at my grandmother's house.

I picked out my shoes yesterday. I will have to order them and I'm really hoping that I am able to wear these shoes all night without killing my feet. I'm not concerned about the heel, just my toes getting squished. I guess we'll just have to see! And I'll have to get a more comfy, back-up pair just in case! Here is a picture of the shoes - which will be dyed ivory.