The Writings on the MILK

So we all know that the wedding is coming up faster than we can imagine. Though one thing that caught Dan and my eye last night was the expiration date on our half gallon of milk. It is 11/6/2010. OMG that is insane. We have now made it close enough that food will go bad if we do not consume it before our nuptials. The other scary thing is that in a few days we will be able to start the frenzied checking of the extended forecast. All these little things to keep telling me that we are so close to the actual day.

So how are you all doing? Getting the travel plans all finalized, attire choices made and all that jazz. Most of the guests have to travel a long distance including Dan and I. At this point my biggest worry is leaving something behind. I actually thought about the travesty of leaving our wedding bands behind. Then I remember Dan told me that we are the first to leave town and can have others grab stuff for us if needed.

I swear all this preparation is making me stir crazy. However Dan and I are keeping ourselves busy and working on our to do lists.

See you all soon.

Fri Sucess

Last Fri was a huge and busy day for Dan and I. We awoke super early and were busy throughout the entire day. Since it was a weekday we took advantage and made a lot of meetings. We got the most important part taken care of first. We went into the Dane County clerks office and ordered our marriage license. I was really nervous about this and not because I am hesitant to get married. Here is an example of my nervousness. How many times have you gone to the DMV with all the paperwork you thought you would need but after many hours of waiting realize that you forgot something. That means one more trip. Dan and I didn't have the option to just get in the car and drive 4 hours for another piece of paper. So inevitably I was a little worried. Luckily I planned ahead and quadruple checked to make sure we had everything (even a few things I had more than one example just in case). We paid the fee (in cash-I swear I felt it was a Mafia run business) and got our receipt. My bridesmaid Shannon has offered to pick up the license for us so that Dan and I don't have to make another weekday trip.

Once that was done we drove across town to get an oil change, not wedding related but still important. With all these trips to Madison lately we have been putting a lot of miles on the car.

Then we made it back downtown to our catering meeting with Sue Burke. Dan and I had a few finishing questions and we discussed the catering order and made sure everything was correct. We finalized the floor plan which I am quite proud of and it should be exciting to see it all set-up. We consulted Sue about our decor. If you can remember back to early this year when Dan and I met with a designer. Well it seemed that she would think the room was empty so we wanted to make sure we were not forgetting anything. Luckily Sue agreed with us that we had everything covered and it doesn't seem like the room will feel empty or disjointed. Dan and I are very much happy we don't have to make any more pomander balls (we thought we might). Possibly the most important part of the meeting was paying the deposit. I wrote the check and was the largest check I have written. It feels both good and weird to spend so much but it will all be worth it on the day when I have a hot meal and good drinks to keep me going.

We took a short lunch break before our meeting with the photographer. This next meeting would be used to determine if Dan and I had the day planned well and if the photogs thought we were missing anything. Overall the meeting went well and I left feeling really good about the photos I should get. The only thing left on my to do list is getting some contacts ordered. I really need to have contacts for the day so that the candid shots will be captured without annoying glare. The is it all up to the day to give us good weather or at least decent weather, I'll even take SNOW as long as it isn't too much. :)

In the afternoon we drove back over to Pewaukee, WI where a week earlier I had tried on my dress for the first time since July. This was a little nerve racking as my this was the final fitting. I was extremely nervous that the dress wouldn't look like I thought it should but my mind was completely blown away. The dress is so beautiful and I was so glad that it looked so good. It was the first time that it actually fit me. The straps looked so goofy and I am so glad that I decided to take them off. I'm not going to go into too much detail except to say that if you saw a picture of my dress before you will be wowed because it looks like a totally different dress. In actuality it is only reconstructed to my body type. I didn't ever think the dress would be able to define me but it truly does make me feel like a bride. I am very excited for you all to see me walking down the aisle.

On that note I will leave you with a number. That number is 16, the number of days left. Hope you all have you travel plans in order because it is not too far off now. Now to lower my stress level and start to enjoy this time. I think a relaxing bath will come in handy and thanks to by bridesmaid I am prepared with a bath ball.

Awesome Regret

A very long time ago and I mean back to all the way back to August. Dan and I sent an wedding invitation to the First Family. I read in a few places that they will send back a message of congratulations. Dan reminded me that the First Family (or their staff rather) are quite busy and they may not be able to reply to all the invites that they get. So I was excited for the possibility but not too expecting it. This was until today.

I went down to the mail boxes to return our Netflix movie we watched tonight and to check the mail. I hadn't checked it this week yet so it was quite full. As I was pulling stuff out I looked and noticed a nice envelope. It had no clear window so I knew it was not junk mail and since we have been getting a couple wedding cards I suspected it was one of those. As I began to examine it I noticed that the writing was so pretty. It was handwritten (I know very cool) and the return address said "The White House." I immediately sprinted back to our apartment and burst through the door screaming Dan, Dan, Dan. He admitted to me later he thought I saw a huge bug. That made me laugh. I explained to him what it was and we opened the envelope together. We read the saying and I promptly took a picture. Here are the pictures and I have to say this made my night. It was a long wait but so worth it.

The countdown continues, kindergarten style

I mentioned something last week to my co-workers about my digital countdown on my phone. Somewhere in the conversation did a little kindergarten activity turned into the topic of conversation. We have a few foreigners in my lab who never spent the time making a chain-link countdown to Christmas. So after the explanation and some laughing my lab mates decided we should make one. So yesterday one was constructed out of used paper and tape. I made a sign to put above it after so many inquires about it.

Then this morning I saw that Dexter (or so I think it was he) actually stamped the dates onto the links. It is a magical countdown and I got to remove the first link this morning. It was fun and even though it is elementary it still makes me feel happy and maybe slightly nervous.

Here are some pictures I took this morning.

Who wants to ride in a pod...me me me

During lunch I was checking CNN.com for the newest current events and I came across this fun story.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/innovation/10/12/shweeb.urban.transport/index.html?hpt=C2

The caption for the picture says that it was taken in Rotorua, New Zealand. ZOMG I really want to go for a ride in a pod. It looks like you just peddle your way around a track but it seems like a fun activity that you can't find in the US. I'm gonna have Dan and I look into this for one of the days in Rotorua.

Less than 12 hours

Dan and I were on the road again last weekend. It was DRESS TIME!!!! We left after work on Fri and spent less than 12 hours in Madison area before we were on the road back home. We decided to only make it an overnight visit because we have a lot of little work to do for the wedding and all that stuff is at home. I didn't want to get steered away from wedding stuff by my Madison friends. So by Sat afternoon we rolled back into Urbana.

With out giving too much away because I still want my readers to be surprised some on the actual day. My dress was not really touched before last Sat. Seems were removed and some other stuff had been moved. While this made me nervous because she has had the dress since July I did get reassurance that it would be ready for this upcoming Sat. I do have to say it was fun witnessing the cutting of a strap, snipped while the dress was on me. Danette (the woman doing the alterations) said her favorite part about altering a dress is cutting a piece off. Silly but in a way I kinda have to agree. It was fin for that to be snipped. An irreversible change but one that makes my mass produced gown a little bit of uniqueness and makes it all mine. As I hold you all in suspense I do like the dress with the new and improved shape and design. I feel like it fits me better (barring any sewing catastrophes) and makes my figure look cleaner. So I am very excited to see it next weekend when it should be all finished minus hem line and steaming. So then it should only be a week or so more and then I get to make another quick trip up north to get it.

Other weekend victory. Dan and I know have a rough draft of our vows. We are best friends and literally would be lost if we didn't consult one another so on Sun afternoon we shared our vows with each other. It was a nice way to see what we each had wrote and gave us the chance to tweak them as necessary. We are going for a cohesive picture but still in our own words. We hope to talk them over one last time and then hand them off to our officiant by this weekend. Then I need to have them printed nicely to include in our wedding album. They are that good and even though Dan and I are competitive this is one time when we can both settle for a tie. Both are written from the heart and really showcase our love for one another. You all should be crying by the end of this wedding. :)

One last thing. My Dan started playing hockey this fall in a rec league. This last Sunday he played magnificently and scored his first goal (on his league team) and actually was the difference maker in his game. The final score was 1-1 with Dan's only goal equalizing the score in the third period. As Dan described it the puck was just sitting in the crease (front of the net) and he was in the right place and just stuck it in the net for the score. I was cheering my heart out and even gave a gigantic "WAY TO GO DAN!!!!!!!" in hopes that he would hear me. He did not but shortly after the celebrating was done he and I shared a special moment when he looked and tipped his hockey stick in acknowledgment of my arms pumps. I am ready for more hockey and it is fun with Dan on the ice. I love my hockey dude.

Flashbulbs a Plenty

Last night Dan and I sat down to list out all the photos we want our photographers to take. We followed an online list and added and deleted ones as needed. We use the mentality, "Will we be upset if we don't see this shot?" and went on from there. I think we have a very good list and include very important and necessary photos.

Since out photographers focus on more journalistic photography we are giving them a lot of free reign to take more candid shots as opposed to formal posed pictures. In fact I wish we could remove all formal shots but I don't think the family would appreciate that. So much to my chagrin we have a few of those to be taken after the ceremony. Which hopefully will not take the entire cocktail hour.

In order to allow for some more photos with people other than immediate family Dan and I have decided to have a time set aside where we will be available for photo booth pics. This will make use of the photo booth and also allow our photographers to take more candid shots.

Once all is said and done we should have some pretty good photos and all the necessary ones. Then we will have to decided which to put in our wedding album. That is probably going to be the hardest part.

Officially 1 month away

The wedding is only 31 days away now. That means that Dan and I have about 4 weeks before we will be in Madison for the big day. With all the anticipation of the wedding coming there is so much work to get done. Now that we have reached Oct there are only a few more weekends that we have to work on the wedding. No matter how hard we prepared for this I feel super unprepared. The list is long but we should be able to complete stuff on time with good management skills.

Onto a different note. I want to finish telling you all what Dan and I accomplished a few weekends ago.

After my hair and make-up appointment we made our way downtown. Once there we pulled up to a parking meter (I forgot to put money in it too, luckily no ticket) and walked to the Hilton. This was the first time I was in the building. I wanted to familiarize myself with the Hilton and to see how it is connected to the Terrace. On the first floor after you walk through the electronic revolving door (very cool) you are in the lobby. Here is the front desk and a nice seating area. There is a fireplace in this room and could be a good cozy picture spot (I kept my eyes open for these). Walking through the lobby bring you to the main Hilton bar and lounge. This area is also nice and has a fireplace too (if I remember correctly). Just through the lounge is the skywalk. This skywalk connects the Hilton to the Terrace and is entirely enclosed. This should be perfect if the temperatures are on the cooler side. It also means that I won't have to bring my dress outside for much time so that I can keep it clean (I am donating it so cleaner is better).

We took the skywalk over to the Terrace. It connects via an elevator that brings you to the fourth floor of the Terrace. The Community Terrace is on the second level. Though once you get to the main hall that goes down the center of the Terrace you will find an elevator or escalators and get to the Community Terrace with no problem at all.

Once Dan and I made it to the Terrace we noticed that a wedding was being set-up for. Yipee we got to see our room sort of set. In addition we got some good ideas from the layout to bring to our own wedding. This sorta mental image is way easier to understand that a 2D floor plan. I am now confident that Dan and I have used the space accordingly and it shouldn't look empty.

Once Dan and I got through with the Terrace we went to lunch at State Street Brats. I needed a brat, it was game day afterall. We caught the end of the Badgers 70-something win and then went for a short walk. We walked all the way up to the capital and got some picture ideas. I think we are gonna stick with the Terrace and Capital for outdoor group photos. Then Dan and I will get in a car and drive to my favorite location on Campus and take some private photos.

Overall the weekend was super successful and I was very happy with the amount of work we got done. I am preparing for the this weekend in which we only have a dress fitting planned. That should be good and hopefully Dan and I can get cracking on that long to do list.

Pictures I promised

I promised some pictures of the topiary forest.  Be warned, they are covered in plastic bags so as to stop bugs and small animals from nesting.  We plan to open them up to fresh air for the wedding reception.