My trip to Michael's

I went to Michael's for the very first time on Sunday. It is a great store. Better than Hobby Lobby. But unfortunately the A/C was broken and I was a hot mess the entire time I was in there. I did manage to leave with a matted picture frame that the wedding guest will be able to sign when they arrive. I also bought a hot glue gun, crocheting needles and four spools of ribbon. I bought all of these things to make the pomanders. On my first attempt I tried to push the ribbon through the tiny hole left by the crochet needle. This did not work. I will be getting my $2.99 back for the needles. So then I decided to hot glue the silk carnations onto the Styrofoam and then hot glue the ribbon to the top. Ta da! This did work however, I used 26 carnations when I allotted only 16 per ball and I do not like the ribbon. So I will also be returning what I didn't use. I think I want something more sheer. So I have decided that I am going to (hopefully) take off the carnations already glued on and try to space them out more. I only paid $18.00 for 100 carnations but I don't want to spend anymore money on flowers. If I have to, I will only use 10 balls instead of 12. No big deal. I am lining the aisle with these and I can just have 5 rows. I am hoping to get one completely finished on Friday since I'm off. I will post a picture when I have it pretty and completed. I think they are going to be really cute out in front of Founders Hall.

For the month of July (I am buying wedding items per month, since I get paid once a month) I am going to buy this garter. I haven't 100% made up my mind but I really love this. While we are at the beach I plan on stopping in at Barefoot Cottage. I'm not sure what kind of store it is, but they sell the cute glittery birds that I want as a cake topper. They are made by goldbug studio. They have a website, but it sucks. I am also booking the photographer. So garter, cake topper, photographer for the month of July. I guess that's enough for one month.

Also, if you haven't seen The Hangover-Go see it! It's ridiculously funny.

RIP Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson died yesterday at the age of 50. I have never been a die hard fan of MJ but I can honestly say that the little, and I mean very little, 80's music that I like came from him. I hope that people will remember him as an artist, The King of Pop. I don't believe that the last decade or so of his life were the years that he would want the world to remember. RIP Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawsett.

Moving on...Today is Friday and you know what that means! The weekend is right around the corner. My BF Amber is wanting us to go to Florence to see her friend's band play on Saturday. My boss's daughter is also getting married at 3:00 on Saturday. I'm pretty excited to see the wedding. Her caterer and florist are both businesses that I am probably going to use. So it will be nice to taste and see how everything looks. I think our plans for tonight are to go see the Hangover and we'll probably eat dinner. I would love to go to Sweet Peppers Deli. They just opened a few days ago, and this was one of our favorite places to eat when we lived in Florence, AL. I'm not sure what's on the agenda for Sunday. Every time I think of a possible lazy Sunday I think of this song. Geez I love that song and video. Anyways, I have to work on my paper some on Sunday and look over the Veterans Affairs handbooks that I have. Plus I'm hoping that its sunny so that we can have some pool time. Then of course Sunday nights are reserved for watching Bridezillas. That show is crazy.
Hope everyone has a great weekend!!

Think I might turn into a burrito.

So I feel kinda lousy today. Yesterday I ate taco bell for lunch and Casa Blanca for dinner. Not sure what I was thinking. After dinner I felt bad for what I had eaten all day so I went for a run, and it didn't feel so hot. Today for lunch all I'm having is a salad and a small salad at that. Consisting of only lettuce, carrots, and a little bit of cheese. If I get hungry during the day I'm just going to drink as much water as possible.
There isn't really anything new with me. Today I have to write up committee notes, watch powerpoints, do assignment, and write a page for my paper. Not really that much to work on, but recently I have felt so dang lazy. I get to work and just stare at my monitor. What gives!?
I talked with Erin, my Matron of Honor, and were planning a day to go look at BM's dresses. I'm pretty set on tea-length, midnight blue dresses. And talking about BM's, I really don't like the term/word bridesmaids. Particularly-maids. I wish I could call them something else. I'll have to google something and see if there is anything else to call them.

Nothing New

I am extremely tired today. It's very rare that I will wake up and think that I absolutely don't want to go to work. However, today is an exception. I couldn't fall asleep last night because I didn't feel very good.
I didn't get very much accomplished this weekend. I did manage to wash most of the clothes, the sheets and turn in my assignment. I also ran about 5 miles this weekend. Lance and I spent the entire afternoon (yesterday) by the pool. It was wonderful. I think I must be tired from being in the sun pretty much all weekend. On Saturday we had Lance's family's get together. We were outside for about five hours. I was miserable by the time we left.
I am looking forward to this week though. I have a good feeling that I will get a lot of things started or finished. Today will be pretty busy though. I have a committee meeting at 10:00 am. Boo! Then I will begin training in Veterans Affairs. I hope to get started on my paper today, since I am a week behind now. Plus Amber comes over tonight and we usually go eat something yummy. I wish I could fit a run in today-but I'm not sure that there will be enough time. Now I have to get started with my day.

Very close to a miracle...

Okay well maybe not a miracle, but I am extremely proud of myself for running 2 1/2 miles yesterday without stopping. It's not a problem for me to run the 2 1/2 miles with a couple of very short walking breaks. Just to get my breathing controlled. But yesterday I ran around the lake without walking!! It felt so good! Plus I had just finished eating a big plate of pasta. I thought for sure I would be barfing in no time, but I felt great.
Since I have been reading "Dead Until Dark", by Charlaine Harris I have become extremely interested in the HBO series True Blood. I want to start the second book in the series this weekend.

More job duties

I had to show the veil that I have recently fallen in love with. It is called a Mantilla and it originated in Spain, sixteenth century. I absolutely love it! The Pampered Bride store sells them in white and ivory for around $50.00 dollars. They look to be of nice quality. The only thing that scares me off is ordering it and it not being the right color. But it could be worth paying s/h just to see how it would look with the dress.

I just met with the Vice President of Student Affairs(my boss) about cross-training in the area of Veterans Affairs. I will be working a half day a week and I am really excited about it. Sure, I will have to rearrange my schedule and may have to do more homework at home; but I think it will be totally worth it. My co-worker doesn't see this like I do. She just thinks that I won't do my current duties which include all of the following: answering the phone, making coffee, checking emails, helping students register with our office, and sending invitations for our two job fairs. Yes I know I have a super crazy busy job. Ha! So anyhoo, that's just the way she sees things and I have to deal with. I have also received my first three inquiries about the Fiddlers Convention. Hopefully I answered the questions correctly and didn't give wrong information.

Oh! I almost forgot I received my glass vases from ebay seller aecandles and my 200 silk carnations from ebay seller roseys_garden. The vases look... well like vases, but the flowers are better than I expected! I hope that by next weekend I can start a pomander. I still have to buy pins and ribbons and I doubt that I'll have time before next weekend. When I complete one I'll post pictures.

Good Wednesday Morning

I'm thrilled that it's hump day. Only two more work days left! Yesterday I searched for some articles for my paper-got them, changed my torn contact, and read another chapter in Dead Until Dark. I also got in a run yesterday afternoon and wow was it painful. I think today that I'll just take Ben for a walk. I really really enjoy running so I don't want to hurt myself and have to take a long break. I just don't know why my legs hurt me so bad when I run now. They don't hurt me today even when I go up and down stairs, but I'll take the pain as a suggestion to lay off for a day. I have ran 7.5 miles as of today, and I'm pretty impressed with myself. Today I really have to get my weekly assignment turned in. My professor finally gave the class some direction on how to complete the assignment. Up until yesterday no one knew what to do. I spoke to my grandmother yesterday, like I do everyday between 3:00 and 4:30, and she told me that she was going to reimburse me my $500 dollars that I paid on my wedding dress. Yay! I think I'll take the $500 and pay our photographer. I wish I could just put the money towards my credit card, but I am terrified that our photog will be booked. It's amazing to me how fast things get booked here in North Alabama.

This morning I had a meeting with one of our University's V.P.'s. I will now be the new contact person for the Arts & Crafts vendors at the
Old Time Fiddlers Convention. The Fiddler's Convention is held early in October and is really a neat music event to see. The smells, sounds, and sights are truly like no nothing I have ever experienced, and I've been to Bonnaroo.

I am still waiting on all of my DIY project pieces to arrive. I think I paid for everything (off of ebay) on Friday, so maybe things will start showing up today. Not that I'll get a chance to even look at it this weekend. We will going to a sort of family reunion up in Tennessee on Saturday and on Sunday well be on the road all day taking Taylor (Lance's 5 yr old son) to meet his mother.

I guess that's all for today. I have to get started on school work. Happy Wednesday!

Using Hyperlinks

I am trying to get this hyperlink to work, so that I can use it in my blog. Check out ourwedding

Needing to get busy writing my paper...

So I'm here at work with a torn contact. So If I have a ton of misspellings it's because I can't see the computer screen. Last night Lance (my fiance) and I went for a run together. Kind of unusual for us to run together. He runs faster and I run longer so it is usually no fun running together. Or running after him. When we got half way around our 2.5 mile trail Lance wanted to show me how he sprints up a hill. He wanted us to go up and down as fast as we could. As I mentioned before I'm not a speed runner, I'm more of a endurance runner (and barely that). I took my turn going up the hill-faster than usual. When I got to the top my right knee and calf were killing me. Not sure why or how. This has never happened before. The only injury that I have ever sustained while running would be shin splints and I had them about 3 years ago. So after this pain started happening we still had about half the trail to run. I ran the best I could with my bum leg. It actually felt better to run than walk. When I made it inside I drank a glass of water and took two ibuprofen and took a quick shower. It actually quit hurting fairly fast-which was a relief. I usually run about three times a week just for cardio exercise and to keep my body fairly toned. I am actually really enjoying running. I used to hate running but now I crave it. I like to imagine that I could one day be a great runner with a runner's body. Maybe one day...
So right now I'm enjoying or just drinking my very watery iced latte from work's coffee shop. Also thinking about what I should get started on first. I need to email some students (I work at a university) about an assignment that they haven't turned in yet and I need to start my week's assignment and my 15 page paper. YUCK! The 15 pager isn't due until the end of July but I'll be on vacation so I need to get an early start on it. My paper will be on "The Importance of Personnel Development and Training"-exciting stuff. This is my third class in Troy University's Masters of Public Administration. I really enjoy my Masters but since my undergrad is in Psychology I have no experience with Public Administration. I am taking the classes online and the people in my classes are much older and experienced than me. So my discussion board posts look so juvenile compared to theirs. I hate that part of my classes, but I have only have nine more classes to go (yes I said only). I take the classes in nine week term, so If I keep taking just one class at a time I can finish in May of 2011. However I really want to finish in 2010. The only problem with taking two classes at once is money. Lance told me that he really wanted us to pay for the classes from now on. Not take out any more loans. I'm grateful that he doesn't have any loans because I have enough for both of us.

Monday morning-My second blog!

Okay so not much excitement happened this weekend. I got a class assignement finished, got some ironing done, and got to start a new book.

I have also been ordering items off of ebay for DIY projects and this weekend I received the
fabric!

I ordered from seller farmersgirltoo.









These are pieces from Amy Butler's collection.

I have also bought 12 vases, 7 x 3 from ebay seller eacandles and I am going to wrap the fabric around the vases. These will make my centerpieces. I plan on ordering the flowers from Sam's Club the day before the wedding. I looked at their site recently and they offered 125 roses for $80.00 + free shipping. I plan on getting the light pink roses.

I also ventured out to Dollar Tree. I had read that they sold shepherd's hooks. I didn't really expect to find them-but I did! I bought 12 at $12.96 with tax! I plan on using them for lining the aisle and holding the pomanders.
For the pomanders I ordered 12, 5 inch syrofoam balls from ebay seller seasonal-decorator to make the pomanders. I also ordered 200 silk carnations-pink and ivory with pink tips from ebay seller roseys_garden.
I haven't received any of these items yet, but I got a great price on them!

My first time.

So I finally decided to start my own blog. The inspiration came from all of the wonderful brides-to-be bloggers. Since I am presently planning my own wedding I have found LOTS of information from their sites. I thought maybe someone might like to read what I have to say. On top of planning a budget wedding, I am in graduate school, full-time employee, house hunter, a new runner, trying to be green, attempting to write a children's book, and trying to cook for a meat eater (him) and a non-meat eater (me). I guess I will use my blog to talk about all of this. Hopefully I'll get the hang of this very soon and have lots of great things to share! This is all for now.