This is it

I tried to write a post on my wedding day, but I haven't quite figured out how to from my phone. Anyway, today is Tuesday. The wedding was Saturday. It was amazing. I am truly blessed to have a wonderful family and friends be a part of it. I am truly blessed.

I didn't expect to be as emotional as I was. I cried. A lot. It's hard you know because there are so many emotions going on at one time. But I loved every moment of it.

Now that the wedding is over I am sad. Sad because I don't have anymore fans to make, lanterns to order, shuckies to plan, etc. Sad because it's been my life for the past year. I've been planning since last June. My office at home has been my wedding room. Yesterday it went back to being the office. We made a sell pile, a keep pile, and a trash pile from the wedding. I cried the whole time.

I know I want to spend the rest of my life with C. But I also want another wedding! I say we do this once a year?! He said no. Drats. Oh well. Now at least I have the rest of our lives to plan for. I think that is even more wonderful :)

My favorite color is sparkly...

I love anything that sparkles. I love the stars. I love crystals. I love my engagement ring (well done my love) and I LOVE sparklers. I'm also clumsy as F*&^.

I really really really want a picture or 12 like this. Or like this:


So I did it. I ordered sparklers.

One thing I learned, I would be a crappy engineer should I have gone that route. I can't measure and guesstimating just led to 40 foot sparklers. I may be SLIGHTLY exaggerating, but it's slight. Seriously, I'm 5'4". These sparklers come up to my chest. That can't be good.

As previously mentioned, I'm clumsy. Seriously clumsy. I fell off the curb the other day and this morning tripped over my right foot and thought I broke my knee. I don't think me and a sparkler are a good team. Another dilemma I face is my hair. It's large. For those of you who know me, my hair looks like the cowardly lion meets an electric socket. Not a good look. So, what in tarnation is going to happen to my hair the day of?!

My question is, these sparklers are larger then some of the guests. How am I supposed to display them?! Can a beach catch on fire? Can I position somehow in the sand? Or do I just give them to people and tell them to hold them 40 feet away from me and my hair?!

Oye ve. OCVFD, you've been warned!

Movin' on Up

Actually, I'm moving down in the alphabet. I'll be going from the front of the line (C) to back (S). I'm actually ok with it. I get to see things from a whole new perspective.

I am talking about changing my last name. I have been getting a lot of questions lately from friends and family. "Are you taking C's last name?" "If you do, are you keeping your maiden name as your middle",etc. Frankly, I've never given it much thought. I've always figured a gal gets married she becomes Mrs. I don't know if I'm old fashioned or what not. I am attached to my last name. Heck, it's been with me for all these years. It defines me. BUT I also love C's last name. Not only will be hubby and wifey, we will be Mr. and Mrs. S. I like that.

I know a couples that the wife keeps her maiden name and the kids will get the husbands. I completely get that. I also know couples where the wife hyphenates. I get that too. I also know couples where socially she is known by such and such, while professionally she is her maiden name. Makes sense. However, I don't have a career where I have to remain locked into my maiden name. Hyphenating will be about 3,000 letters and who has time for that?! The only detterance I have had to changing my name has been the horror stories I have heard regarding the MVA's, the SSA, etc. I hate lines. HATE.

As I've been googling the easy way to do this whole name change thing (I'm lazy damn it) I have been surprised at how easy it is to change your name to whatever in tarnation you feel like. Reminds me of the Friend's episode where Phoebe became Princess Consuela Bananahammock. That has a nice ring to it!

Here are the rules for Maryland:
Q. I just don’t like my birth name and I want to change it. Can I choose any name I want?

A. Yes, you can choose any name you wish as long as:

You do not intend to commit a crime and

You do not interfere with the rights of others—for example, you cannot change your name to that of a celebrity in order to take advantage of the celebrity’s name.

Ummm HELLO!? So as long as I don't kill anyone or promise not to blackmail people I can be whomever!? Sign a sister up! I am so gonna be Gwen Stefani! Or have C become Brad Pitt. So people will ask me, who's your husband? I say you know, Brad Pitt. Genius!

This part also made me chuckle:

“Usage” - In Maryland, you may change your name by simply picking a new name and then using it in your daily life. You can just start using your new name with friends, family, and any businesses with which you have contact. You will also need to change your records with various government agencies. Here is a case that supports your right to use a new name without going to court. Stuart v. Board of Elections, 295 A.2d 223 (1972).

Who would have thought it was this easy?! So now here is my dilemma...do I go all out crazy and become a Princess Consuela Bananahammock? I could have fun with this! From now on folks, you can call me Jill :)

I have a tummy ache :/

Lately I have been having nightmares of things going aray on our wedding day. I am terrified of getting stung by bees, as I am allergic. In the car last night I told C what if we have a My Girl incident, like Maculy Caulkin. "There were just too many." Then I almost threw up with fear.

Lastly, what if one of us has a major medical condition. I found this story and just about passed out....
"Within few days of arrival, the groom began to feel unwell. It soon became evident that he was suffering from something other than “tourista”. He went to the resort doctor for assistance. Regrettably, on the day of the wedding, he was rushed to the nearest hospital. On the very afternoon he was to be saying, “I do,” he was undergoing emergency surgery. For privacy reasons, we cannot go into further detail, however, this was NOT a pre-existing condition and it was completely unexpected and unavoidable."

Ummmm WHAT?!?!?!?! OMG! This made me paranoid because I just cancelled my health insurance because I will be getting on C's once we are married. I refuse to eat from now until the wedding. Eeeek!

When I tell people about my fears, they just say it's pre-wedding jitters. Jitters are nerves I think. Not full blown panic attacks! However, I have come up with solutions to ease my mind.

1. To prevent the bugs from coming within 100 yards of me, I think I need this. And, the best part, the $7.95 price tag. Plus it says it's fun. I like fun and cheap. Those are two of my favorite words.

Take that bugs! The only movie scene I want is the one where we ride off into the sunset together. So there.

2. In terms of getting sick. I have decided we will pop multivitamins like a champ.I also hope that by taking them, we feel young and rejuvinated. I mean, this is forever you know?!

Funny Multivitamin Commercial - Awesome video clips here

Any advice on how to make me not panic is appreciated. Oh, and Mama Nature, if you're listening, please help a sister out. You and I have had a chat, don't let me down, m'kay, thanks!

Water water everywhere

So, I am utterly obsessed with wedding blogs, wedding websites, etc. On Weddingbee, Miss Nacho (ahem, Mrs. now) made some lovely water bottle labels. After some wonderful tweaking in Photoshop, I became a brunette and was carried over the threshold. Behold!!! I couldn't love them more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On a side note, could they be any healthier :)

Orange you glad I didn't say banana!

Dear Mystic Tan,

You should be happy to know that I am the most paranoid person on the planet. With that being said, thankfully I followed my gut and got a spray tan 3 weeks BEFORE my wedding. Otherwise I would wear my dress looking like the above photo.

Mystic Tan, I did not realize that I had to specific my color. When asked if I wanted level 1, 2, or 3, I should have been more specific. I will apologize. I want normal. Err, healthy. Glowing. NOT pumpkin. I forgot to mention that.

Now, when C calls me "pumpkin" I don't know if he's making fun of me or means it. Sheesh.

Sincerly,

Me

To toss or not to toss, that is the question....

So, I have been throwing around the idea of not doing the garter toss for awhile. I'm slightly uncomfortable with the idea of C being all up under my dress and what not trying to grab it with his teeth or however you get it, in front of all those people. I don't know. Still up in the air.

Anyway, if I do wear a garter, I want it to be special. C isn't wearing his uniform for the wedding, but I wanted to pay tribute to the AF somehow. So behold my garter creation out of his ABU's.



(Tig is doing QC)


(My pj's rock don't ya think?!)

My alternative plan to the garter toss is going to be this I think....
My Grandparents have been married for a gazillion years. I'm sure they will win, but you never know. Anyway, maybe I'll do an anniversary dance instead. The winner can have the bouquet and the garter. I also think this will be especially nice considering my Grandad was in the Navy for 32 years.

Another idea is to mess with C. I could hide stuff under my dress and attach a clothesline, so that he starts pulling out a sub sandwich, a toy fire engine and etc. I think that would be comical. Or maybe I'll just hand it to my nephew and say who do you want to give this to buddy. He can pick his lucky lady and they can dance til their socks fall off.

I have some thinking to do. In the mean time, I leave you with this thought. An Old English custom was while the bride and groom were in their bridal chamber, the wedding guests would sneak into the chamber picking up discarded stockings and throwing them at the couple. Whoever flung a stocking that hung on the bride or groom’s nose, would be the next to marry. Hysterical right?!

Light my fire baby!

So, I have my heart set on doing a sparkler send off. I am a little apprehensive, as my venue is a 3 gazillion year old wooden structure. No pressure right?! Anywho, if I want sparklers, people are going to have to light them. So I reveal to you my matchbooks. I've never made these before so bear with me. Also, my phone sucks at taking photos, but oh well. I think they are pretty damn cute if I may say so myself :) Plus it took 3.5 trillion minutes trying to format the damn thing correctly. Pain in the tush, but so worth it I think!

I found a tutorial here I first thought these said edible and was excited. Then I re-read. I was still excited.

The template was editable in terms of changing names etc. but not so much the wording. I liked "Love in Bloom", but A. I wasn't doing seeds and 2. I'm on a beach. That doesn't make sense. Here's where the creative juices had to start flowing.

I Ctrl A'ed the page, then worked my magic! I suck at sizes and apparently made matchbooks for giants, so C helped me realize that people don't have 40 foot hands. Good thing! That's a lot of ink!

I changed the colors, the wording, and added our logo, printed on sticker paper and viola, matchbook central. As I look at them now I think perhaps I should have gotten a different color then white, but oh well. Hope they will encourage the "sparks" to fly at our wedding (insert cheesy music here).