wow, I seriously haven't looked at this in forever! I'm going back to Lansing this weekend to visit my dad, sis, and bro and I got a little nostalgic!

The Lowdown:
First year of marriage as of 7/23/06: awesome
Cats: 3
job: sucks

OK, officially have a date: July 23, 2005 at the Wood Brook Cathedral here in GR.  (Cathedral is really a mis-nomer, it's pretty small, but that's ok)Still need a reception site, but I'm working on that.

Have sooo much to do.  Let's see, we're making the invitations, the bridesmaids bouquets (http://www.geocities.com/chris_breecher/beadbouquets.html), the reception centerpieces (http://www.ultimatewedding.com/articles/get.php?action=getarticle&articleid=1185)  Thankfully, my bridesmaid Star and her friend Laura are all about helping.  (I've only met Laura twice but she seems really nice.  According to Star she's one of those people who really wants to get married so she's really excited about helping.  Score!) Star knows a photographer and a DJ, and I apparently (didn't know this before! Thanks Mom!) have a great uncle in GR who's a florist.

Sean told Jim that we would put him in the wedding.   Um... didn't really want my ex-boyfriend in the wedding, but we'll probably just make him an usher or something. 

I've been laid-off-- super suckass!!

Wedding planning (b/c we're doing it this summer) is now taking a backseat to finding a new job.  I'm supposed to call them on Jan 7 to see if I can come back to work but I'd really like to tell them to take this job and shove it.  This layoff is the result of some serious bad planning.  They actually turned down work b/c one of the two main supervisors was going on maternity  leave!  What sense does that make?!?  Let's layoff 3/4ths of a shift so that one person can go on maternity leave!!  Yeah sounds super!!  Don't get me wrong, I believe that maternity leave is important and that it's actually way too short in the US (in some countries women get a full year paid maternity leave).  But you're telling me that in the whole 9 months that she was pregnant (plus the two weeks that she was overdue and working!) they  could't train an under supervisor (seriously, I have so many supervisors it's like frickin' Office Space) to do her job while she was out?!?  Seriously  stupid.  

So I'm brushing up my  resume.  sigh... i hate being unemployed.  Tomorrow I get to go to the unemployment office and file a claim b/c I'll have been unemployed for three consecutive days... super.

In other news, I went dress  shopping w/  my mom on sunday.  Disaster.  My aunt is actually making my dress, but we needed ideas on color and style.  Don't get me wrong, I love my mom but I was about to lock myself in the dressing room and not come out.  Simple tips for taking your daughter dress shopping: 

1) When your daughter tells the bridal consultant what dress size she normally wears, don't contradict  her and tell the consunltant  "yes, but I think she actually wears a size __" Especially don't do this if the size you are suggesting is larger  than the size your daughter has stated.  If your daughter is old enough to get married, she is old enough to know what size she normally wears.

2) Never EVER use words such as HEFTY to describe your daughter while she is trying on wedding apparel (seriously, I was beginning to wonder if it was PeeWee's Playhouse word of the day or she had an endorsement with the garbage bag company were she got paid every time she used the word).  The phrase: "you should try on the bridesmaids' dresses even though you have a different body type b/c if looks good on a hefty girl it'll look good on a skinny girl" should never be uttered (2 of my bridesmaids are tall and skinny so that would make me the hefty girl.)

3) If your daughter has a large bosom, do not try to cover it up at all costs.  Never suggest that she wear a bolero jacket over a wedding dress or suggest that the neckline can be dramastically raised to cover her.  Trying to hid an ample bosom only results in making your daughter look like a complete boat.  Stop it!

Thank you, this has been a message brought to by the Counself for the Prevention of Rage Against the Mother of the Bride.

Hmmm... haven't updated this in a while, but I think this calls for an update.  I just wanted to tell you all that as of late Sunday night, Sean and I are engaged!  I'll write down details further down on the page so that all the non-mushy people can just skip over it without wanting to barf.  I just want to say that I am really happy and excited! We haven't set a date yet.  I'm thinking Summer 2006 but Sean and my mom (b/c she says we're making her feel old so we better just get it over with) are pushing for this coming summer.  It's really more of a money / planning issue more than anythig else.  We're going to discuss it more when my mom gets in from Washington later today (that's right-- my entire family is coming to up here for Christmas so I get to cook Christmas dinner all by myself for the first time!)

Here's what was supposed to happen:  We went down to Chicago on Saturday to see Kill Hannah's Christmas concert (which was an awesome show!).  On Sunday, we were supposed to go up to Niles to see this nature preserve that Sean had been talking about taking me to for weeks.  It's this nature preserve where they light up all the trees along the path and it's supposed to be really pretty.  Sean was planning on taking me on this really romantic, beautiful nature walk and asking me there.

Here's what actually happened:  Shortly after leaving Lansing, Il and getting on the Indiana tollroad, we got caught in a blizzard w/ white-out conditions (they shut 94 down but not the tollroad).  There were tons of cars and semis in the ditch and we were moving at a top speed of about 7 miles per hour for a while. It took us 3 1/2 hours to get from my dad's house to South Bend, a trip which should take about an hour to an hour and a half.  By the time we got to South Bend at 10:30, the forrest preserve was closed and we were both disapointed and grumpy (b/c being stuck in traffic for long periods of time is bound to make you grumpy even if it's with someone you love).  So Sean decided that we needed to see something beautiful after all and told me that he was taking me to see the Grotto at Notre Dame b/c I'd never seen it.  So we walked down to the Grotto on a cold December night.  The Grotto is this really beautiful shell-like structure with a wall of lighted candles in a secluded spot with a beautiful lake nearby it and currently a Nativity scene close by it.  We were the only people down there and it was really peaceful and intimate despite being outside.  We both decided to light candles and add them to the wall of the Grotto.  I had some issues with lighting mine with the wooden stick they give you.  When I finally got mine lit, Sean was on the other side of me. He told me how much he loved me and then pulled the ring box out of his coat pocket.  And I said yes. It was beautiful despite not being what he had planned (and you have to give credit to a guy who can come up with a last minute backup plan like that!)

Hehe... sooo happy