WEDDING RECAP // COCKTAIL HOUR

Our initial game plan after the ceremony was to hop on the bus, head to Mears Park in downtown St. Paul and snap a few more photos, and then head over to The Bulldog in lowertown for a drink. When we exited the ceremony we realized it had gotten a bit cooler, and had rained- so the ground was wet. It started to sprinkle as well after got on the bus. I was happy with the photos we got beforehand, and didn't want to schlep into the park, in the cold and rain and mud (since that portion of downtown was under construction) just to get a few more photos. So, we pulled an audible and just headed straight to the bar. This is a long winded way to say: I hadn't exactly planned on having a bunch of photos at the bar on my wedding day. One of the things Matt had said though that he was very adamant about was having some time with just our wedding party immediately after the ceremony to decompress and relax- and I will say, it was really nice to have that. We played shuffleboard, had some drinks, chatted, and it was fun to kind of escape the craziness of the day and all the people and just hang out with our friends.

 

 There was a bar crawl scavenger hunt going on, and M's sister Katie got asked if they could put a temporary tattoo on her..haha:

After The Bulldog we piled back on the bus- which was a rolling dance party in and of itself. Our photographer drove separately so there's no professional pictures from that- but lets just say there were 2 stripper poles, and Dana was manning the ipod- so there wasn't a dull moment.

Earlier in the week, with the dismal weather forecast, we had some concerns about cocktail hour being outside. I had presumed there was no other available space and we were stuck with the outdoor pavillion. So, when M asked me to ask our coordinator if we could move it inside I rolled my eyes but obliged anyway. Thank GOD I did because she was able to offer us some indoor space- that is typically the cafe at the zoo, since the zoo was closed early for winter hours.

We arrived at the tail end of cocktail hour and got to enjoy more time with our guests. (some of which I spent in the bathroom dealing with "the issue", alas. It all worked out. :)) 

Cocktail hour came to a close, and it was time for Matt and I to make our grand entrance. :)

Up next: reception- dinner and dancing!

WEDDING RECAP // THE CEREMONY

The ceremony was one of the most surreal moments of the day, and to be honest, I wish I remembered more of it. It reminded me of when I used to participate in plays in grade school- you spend so much time rehearsing, anticipating, preparing, and then suddenly you're on stage and people are there watching you. When Canon in D started it really felt like the day was starting. Sure, we had all the photos before and whatnot, but everybody else being there in that church- waiting, knowing I was walking in to hundreds of our family and friends. It was incredibly exciting. :)

 

We didn't have a traditional receiving line- and weren't going to have one at all, but we got sort of trapped (see my other post about what I'd do differently) so we had some people waiting outside when we exited, which really surprised me when I heard cheering and clapping, haha. This is one of my favorite candids though :) 

After the ceremony it was off to The Bulldog in St. Paul for some drinks!

Up next: post-ceremony

THANKSGIVING WEEKEND

Ahhh what a fantastic long weekend it was.

Minus the fact that I spent some time working... but that's what happens when opposing counsel serves approximately 200 pages of motions on you the day before Thanksgiving, due the Monday after Thanksgiving, and refuses to grant you an extension. KTHXBAI.

It wasn't even actually my case, but I'd asked the lead attorney on it for projects that day (baddd idea, haha). It wasn't too bad, the motions were easy enough to write, and we divided and conquered. Still will probably lose a few of them, but oh well. Enuf with the boring lawyerstuffs, Thanksgiving was great!

Thanksgiving we went to my aunts, and while about half the family was missing, I kind of enjoyed the smaller group. We stuck around longer than we usually would, and although it was a bit more quiet, it was nice. My dad and I went for a walk after dinner, in keeping with his cardiac rehab, and since my aunt lives a block off White Bear Lake, it was a chilly but pretty walk along the lake path.

I spent a lot of time lounging with this dude:

This also begins the season that TJ, aka Dennis the Mennis, gets shot in the face with a water bottle for attacking the Christmas tree approximately 5 times a night. The worst part is he has no interest in it as far as I can tell when it's not lit, and we're not in the room. The minute it goes on? He sits underneath it and just chaws down on the lowest branches, while maintaining eye contact. You may laugh or think I'm crazy but I'm dead serious. He's such an antagonist. I will sit up and look at him and he crouches into his "do it. I dare you." mode, ready to run.

Bloggers are all busy showing you their holiday home tours this week, but this is the best you get from me:

When we have kids, I'll start more fun holiday traditions, like elf on the shelf, and buying an ornament for my kids/our family to symbolize each year. For now? I'm enjoying the SHIT out of my clutterless, pottery-barn-esque (HA, but sort of), grown up christmas. We have our tree, some mini garland, and that's it. There may be a DIY addition or two, but for now this is perfect. I love curling up in my cozy redesigned living room (which I still need to share.. maybe when I put up the new gallery wall..), with my favorite fuzzy blanket from Mel, and wine, and reading (finally actually reading the Hunger Games- I said I'd go to the 2nd movie a few weeks ago, so I watched the first movie quick, saw the 2nd one, and then naturally got sucked in and had to go back and do it all backwards and read the books. I JUST finished the 2nd book last night, so I'm onto new material now! MEEP!)

Went to Target to get a tree skirt in an attempt to keep TJ out from under it, saw Target is stepping up their game: 

Friday night we went over to M's mom's for Thanksgiving 2 (after watching a Harry Potter marathon most the day).

Saturday, M and I went on a date. A real, planned, date. With all the family nuttiness going on and splitting shifts watching my parents (sounds so weird to say) we haven't had much "us" time. So M was scouring the internet for ideas and suggested a wine and canvas place. They were painting a rural barn that night. I liked it, but I also didn't want 2 barn paintings for our one house, so I suggested a slight modification: Paint Your Plate. It's a place you can go and pick out unpainted ceramic pieces (plates, bowls, cups, figurines) and paint them. They then glaze and fire them for you, to be picked up a few days later.

M picked out a goblin chalice.. because, duh.

And because I'm a perfectionist and didn't come with anything else to paint in mind (and therefore was not about to free-hand it), I did a little "N" (our last name) plate. I'm either going to get a tiny plate stand, and put it in the kitchen, or just use it as a small serving dish. Or both!

M, with his love for his alma matter, painted a U of M goblin chalice. The finished product was actually pretty cool- I'm excited to see it done.

After painting, walked across the street to Mozza Mia for dinner only to find out they'd taken the pizza that I FANTASIZE about off the menu. I was seriously upset. Their bruschetta aalllmooostttt made me forget (another favorite) and our substitute pizza was tasty, too. They do a ridiculously good job. It's artisan pizzas in a wood fired oven.

Sunday was a bit more work, and overall relaxing. Hard to work at home with TJ alternating between howling for dinner (he has an auto feeder now) and crawling into my lap.

Back to reality today, but we've got M's Christmas party this Thursday - it's at Aria this year, a fancy venue in town, and will be "formal" so I bought a new dress to fit in with the ad world Glamazons, as I've nicknamed them. Friday is a going away party/ugly Christmas sweater party that M and I are hosting at a friends' house (they have a bigger house), and Saturday is Pete's (of Syndal and Pete) birthday! So it should be a busy week! I MAY even bust out my real camera. O_O. it's been a while.

Hope you all had a good thanksgiving! And I'll post the remaining wedding posts the next few days (yes, that's still a thing).

THANKFUL

I am going to guess most of you know where I'm going with this, but that's okay. I still want to say it.

This Thanksgiving is very special for my family.

This Thanksgiving could have looked a lot different. It could've been our first "without".....him.

Instead I'll most likely be swatting the second helping of canned cranberries out of his hand tomorrow and making sure he doesn't go for the salt shaker.

I'm still thankful for my health, my home, the rest of my family... but mostly, overwhelmingly, I'm thankful for his health.

In some twisted way, I'm thankful it happened-- or at least if it had to happen, that it unfolded the way it did. That even if he didn't have any warning then- we have warning now. I'm also thankful it's given me the chance to say all sorts of things to him I'm not sure I ever would've verbalized. I've always been close with my dad, or at least he was always special to me, but it was more of an unspoken feeling, than anything else. Don't get me wrong, I always told him I loved him, but I've never said all the other mushy things until now. It's brought us closer than we have ever been, and for that I'm incredibly thankful. I don't know how much longer we'll have together, 10 years, 20 years, 30 years.. the same can be said for anyone, but I do know that the years will be so much more special.



Happy Thanksgiving.

WEDDING RECAP // FAMILY PHOTOS

Hi, still here, still rolling.

In honor of this gloriously short Thanksgiving week, work has decided to actually be busy! That's a lie, everybody else is busy but they just weren't handing stuff down to me as efficiently.

No weekend recap this weekend. In blogger-sinful-fashion I had Friendsgiving with Lo, Syndal and Jess and our men. I spent 50% of the night eating cheese, and 50% of the night petting Jess's cats. So overall it was the best night of my life.

But seriously, Jess made SUCH a ridiculously delicious meal, I know without a doubt it'll be better than my real Thanksgiving meal, and if you couldn't tell I'm hungry right now by the way I'm fawning over it.. well.. I don't know what to tell ya.

So there's that. Rest of the weekend was spent relaxing, was at my parents on "dad duty" for a bit while he and M went to the UMD/UMN hockey game. Bulldogs won. WOOP WOOP (my alma mater). Really I don't care though, I'm the worst alumni ever. I actually usually prefer the Gophers.

Moving on- more wedding posts:

Ahhhh family photos. 

They were rapid fire, they involved a lot of smiling and swapping out family members. I won't bore you with all of the 100 combinations. They're a necessary component of a wedding day, and I know our parents will really like them, but they're just never my favorite. Don't get me wrong, they're nice photos, but I prefer the more editorial style of the rest of the photos. 

Since I've started this post out on SUCH a high note (;-)) here they are!:

Up next: the ceremony!

WEDDING RECAP // WEDDING PARTY

I know everybody says it, but I'd be remiss if I didn't: I firmly believe we had the best wedding party ever. They were so much fun, and a lot on each side knew each other beforehand so it was like a giant party with our best friends the whole day.

These are some of my favorites- our photographer lined us up and then told each pairing to "dance through the line" of people... the expressions on everyone are priceless, but I have to say Dana and Matt win (2nd photo):

Up next: some family photos

STEWARDSHIP // ON BELIEVING IN THE CHURCH AGAIN

I was born and raised a Catholic.
I'm sure I've alluded to that fact now and again on this blog, most likely poking fun at some of the dogma that is stereotypical of the Catholic Church. The truth is I joke about it because I've had a hard time with it the last 5 years or so. Mostly, to be blunt, a result of the combination of the child-abuse scandal and the church's views on same sex marriage. It's easy to lose faith when there's so much hate, so many excuses, and so much intolerance.

If any one single thing has restored my faith in Faith itself, and in the church community- it's been my dad's heart attack. It's hard to not look at, and admire, someone with as much faith as he has. He's a man of quiet faith.. we never really talked about it outside of school and/or church, so I never realized how deeply held his beliefs were until later in life.

My dad works as a custodian at our church and the affiliated grade school, where I went. (I don't know why I feel the need to tell you this, likely because I'm proud and defensive of my dad: he was a fiber optical engineer at Qwest for 25 years and was let go in favor of a younger employee about 10 years ago- he jokingly calls this his retirement job). Our family has been a part of the church for as long as I can remember, but my dad has remained a more integral part of it with these younger generations since my brother and I have been gone, through his job.

I thought I knew all my dad's friends. I truly did. He doesn't lead a wild social life, he's pretty low key, so I thought I knew them all. I was wrong. The number of emails I've received from people asking to help, many of whom I don't recognize at all, is astounding. These are largely, mostly, church people.

The point of this specific post though... stewardship. My dad is a member of the church's Men's Club, and they reached out pretty early on to let me know if  we needed anything, to just ask. We haven't had as much work as we've had people asking, so a few of the guys asked about donating money. I was VERY hesitant to accept any, because truthfully his medical bills are covered by insurance for the most part, minus a decent sized deductible... and we think (and are in the process of finding out) he's got some decent disability pay, so he'll really be "ok" through all the time off he'll need. One of the officers reminded me though, and it's good to be reminded, sometimes people just really need to feel like they've helped. So, I set up one of those fundraiser websites for my dad, thinking it'd be nice if we could at least cover his deductible for him, if anything. Aside from emailing it to the Men's Club, and sending the link to a small chain of family on Facebook whom I'd been keeping updated on my dad, I haven't promoted it at all.

The email with the link went out to the Men's Club this morning,... a mere 7 hours ago. We're nearly halfway to our "goal", the deductible amount, already. I'm blown away. I don't know how to separate whether this is a testament to my dad, and what an incredible person he truly is, or a testament to our Catholic Church, and how much they support their own-- and knowing my dad I'm not sure they can be separated.

I do know that this has helped restore my faith. My faith in humanity, in people.. and in Faith itself.