Link to Some Photos

One of our friends, Camila Mota, has saved some pictures on the Internet for us to see. We thought we'd pass along the link. In addition, Ashley has a few pictures on her blog. Enjoy!!!

Miscellaneous Items on Blogging

1. Yes, I finally took down my book lists. I haven't accurately been updating them since April or May, ever since I started wedding planning, and I'll be merging my blog with Adrian's soon anyway. I've been reading in the past few months, but not updating!

2. I've had several people mention to me that they're unable to comment to my blog because of the way I have comments restricted. I wish I didn't have to restrict comments! But I've had blog troll problems in the past, lifted restrictions after a few months (without announcing the lift), and had the same problems again. Rinse, and repeat. It's irritating, to say the least.

To comment to my blog, all you have to do is establish a Blogger account, though. You don't have to give out personal information, or pay a dime. And you don't even have to register a blog, just an account. Visit blogger.com and sign up. It's pretty straightforward, I assure you!

3. I think my sister Hannah is bribe-able, and with payment of dark chocolate, she will probably post some wedding details and preliminary pictures next week, on Monday or Wednesday. So stay tuned for that.

4. I think this will probably be my last post before the wedding. I'm going to lie around and sip tea and eat bon-bons for the next 5 days. . . or frantically get ready for everything. One of the two ;-). So, adieu until early-to-mid October. Adrian and I will be back from our honeymoon trip on October 5th.

Last-minute advice, anyone? :-)

4!

No, the title of this post does not mean I'm excited about the number 4; I'm actually more excited about the number "four factorial," or 4 times 3 times 2 times 1 - written 4! in mathematical shorthand. 4! is 24, and there are only 24 more days left until September 22nd :-). In some ways that seems still a loooonnnngggg way away, but mostly now it is seeming really close! That's only a little more than 3 weeks. Wow!

So, I haven't dropped off the face of the earth, contrary to popular opinion. And actually, my wedding planning workload severely decreased about 2 weeks ago (finally!), so I'm finally not living and breathing wedding details (until week after next, when last minute details will consume my time until the wedding). But I've also been babysitting a good deal, some days up to 10 hours, so I've still not found a whole lot of blogging time.

I actually think that I will be able to blog more once the wedding is past. Not having a long-distance relationship with Adrian (partly through e-mail and chat) will help me focus my online time more. We'll see, but I'm hopeful! Adrian and I will probably merge our blogs after we're married, but I'll make sure to announce that if/when it happens. We'll probably just use his blog, for ease of transfer, rather than establish a whole new blog. I may have to make his blog a bit more feminine, when he's away at work ;-). Do you think he'd notice if I changed the background to pink?

Update on books: I now only have about 5 books in my possession! *cries* All the other ones I kept out in July went up to Blacksburg a few weeks ago. I couldn't part with Jane Austen, so she stayed, as did my Bible and a few other books I hope to read in the coming weeks.

My dress is done!!! Wow, it's been a while since I updated on wedding plans, because my dress has been done for a while. Jessie came for 2 days in early July, and we had a fantastic time sewing and getting almost everything done in that time! Jessie is a wonderfully fast sewer, which helps :-). And she's great company! Oh, and we figured out that blood smears come out of my dress fabric better than. . . other things. (inside joke) I also made my veil a few weeks later. And my garter. And Jessie made the ringbearer's pillow and flower girl basket while she was here! Very cute. I'd post pictures, but the pillow uses my dress fabric ;-).

My parents and I had a good time in Blacksburg in July, carting up most of my belongings in a U-haul. We arrived to an apartment that was still in need of unpacking and organization, so we spent our 5-day visit mostly sorting through stuff and organizing. The apartment still needs a lot of help (tons of stuff not unpacked!), but at least one can navigate through the rooms now. I'll roll up my sleeves and dive in after the wedding :-). I can't wait to get the apartment organized and sew some curtains and such!

Hannah and I just visited Adrian again a few weekends ago and had a good time. Adrian's church gave us an engagement party, which was fun. Then Hannah gave me a bridal shower last weekend with women from our church. Fun, fun!

Things are coming together. I do feel like my life is sort of in limbo right now, though! A good kind of limbo, though. Hopefully when we're married and more settled, I'll be able to write more posts of substance. Until then, life updates are going to have to be the main event ;-).

Ramblings of a Bride-to-Be

When I registered this blog in late September of 2005 (my first post was actually not until October 2nd), the second post I wrote was a musing on the words "awesome" and "awful." Adrian commented to that post, his first (of many!) comments to my blog, and directed me to a hymn that demonstrates exactly what I was discussing, namely a misunderstanding in our culture of exactly what awe is, and what it means for something to be awesome or awful.

This September, Lord willing, almost 2 years after that blog exchange, we will sing How Sweet and Awful is the Place at our wedding. We wanted a solemn but beautiful hymn to open the service, and this one fit the bill! I love the old Irish melody and the words are simplify lovely and rich in meaning. I think it will be neat to sing this hymn, especially, because of our history with it :-).

Okay, so everyone wants to know more details about the wedding. I'll list some major ones, and feel free to ask for more details on comments. I'll probably oblige, assuming you ask usual questions. Don't ask me to post pictures of my dress, though :-).

So, our wedding is set for September 22nd, around noon or 1:00. My pastor will be officiating, and it will be held at my home church. Lane is the best man and Hannah is the maid-of-honor (those were really easy choices for us to make - hehe). Oh, and Lane's daughter (3 1/2) and son (almost 2) are going to be the flower girl and ringbearer (all the girls say "awwww"). We're Presbyterian geeks, er. . . traditionalists, so we've chosen to use the PCA BCO marriage service as the template for our service. The reception will also be at my church.

My church's sanctuary is in tones of green, so we chose burgundy, ivory, evergreen, and a medium dusty rose pink as our colors. Hannah and Ila will be in burgundy dresses, and Lane and James will have burgundy vests to match. Hannah's bouquet will probably be ivory roses with some really dark red roses mixed in, tied with a pink ribbon, and Ila will carry a flower petal basket with ivory rose petals. I'll explain my bouquet in a different post, as I haven't completely ironed that out yet :-), and it's a whole other explanation. I'll be in ivory for the sole reason that I don't want Adrian to think he's marrying a ghost, and I would definitely look ghostly pale in white!

Um, I'm not really sure what else people want to know, so if you're curious about something, feel free to ask :-). I'm sure I'll be posting more in the coming weeks.

Oh, and for those who are interested, we will be initially living in Blacksburg. Adrian has an internship there in a fiber optics lab (same type of stuff that his doctoral thesis covered). We're not sure where we'll end up more permanently, though, until he secures a more permanent job after the internship ends.

We Have a Date

*throws confetti*

Lord willing, we'll be married on. . . Frodo and Bilbo Baggins' birthday. Kudos to anyone who knows what date that is off the top of your head. When we were looking at possible dates, I was the one who knew that. *proud look* Adrian must allow me to look exultant, since overall he clearly bests me in any and all Lord of the Rings trivia. He's read the books oodles of times, and I've only read the complete trilogy through once (some of the books and the Hobbit more than that).

I will post more wedding plans in the days (or weeks) that follow, as I know that female minds like details for these sorts of things ;-).

Oh, and for those who really don't want to utilize Google or Wikipedia, and just aren't LOTR geeks, our wedding date is set for September 22, 2007. Yay!

Atlanta Bridal Fabric Source

Not sure if this will benefit anyone reading this, but I might as well type as not ;-). I've been having a horrible time trying to find the type of bridal fabric I want! I've spent hours online and at major fabric stores (Hancock, JoAnn, etc.) with no success. I want an ivory satin with some sort of a subtle, same-color design, either embroidered or a jacquard fabric.

Anyway, through a chain of sources, someone recommended Gail K. Fabrics to me, reportedly the best selection of bridal fabrics in Atlanta, and now I believe them. I have never seen so many bridal choices, or different trims for that matter. So, I'm a very happy girl today, since I finally found my material. Big load off my mind. If anyone is near the Atlanta area and wants an incredible selection of fabrics, go to Gail K. Fabrics on Cheshire Bridge Rd in Atlanta.

Oh, and a lot of Hancock Fabrics stores are going out of business, and mom and I stopped off at the one near us, while we were in that area, and I found a beautiful tiara for 70% off. It's the same store where I got the maid-of-honor and flower girl fabric for 60% off. *smiles* I love saving money.