Rebellin

We’re so close to having THE wedding date secured that I can taste it. We’ve ditched the previous church that I mentioned last week. After a phone call where the pastor was a you know what to me, we decided that we didn’t want some rude pastor to be the one administering our vows. She was insinuating how ‘inconvenient’ it was to do non-church member weddings, and still couldn’t tell me for another ‘few weeks’ whether or not she’d be available to perform our ceremony. Pfft on you, pastor.

So now I have two churches ‘penciling’ us in for the date. I am just debating between the two… JB became overwhelmed with all of the church choices (I’ve been talking to three recently) and left this decision up to me. Decisions, decisions.

We’ll be boating this weekend… I am so excited to be basking in the sun and doing a bit of open water swimming!

Well, I embarked on my first attempt of shopping for the perfect wedding dress yesterday. I was assisted by my Mom and my sister-in-law, Audra.

I had pilfered my way through numerous Bride Magazines (which bore me to tears), but really had no idea what style I was looking for. I decided I’d like to try on a sheath, because that is what my Mom wore at her wedding, and she and I have very similar shapes.

I ended up trying on about 8 dresses over two hours. I found 2-3 real potential dresses, but haven’t made any decisions yet. The really annoying part about dress shopping was the screwed up sizing and the fact that they have you try on ‘any size dress’.

That’s right, I was being stuffed into dresses that were FOUR SIZES TOO SMALL. They put you in the dress, and then clip it to your bra in the back since there isn’t any way it’s going to zip. Which I guess is OK, because you get the view in the front, but when they handed me the mirror so that I could check out the back of the dress, it was hard not to fixate on the 6 inch gap where the dress was supposed to be zipped up. And it’s really hard to feel beautiful when you feel like a beached whale, and really look like one from behind.

I know this is just how they do things at bridal boutiques, and I had been forewarned that most women leave those stores feeling huge… But I just don’t understand why it has to be that way. If I was running a store, I’d make all of the sizes big, so that a size 12 woman could feel really good about wearing a size 10 on her wedding day. Instead, these goofy people add on a few numbers so that your mind starts playing tricks on you…. Good God, that last dress was one size above what I normally wear, and there was no way it was getting zipped up all the way.

The woman helping me just couldn’t seem to focus on the task at hand, and I ended up getting trapped in these huge white gowns as she disappeared to the back of the store. After she did this about three times, Audra took charge and started helping me in and out of dresses. I’m one of those people that will take about 10 things into a dressing room, and in 10 minutes, I’ll be out with one winner. Things weren’t working that way at the bridal boutique. They’d get me into a dress, and then want me to stand there gazing at myself and standing on their silly little platforms in front of the mirror. When really, what I want is to put on a bunch of dresses in a short period of time. Trust me, if I like it, you won’t have to force me to gaze at my reflection.

And by the way, the one style I said I was interested in — the sheath — was not in any of the selections they brought me to try on.

The bridal gown hunt resumes this afternoon. I have my fingers crossed that today I will find “the one”.

Is it sacreligious to be angry with a church?

I was so pleased to have found the church for our wedding and to find that it was available on the date that we wanted. But now, the church staff is telling me that they’re just not sure if the pastor is going to be available on the date we’ve chosen, and that they won’t know for another two weeks.

ANOTHER TWO WEEKS?!

Which means we really shouldn’t be putting the NON-REFUNDABLE deposit down on the reception facility, which in turn means they won’t reserve the facility that date for me.

And we had finally found a date that would work for everyone in the family and close friends, plus it was in September, meaning we’d have wonderful weather.

But this darn church isn’t cooperating with me. I’ve put calls into two other churches, but I’m still seething about this. I mean, really, is it a true Christian thing to do to be dragging me on like this? I worry if they’re being so difficult up front, will they get WORSE as the date gets closer?!

Editorial Update: After a confrontation with the pastor of this church (in which she told me that non-church-member weddings were very inconvenient), we decided to go with First United Methodist Church in Reno. Yes, it’s a farther drive, but who wants to be married by a grumpy pastor?!

After looking at seven possible reception venues and three churches, we’ve made our decision.

We’re still negotiating with the reception hall, but I can show you pictures of the church we’ve selected. It’s the First United Methodist Church in Carson City. It was built in 1867, and is a small but beautiful church.

I’ve been in eight weddings, but I never realized exactly how much planning and coordinating they require. And I think that I’m only beginning to understand that concept. Right now, we’re juggling availability dates for churches and reception halls. We’re then comparing that to the baby due dates, work, travel, and vacation schedules of key guests. It’s really a challenge. Good thing I’m trained in project management. I think I’m going to be utilizing those skills a lot in the near future.

I’ve found it hard to concentrate lately… It’s this sparkly diamond on my left hand that seems to be constantly distracting me. I could be driving or sitting in a meeting, and I’ll look down and see how the light reflects off of it in so many ways, and I sit there moving my finger around and admiring it.

I definitely need to resist that urge while I’m driving.

I gave a presentation at work yesterday, and afterwards, two women approached me to ask if I was now engaged. Yup, my sparkler caught their eye from across the room.

So it shouldn’t surprise you if you find me staring down at my hand. I’ve never owned a sizable diamond before, and never realized just how beautiful they really are. Staring at it just makes me think of what and who it represents, and then I get all warm and fuzzy inside.

Life is good.

As you can imagine, this week has been all about spreading the news of our engagement. On Monday night, I went over to JB’s house so that we could call the parents together. We started with my parents because they’re in a different time zone.

I decided to toy with them a bit. Every Sunday or Monday, I talk to my parents, and tell them all about what I did that previous weekend. This week, I started out the conversation the same, telling them about JB’s gig on Friday, and then telling them about the hike… How Tucker was carrying around a 6 foot long stick like a true Wonder Dog, and there were all kinds of butterflies… How we had a picinic up at the lake, and oh, yeah, JB proposed to me.

My parents, in unison, said, “HE WHAT?!” They were ecstatic, and Mom later said, “Well it’s about time he got on the ball!” I think that shows just how much my parents like JB, because we’ve only been dating for 9 months.

Inspired by the way I dropped the news on my parents, JB told me he had an even better story for his parents, and he refused to share that story with me before we called them. So with both of us on a phone, JB called his parents, and his mom picked up.

Now his parents knew that he was planning to propose to me, so I assume they thought the call might be to tell them about a proposal.

So then JB says, “I got married, Mom. We went to Downtown Reno yesterday and eloped.”

The funny part about this is that both of us know that it would be a true cardinal sin to both sets of parents if they weren’t involved in the ceremony.

“Joel, no, you didn’t,” his mom said in a very worried tone of voice. Luckily, he didn’t drag that story on too long. So when he changed the story to, “No, we didn’t get married, but I did get engaged,” both of his parents started cheering, “Yeah!” It was absolutely adorable.

Amber’s initial reaction was, “No Sh!t?!” I think she was a bit shocked because she had to wait five years for a proposal from her husband. She kept telling me over the past few months not to be expecting a proposal and get my hopes up. Well, my hopes were up. I really was hoping he would propose! But back to Amber… We then talked about all of the details and how excited we both were, although she said she couldn’t believe I got engaged without her meeting JB. Well, I’m rectifying that this weekend, because Amber is coming out for a visit!

The conversation with Jane was also rather humerous. It went something like this:
L: I have some news for you.
J: *taking in of breath with a slight shreak*
L: Yup.
J: Really?!
L: Yup.

We of course had a conversation that consisted of more than one word at a time, but there was a lot of squealing and sighing on both ends of the phone.

I also received a call from my former manager at GM, who is a really close personal friend. He was super excited, and he also happens to be an ordained minister. He and I have talked for years about how it’d be cool for him to perform the ceremony, so we chatted a bit about those details.

Woo! Is this all really happening?! To me?! I keep telling myself, You’re engaged, because it still doesn’t seem completely real.

But it is, and I’m already knee deep in planning. It’s amazing how quickly life can change, and for the better!

I mentioned yesterday that I have a good story about the hike we took on Sunday, so here it is….

We started our expedition around 2:00 pm. It was a trail we had hiked a few times before, but we knew that 5 miles up the mountain, the trail led to Hobart Reservoir.

The trail is a very steep ascent. It goes straight up for 5 miles, covering about 2,500 vertical feet. It was a lofty goal, but we were prepared with food and water, and ready to make a day of it with the three dogs.

As we were walking up the trail, there were these tiny purple butterflies everywhere — hundreds of them. I mentioned to JB that I had heard that butterflies were symbols of love, as I had a friend that had released butterflies at his wedding.

“Maybe it’s an omen.” JB said as he stopped to kiss me.

Yes, maybe it was.

Two hours after we started the hike, we arrived at the reservoir. It was absolutely beautiful. Since the access to the lake was hike-in only, there were only two other people there. We walked around to the side of the lake with a nice beach and got out our picinic of sandwiches, wine and cheese.

I had thought it was strange that JB had decided to bring his glass wine glasses, but figured he was just being a wine snob when I suggested that we bring paper cups and he said ‘Why would we do that when we have REAL wine glasses?’

So, there we sat on some really big rocks, overlooking a beautiful alpine lake, sipping wine from REAL wine glasses and eating cheese. Next thing I know, JB is telling me that there is another reason why we came up to the lake that day.

And that’s when he whipped out a diamond ring and asked me to marry him.

Let me repeat for you: HE ASKED ME TO MARRY HIM!!!

In other words, WE ARE ENGAGED!

See, those butterflies really were a sign from above.

I am so happy. My dreams have come true. JB is the man I’ve been dreaming of since I was a little girl, and he has come to sweep me off my feet and spend the rest of his life with me. And I couldn’t be happier. I can’t wipe this silly grin off my face, and I also can’t seem to stop staring at my left hand.

The rings were custom designed and made from diamonds that have been in his family for a while. In the picture above, I’m also sporting the wedding band, which I won’t be wearing until we get married.

WE’RE GETTING MARRIED!!!!

Can there really be a happier day? I think not.

But don’t start asking me any details on when and where… Right now we’re basking in the glow of love, and will let you know when we’re able to come down from Cloud 9 long enough to set a date.

I’ve been telling people that I had to work for this shiny diamond on my left hand. It was a 10 mile hike round trip, and the expedition took over 6 hours. But it was well worth it. I get to spend the rest of my life with JB. I couldn’t think of anything in this world that would make me happier.

For those of you that haven’t seen a pic of me with my fiance (I love saying that!!!), here you go:

Continue reading →