Our Planner's Blog

Here is a link to our planner's blog--she has a few more pictures of the event and one shot of us getting married. I'll keep this link live today. Official pics still to come.

Amazing Weekend

It was amazing. It was beautiful. It was more wonderful than we could have ever imagined. From the prerehearsal errands on Thursday, to the rehearsal itself and the dinner on Friday, to the hair, makeup pampering Saturday morning, to the wonderful ceremony and reception Saturday evening. Everything went sooooo well. Here is one early photo my uncle took of the ceremony space.



I will post more photos soon!

48 Hours

One of my favorite shows on television is The First 48 on A&E. I've always loved crime stories and mystery books and reality TV--the show combines the best of all worlds. I got a new iPod today with another technology class I just finished, and boy I was tempted to buy a couple of seasons of the show. Then I remembered--I have a wedding in two days; therefore, I have no money. I may need to pawn this iPod to get by! All the budgeting in the world did not prepare me for the things I forgot or didn't know I would need at the last minute--particularly, brand new tires for my car and Pills that my insurance won't pay for. But alas. We are down to the last 48 hours!! When the sun comes up on Saturday it will finally be our wedding day. How exciting is that??!!

Now if I can only figure out which of these 48 hours I can use to get some sleep. I've been spending way too much time tonight working on all things related to this:

Sigh. Gotta get moving in a few hours to drive to Hometown and pick up Dr. J from the airport!!

Why??

What is it about weddings that bring exes and otherwise non-significant others out of the woodworks? And better yet why?

Dude/Chick, you lost. Move on.

Finals--I Need a Vacation

As usual, it is finals time, and I'm scrambling to get on top of all these papers and projects that I assigned. My students are right to ask--why do we all do this every semester? I know that it is important for them to be able to write and put together all of the knowledge that they've learned. But goodness, this means more grading than I really have the patience for at this moment. So before Dr. J gets in town next week (YEAH!) and we begin our whirlwind of holiday/wedding related activities, I need to:

• Administer one more final exam
• Grade finals from Major Course #1
• Grade finals from Major Course #2
• Grade final essays from Major Course #1 (fortunately these are rewrites so I don't really have to read them)
  
• Grade final essays from Major Course #2
• Finish grading final projects for Specialty Class (only seven more to go--I'll finish them the next time I'm in the office)
• Finish an essay and submit it to a journal

After Dr. J gets here, I still need to send off one more application for a job posting that just came out for a school we are both interested in.

So with all of this end of the semester stuff going on, we took some time tonight to do something we've just been talking about forever--planning our honeymoon. We are actually now officially going on vacation. After the wedding we'll be heading to Hawaii! We have our plane tickets booked and our hotel reserved.

I wish we could take this vacation now!

Engagement Update

Dr. J and I haven't spent nearly enough time together this semester. I can't wait until he comes home for the winter break! I saw him in October during a conference, and he was here earlier this month to take care of some wedding business. This included getting our engagement photos done (finally)!

I won't keep this up long, but if you want to take a look:

**Photos removed**

UPDATE: These are my favorite pictures ever!! Especially since I've started this whole rediscovering my hair process (it should be noted that this is probably my least favorite hairstyle of the ones I've tried so far). I just had to share--forgive the self-absorbed moment--but this is a blog after all!

We had no idea our photographer took so many good pictures--we have about 100 shots and I'm sure that there were some he threw out. I'm extra excited about our wedding day now--I think this was the boost we both needed. Both of our classes were extra lame today (day before break malaise) so we've been looking at our pictures between classes to keep our energy up!

Looking for Wedding Songs

I want my cousin to sing at my wedding, and I'm looking for a good song for his range that will sound nice with just a piano. I'm thinking about this song:



Any other recommendations?

Busy Wedding Weekend

I made a quick run to Hometown to handle some wedding business. Long story short, although our issues with the venue continue, we are making progress on finalizing the menu. It was tough going to the tasting without Dr. J being there. But since I wasn't completely satisfied with the chicken dish (too creamy), it looks like we'll have to schedule a second tasting.

Here's my favorites from the tasting:

A very very tasty vegetable and pepperjack cheese stuffed mushroom.

My favorite entree of the day (which may not be on the menu due to venue pricing changes) was the stuffed shrimp. Absolutely wonderful!!

Of course, we will be serving our wedding cake, but the menu comes with its own dessert choices. The best option was the cheesecake (with our choice of garnish--this one was a key lime and lemon scrape). So we have to make a decision--should we serve both cake and cheesecake and allow guests to choose? Or just go with the wedding cake?

That was part of my weekend. The other part was that I finally picked up our Save the Dates/Hotel Info cards and put down the deposit on our cake. So I've been obsessing about finding everyone's address today when I was supposed to be working on my conference paper. Sigh.

The Summer That Was...

I decided to use my last long weekend before school starts to spend some time in Hometown with Mom and to wrap up some more wedding business. Looking back over the summer, it seems that the wedding fared the best of all the things I needed to do. This weekend I booked our videographer, met another potential florist (waiting on a price estimate), and met with a wonderful woman who sells and creates invitations and programs. I'm really proud of the work that I've gotten done on the wedding and it feels good to know that by September, most of the big stuff is taken care of.

School work is a not-so-bad story. Today is really the first FULL day I've spent just grinding out work for my classes. I feel good about the work I've done today. I'm definitely going to be on autopilot with my Major Course--I've only made one change in the reading and jazzed up my WebCT layout a bit with my new technology skills. My new Speciality Course is organized--I worked on a lot of that through the technology seminar--but I still need to spend some time getting the content down in my head and preparing lesson plans. If I can get the first unit (four weeks) laid out before class next Wednesday, I'll be satisfied.

Writing, scholarly or otherwise, has suffered this summer. I could go on, but the thought of it depresses me. If I can get at least one of these articles off of my desk before I send off my first job application....

Speaking of which, the job search has been slow to start. I've been relentless searching the job ads again, but I haven't found one position to motivate me to begin the cover letter writing process. I know which schools I'm interested in, I just don't know if they are going to be hiring this year. Is it acceptable to send an email or letter expressing interest in a position that doesn't exist yet? I'm really interesting in a school that is just outside of the city where Dr. J is teaching--would it be a good move or a bad move to just send them a letter and CV??

I feel so confused about what to do next professionally. I even had the thought of going back to school. Imagine that. I'm definitely not looking forward to our first faculty meeting of the semester tomorrow where we resume our discussion of a very messy issue. Given that I'm going back on the market, I feel even less inclined to get involved in this debate and don't know how I'm going to negotiate this meeting. It should be interesting though, to say the least--interesting and LONG.

Goodbye summer--helllloooo school year!

We Have Music!

It pays to have a Mom who knows everyone. Thanks to a friend of Mother, we have a band for our reception!! We definitely were planning to go the DJ route (preferably a young, friend of a friend type DJ) to help shave some expenses on the big day. A band just seem to be way to expensive. But Mother came through and got us information on a group she heard perform at a friend's church. Dr. J and I listened to a sample CD last Saturday when we were in Hometown and fell in love. The music was a mix of gospel and R&B/Soul with a wonderful range of instruments--keyboard, sax, flute, bass, drums--and a beautiful vocalist. We were hooked on the music, but Mother's memory of the price to book the group discouraged us. We almost didn't call at all, because they seemed way out of our range. But we are soooo glad we did call. We talked to the group's leader and he quoted us an AMAZING price for live music during the cocktail hour and reception dinner as well as DJ services for dancing and partying after we eat!! This price is incredibly sweet--even lower than quotes we've gotten for video, other DJs, heck, even for cake!! I had to ask him twice if I heard him correctly! So it was a wonderful confirmation to see everything in writing today and I'm excited that we are going to have real music for our wedding!!

Fun Day

Today was a day with Dr. J that was much needed. In just a few days, he'll be on his way to River City for the semester. I'm holding it together the best I can, but I know I'm going to crash big time this weekend. It has been so wonderful having him nearby for most of the summer.

So today was a much needed day together. Although we drove to Hometown together for my speaking engagement (which went very well) and for our counseling session, all of the hustle and bustle took its toll. I was exhausted all day on Sunday and slept a ridiculous number of hours. So today, I woke up feeling rested and ready to spend some good time with Dr. J. We had a wonderful visit to the bank where we set up our first joint account and received some excellent financial advice about managing our debt, saving for our wedding, and home ownership. It is exciting to start putting our money together--it makes our upcoming union more tangible. It was equally wonderful to talk realistically about home ownership. Having a home together is probably our number one priority and to have an expert tell us that our goals are reasonable was very comforting. (Of course a lot will be dependent on my ability to go smoothly from one job to another!)

After our visit with the good folks at the bank, we had a wonderful seafood lunch and just sat around in the restaurant as it started pouring ran outside. It felt as if we had the whole place to ourselves--very nice.

Once the rain slacked a bit, stopped by David's Bridal to see their new blue, and then we headed to BBB to start our first registry!! Being the shopper that I am, I was in heaven. The best part of course is that Dr. J was right there with me--I think he had more fun with the scanner than I did. We have plans to hit our second store tomorrow. There was just wonderful wedding glow between us all day--did I mention I'm going to miss him?

To cap off our night, we watched two of our favorite shows and have come to the conclusion that:
1) Gordon Ramsey is the new Bill Clinton (pre-Lewinsky of course).
2) Big Love is going to be off the hook this season.

As if we didn't have enough wedding stuff for one day, we also set up our wedding website! Things are coming together nicely--but the week is already wrapping up too quickly. I'm going to miss Dr. J!

In Motion

I still can't believe the way time is flying this summer. The past week or so has been AMAZING!
#1 Dr. J has a JOB! After much deliberation and negotiation, the university he recently visited made him an offer he/we couldn't refuse. He's really excited, and I'm really excited. The only downside of course is the distance; we'll be in two different time zones and several states apart. I am hoping to arrange my teaching schedule so that I'm finished teaching by the time we get married in March. Then I'll just join Dr. J "out West." I'm still going on the market to see if there are some better opportunities out there for us, but we're optimistic that I might have a position at his new Metro Univ. for Fall 08. One of the appealing things about the university is that it is one of the few places in the nation where our areas fall under the same college. Normally our disciplines are housed in separate, self-contained schools, but at this place we'd have the same dean, same school. Metro Univ. is located in a great city that has lots of political history/resources that I would love to use for my own research. And interestingly enough, the day Dr. J and I started to think MetroU was a good idea is the same day I learned a paper I had submitted for a conference there was accepted. We're planning a visit in the next few weeks to find him a place to live for a bit.

#2 Coastal Life! I am loving life in Gorgeous City. Dr. J and I visited another beach last week and it was beautiful. Just a few miles down from the last beach (Northern Beach) we visited, this one (Ritzy Beach) was even nicer. The sand was smooth and silky and the water was clear and smooth. Although Northern Beach had a lot more "locals" and a great pier, Ritzy Beach had wonderful shops and bars and better sand. Ritzy Beach also has more tourists, but that turned out to be fun; a group of folks, who come down to the beach each year with their kids, invited us over for beers. They thought we were honeymooners, but as we proceeded to tell them our story, they made several toasts on our behalf. They were really excited for us and offered lots of married life advice. It was very random but a lot of fun. Hopefully they'll send us some of the pictures they took!

#3 Preparing for Marriage! Dr. J and I have started our pre-martial counseling. We've been looking forward to this for so long, it is nice to have things underway. We met with our officiant this past weekend and received our materials. It looks like the sessions will be very interactive. We have a great book that has lots of activities. I know that not all of this will be easy, but I'm looking forward to us spending time preparing for what is to come.

#4 Wedding Planning We also made some great headway this week on wedding planning. My dress is tucked safely away at home while we await my first fitting appointment in September. Dr. J, Lani, and I had a great meeting this weekend with the Planner. She has wonderful ideas about what to do with our blue and slowly but surely, we can see the wedding coming together. Our guest list is almost done--we're waiting for the mothers at this point to finalize their list. It looks like we're going to be close to 250 people! That is quite a bit larger than we had orginally planned, but we are going with the flow. We've tentatively planned our menu and are going to do tastings for dinner and the cake in the next few weeks!! I'm especially excited about the cake part!

Lani has been pushing me to get on the ball, and I think after our meeting, she was satisfied with our progress. She's going to come down to Gorgeous City the weekend after the 4th of July and we'll do some more dress shopping for her. Both Lani and the Planner love this blue:

but I'm having a hard time finding swatches and dresses that match it. We're going to visit a store that carries this line and hope they have some material we can look at.

I just found this color which is very close and the fabric can be ordered as well.

Planner thinks that we could use a light peach/salmon or brown as an accent color. I was thinking more along the line of silver, but I think a peach or a beige color would be a nice, elegant accent. We're also going to be looking at flowers soon too. We're leaning towards ivories and whites at this point.

#5 Work! Yeah, not much of that going on. I've been getting more revisions back on those encyclopedia entries, and I've set aside time today to finish the latest round of those. This week has to be the week I get this Chapter Six Article out, because the next few weeks will be consumed with travel and wedding stuff. I have been enjoying fun books, but will switch to reading academic books next week so I can start thinking about my prospectus and my new course. My textbook for the fall still isn't in yet, so that's not helping the fact that I'm already procrastinating! We'll see...

Hail in a Handbasket

That's where I feel like my summer is going.

Day after day I look at my to-do list and feel like such a bum for not getting more work done. That Chapter Six article is still eluding me. I must finish the work that needs to be done on it by the end of next week so I can move on to something else. I've been completely distracted by the work that came back from the copyeditor on those pieces I did last year. Just when I thought I was done with that, I got some more work. But now that is off of my desk, and I feel a little more productive than I did yesterday. And the news that I had a pair of papers accepted for Major Conference in November helps a lot too. At least I'll have something new on my CV for the fall.

I've also been completely distracted by regular books. I'm back on James Patterson and John Grisham again. It feels so good to just get lost in a book. Especially on a day like today where it is dark and cloudy and, oh yeah, hail outside. Of all weather conditions, this is one I am very uncomfortable with--especially living somewhere without a garage or carport for my car. Hopefully the weather will continue to mellow out because Dr. J is in the airport on his way back to this time zone. He had another campus visit this week and he's coming back with an offer!!!! It is exciting and unexpected but probably unsatisfactory. We have a lot of discussing to do when he gets back in town.

Unfortunately, we won't be able to connect as long as I'd like. I have to head to Hometown tomorrow because my wedding dress is in!! So I need to get the fitting process going and Mom wants me to look at a dress she's found for herself. I probably also need to really narrow down this blue issue so Lani can pick out her dress.

So much to do, so little time. Where has my summer gone?????

The Blues

It is always a wonderful rush to see Dr. J and generally a major emotional crash when he leaves. I'm so glad he snuck away from University Town this weekend. It was a completely unexpected visit and we had a great couple days together. Of course, I didn't get a lot of work down this weekend, so I'll be burning the midnight oil for a few nights to get my final grading done--but it was definitely worth it!

One of the things we are both looking forward to when my semester is over and his defense is done, is really talking about the wedding and getting prepared for married life. We are both excited just to continue this journey of being engaged, which has felt a bit on pause of late for a wide variety of reasons. Although it may be tough and intense at times, we are exciting about couples counseling with our officiant and mapping out things like our finances and our plans for the future. And of course, we are looking forward to the fun stuff too like the cake tasting and the honeymoon! It was fun to spend just a little time thinking about all of that this weekend.

Of the many things on pause is choosing our wedding colors. We both said long ago that if we ended up getting married in the fall, our primary color would be a shade of red OR if we were married in the spring, it would be some shade of blue. While we both envisioned a garnet/burgundy color for the fall, we've been at a bit of a loss to pick a shade of blue. We love blues, but there are so many. So for much of the engagement it has been a list of blues that it won't be--it won't be too royal, too dark, too pastel, too powdery, too turquoise. Just a nice medium blue--perhaps with a silvery tone to it.

We've been looking at a lot of blues--marine blue, slate blue--but the colors we have in mind have yet to translate into swatches for potential attire for the wedding party. Until recently. I think I may have THE potential blue.

I went to a bridal show with Mom not too long ago and saw this dress. The show was actually in the same room where we're having our wedding and under the big lights, this blue was amazing. Unfortunately, in the pictures from the website, it is not quite what I remembered. This blue is called teal. Now when I think of teal, I think of a shade that has a bit more green in it. I like this teal because it doesn't have a lot of green it in.

And of course the teal looks different online with different types of fabrics. The teal to the left with the deep V-neck is in a satin/chiffon, while this strapless is also teal in an all satin dress.

So of course soon, Lani and I will have to go to the store and find a style that fits her and check out the fabric in person. She was not excited to hear that we wanted blue because she did not want to be in a Rhoyal Blue and Gold Sigma Gamma Rho wedding. I promised her years ago that I wouldn't do that, but I can't help it that blue is one of our favorite colors!! I do want to find a nice blue that will go will with her skin color. She has a beautiful chocolate complexion and wears all colors really well--but I want to make sure she looks and feels great. And hopefully we can find a dress that she might actually wear again.

Photo Finish

In more positive news, we got our contract for a wedding photographer today. After additional research, Lois and Clark kept coming out on top. So it is a official--we have a place, I have a dress, and we have pictures. Assuming the guests show up, I'm really good to go from here!

Camera Ready 3

P.P. #4: Alton Brown
My day long marathon with photo folks ended with an hour long lecture by Alton Brown in a small studio even further out in the country than the first appointment of the day. Although he is probably a very nice guy, the Alton Brown-type guy got on my last nerves. It was partially the rhetorical situation of course; it was the last part of a long day, and I wanted the "quick and dirty." Instead, I got a line by line explanation of all of his packages, albums, contracts, and his work with his "girls." Every bride he worked with was referred to as "girl" which also got on my last nerves. Again, very nice guy--he showed us a lot of different types of photo albums, a slide show, and we even got to peek at his computer where he does his post-processing work.

Pros: Colorful array of photos and albums. Comparable prices and packages to #1 but provides more options and greater flexibility. Really nice guy. Good equipment. Solid amount of experience.

Cons: All of the photos were very similar--very straightforward with a bit of a modern twist. Very little experimentation with angles or lighting or perspective--relied heavily on computer tricks to manipulate photos rather than setting up unique shots manually. Calls grown women "girls." Part of a husband/wife team yet the wife left 5 minutes into the meeting and came back and hour later (when he was STILL talking).

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After quite a long Saturday, you would think I would be exhausted--well I was. Mom was a trooper and hung with me, but she complained so much about being tired, that I was completely shocked she wanted to go to a bridal show on Sunday after church. So we went before I left town and I had the opportunity to speak with three or four more photographers, none of which had the quality of Lois and Clark or Dean and Martin, but many of whom had comparable prices. My growing sense is that this is the new market rate for photos of the quality that I want, so it is looking more and more like our #1 team--Lois and Clark is going to be the selection in this crazy process. Hopefully we'll have it all figured out by the end of the week!!

Camera Ready 2

P.P. #2: Dean and Martin
Our meeting did not disappoint. I met with Dean only because Martin's wife just had a new baby (of course he has already posted photos on their site). He's young and fresh and everything about their new studio is contemporary and modern. They take classic pictures but also have a youthful edge that I love. Dean at least seems like someone who I could have gone to school with--just about my age, very down to earth, and very intuitive. It almost seemed more like he was interviewing me to see if we would be a good fit--which I loved. Dean and I probably chatted for close to an hour, and he gave me some wonderful advice on things to look for and how to make things like family pictures go as quickly as possible on the big day. There was music playing overhead when I came in and he asked me what my favorite album was. He ran upstairs for a minute and the next thing I know, it is playing overhead. So I've indoctrinated someone else to Kindred the Family Soul, and he loves it!

Pros: Young. Fresh. Very skilled. Laid back and comfortable--I feel like we would enjoy having them as a part of our day. Sensitive--I felt that he conveyed on a number of occasions that he was understanding of where we are in the process of planning and he offered a ton of advice and ideas for planning our day to run smoothly (and to have time for us to spend together as a couple). Talking to Dean also did a little good for my ego--he made me feel beautiful and sophisticated in a subtle way that I think would show in how he took our photos.

Cons: Again, price. As two independent, young, professional photographers (who have their own separate families to support) working together, their prices are actually above Lois and Clark. Also, some of their albums were out for cleaning so I couldn't get a full range of what they do productwise. My sense was that the albums I did see were a bit more conservative then what they normally do--I wanted to see more of their "edgy" work.

P.P. #3: Lucy
Truly, I love Lucy. As a person that is. Lucy is a very young photographer. She's been working in the industry for a while as an assistant, but has only started working on her own in the past year. Unfortunately for me, her work shows. Although she was extraordinarily nice, we did not have a particular long meeting (we met at her home which is gorgeous). I did not have any poignant questions to ask and found that when I did, I often received answers that left me at a loss.

Pros: Price--of course as a photographer who is just starting out (and who doesn't do this full time) she is able to offer great deals. Her top of the line package is several hundred dollars below where many photographers start their basic package. Personality--a real sweetheart who is genuinely passionate about her work.

Cons: Equipment is very basic. Horrible Black & White photography. And when I saw horrible, I do mean that very seriously. Rather than showing a range of black and white, many pictures were just gray. The color pictures were often flat. Album layouts were very conservative and uninspiring.

In the words of Mom, "oh no."

Camera Ready

It is official--I have a dress. Yesterday's shopping experience at the bridal shop was great. The store is a really nice spot. They have dressers that help you with the dresses and the manager and owner are there to go over the finer points of how the gown will hang and bustle and all that good stuff. Originally, the owner picked out about four dresses for me so that we could determine my style and taste. From day one, I have had my favorite. Our second visit a couple of months ago confirmed my favorite was still "the dress." So this time, it was all about the paperwork and the money. Mom of course, wanted to be sure and asked the manager to go through the dresses again to be sure there wasn't anything else I might like. Although I had only worked with her one time during my second visit, she remembered me immediately and assured my mother that the dress I picked out was perfect for me. She humored Mom by showing her some of the new things that had come in, and they clearly were not for me. So I tried on my dress one more time and we took all the needed measurements--including the "hollow to hem" which I'll need to make sure all the bead work and the shape of the dress is proportional to my little frame. Mom put down the needed deposit--which I am EXTREMELY grateful for--and my order is off to the designer!!! I should expect the dress to arrive probably mid to late summer.

So today is photography day! I have been looking forward to this more than anything--probably even more than the dress. I didn't imagine I would be doing this without Dr. J though--that is the roughest part of today. I wish he was here. So I'm holding down the fort and Mom was able to go with me for the first appointment.

Potential Photographer #1: Lois and Clark
The first meeting today was with a husband and wife team. They are sweet people--she is clearly the socialite and he's definitely the behind the camera type--both were very friendly and I instantly felt comfortable around them. We met in their home studio, although they are in the process of moving to a retail space (which I take is a reason for their recent price shift in the upward direction). The studio space at home was small, but very nice--they had beautiful prints on the walls--mostly canvas portraits of brides. There were two brides displayed on easels in the room as well--one who was getting married that day and the other who was recently married and was coming by to pick up her prints from her bridal sessions. One was done in studio, the other was outside, but the quality of both was outstanding. Lois met with us and showed us an album while we waited for Clark, and we just chatted for a bit. Clark joined us, got some information about our wedding and more importantly, about John and I. He showed us a slideshow on his widescreen iMac monitor (had to be 24" or more--gorgeous piece of hardware indeed) which was positioned against the wall across from our very comfortable leather couch.

As I communicated to them, of the websites and samples I've seen, I've been impressed from the beginning by the quality of their images. They have a wonderful tonal range in the colors of their pictures (esp. the B&W) and all of their color images pop. I learned that they shoot entirely digital and I learned a bit more about that process and what makes their images so distinct--exposure and processing. Even though I don't know as much about digital as I do film, I loved feeling like they were comfortable educating me on their craft, and they said that I asked a lot of good questions they don't normally hear (figure that--an academic that asks good questions).

Pros: Very friendly. Professional. Great references. Great equipment. Great ideas. Beautiful albums and products (Mom is in love with a guestbook they have that incorporates your engagement photos--I told her she was welcome to buy us that as a gift if she REALLY loved it). Provide all images on CD or DVD for your own reproduction. And of course, two photographers--Lois would follow me around during preparations, while Clark would shadow Dr. J. And ideally, when I thought about this process, that is what I wanted--two professional cameras. Then we would have both of their perspectives during the ceremony and reception. To me, the biggest thing was that they impressed my mother who is a frugal shopper. When we left, the first thing she said was--"they are good."

Con: The only con of course is price. They are over what we had in our tentative budget; however, we budgeted based on the prices I saw when we were engaged over 6 months ago. Since then of course, a lot of the vendors have gone up on their prices for 2007. So since they are the first appointment, I'm not completely sure yet how much they are above the average. They are not in the unreasonable range. We'll have to talk more with Planner about the current market rate for what we want. The other small con is that I didn't see any brides of color and although we talked about it, I didn't see examples. Given their prices and location (they are based in the most vanilla part of Hometown), I can understand why.

Potential Photographer #2: Dean and Martin
This team is two young guys who just started a business together in Hometown. I knew them previously as separate photographers and I've seen many examples of their work around town. Last night, I spoke to Dean, who wanted to talk before we met to make sure this was really a good fit. I liked that. We talked for about 20 minutes last night and I really enjoyed our conversation. While I knew Dean and Martin were in business together, I did not know they actually shoot every event together--engagement, bridal, anything you want they do together. I also did not know they shoot everything manually which I have a certain affection for. I know now that their prices are comparable to Lois and Clark although I have a feeling their albums and other products may be more expensive. I have my meeting with them shortly, and I am very much looking forward to it!

It's Dress Day!

I just got off the phone with the bridal boutique. I have a 5:00 appointment to order my dress today! That leaves me a good bit of time today to work on this grading (ugh) and start rereading Assata.

I was a bit overwhelmed by Mom's wedding energy yesterday, but it is rubbing off because I'm getting excited! Fingers crossed that this appointment will be as enjoyable and stress-free as possible.

She's Been Bitten

I'm back in Hometown. One good meal already, and I'll have another one shortly. Always the biggest pro to coming home--it is like a resort with a great meal plan. Of course here, you pay for food in ways other than money....

Lani and I never connected over the holidays to exchange gifts and so the gift she left for me has been sitting here all this time (I didn't realize it has been quite so long since I've been home). So the first nice surprise of the day was to find some gift cards waiting for me for two of my favorite stores (especially nice since I've put myself on a shopping probation).

But the second surprise of the day is that the wedding bug has officially bitten my mother who has otherwise been (relatively speaking) very calm and demure about this whole event. Today, we are exactly one year away from the wedding, and it seems like the year mark has come just in time for Mom (who of course did not understand why we picked a date SOOO far away). This evening, I think I received one "how are you doing" since she got off work--just about everything else has been wedding-related. She's got brochures, she's got business cards, she's got questions, and she's got--her list. The one point of future conflict that I was not looking forward to. Her list has close to 100 people. We're trying to stay in the neighborhood of 150-175. Now there is a great deal of overlap between her list and my own (the one I haven't started on officially yet), but the remainders definitely exceed the 20 or so guest we were going to slate for each of our mothers. So this is going to be interesting. Mom has already decided we need to have at least 200 people, and she is offering to "pay for her people." That's all good and everything; however, Dr. J and I really chose the number we did in an effort to celebrate our day with the people who matter to us as a couple--not just a bunch of people we know individually. I'm looking forward to talking this over with him, but he's at work (darn that new job)! So in the meantime, I'm fielding questions on matter number 2--the dress.

My mother's main wedding department is supposed to be the dress. Unfortunately, this means that I can only say so much. The plan is to go and order the dress while I'm here. Recall that I found THE dress that I love some time ago. Well apparently, Mom and the wedding bug have been scoping out the boutique. She believes a dress very similar to mine is in the window and she went by after work one day and took a picture (which is hilarious because the owner is very particular about cameras and her dresses). So she has decided that rather than just going by to order the dress I've already picked out that we should definitely set aside some time to try on some more dresses while I'm in town. I'm not convinced.

I think Mom and the Wedding Bug are going to tag along to my photog appointments on Saturday. I have four vendors to see, and I'll be sure to post lots of info on what will be a very busy Saturday. For now, it is back to eating home cooked food and grading.