Dear Blog,

Though it may seem that I've forgotten you, I promise I haven't.  I just can't think of much to blog about these days (or you can blame my other new baby, Pinterest).

I've been under a lot of stress these past 2 months, between changing positions at work and the decline and eventual passing of my grandfather.  I'll be making a trip to North Carolina for his memorial mass this weekend, and then I promise, I'll get back into the swing of things and start more regular postings. 

Less than 6 months to go and today marks the 1 year anniversary of our engagement.  Sadness and tears have been unavoidable here lately, but life goes on, and soon there will be happy things to think of again.

Unable are the Loved to die,
For Love is Immortality.

Grandaddy, if they have the internet in heaven, I hope you can read this.  I love you.

Katie

     Gosh it's been forever.  I think I've slipped into a lull because I've gotten a giant portion of wedding stuff done and not really a whole lot is left, at least not until we get to early 2012.

     We've got a great month lined up and I'm super excited.  My parents were in town this past weekend and we had a great time catching up and I got to finally show my dad the church and the reception site.  He hasn't been to St. Louis in something like 2 years, and Chris hasn't seen him since before we got engaged.  Needless to say it was a much overdue visit.

     Somehow, Chris convinced my mom to cross over to the dark side...she borrowed one of his Reds Tshirts.  Having mom on his side must've been good luck, because the Reds won...unfortunately.

     I love this picture of me and my boo :) Our love transcends baseball affiliations.

     Next up is a visit from Chris' parents this weekend, which is always full of laughs and fun.  I have to work the weekend after that (ugh), but THEN!!! Chris and I are going to Chicago for a long weekend before my birthday.  I.cannot.wait.  I've been saving up all my vacation time so I'll have enough time off around the wedding and honeymoon,and I'm dyyying for some time off. A 3 day fall weekend in Chi Town is the perfect solution.

Happy birth month to me!

Gosh I'm getting bad about keeping up with my blog baby.  Sorry!

I have lots of excuses though!  Its been quite a busy few weeks of studying my butt off for my LMSW exam, which I took and passed on July 27.  Woohoo!  Then of, course, I have the work excuse.  Theres just something about the summer months that make people a little more wacky than usual, to say I've been stressed this past month is an understatement.

Okay, now for the fun stuff!

Three things have been checked off the Wedding to do list since my last post. 

 The always important, SHOES!  I found these 50% off at Macy's last week and just couldn't say no :)

CAKE!  We decided to go with a 4 tier, square Amaretto cake, with alternating fillings of raspberry and Bavarian Creme fillings. Deeeelicious! I could do cake tasting every day for the rest of my life and die a happy, albeit obese, Katie.


We also put down a deposit on our site for the rehearsal dinner.  This place is one of our go-to dinner places on my side of the river.  Good food, hand crafted beer and spirits, what more could you ask for?

So...if you've been keeping track, getting the cake and rehearsal dinner site booked were the last big things on my to do list. 

Which means, naturally, I now have a mental to do list of the "small things" I need to wrap up.
1. Harass my 2 bridesmaids in Arkansas to get their measurements in so the bridal salon can order all the bridesmaid dresses ;)
2. Harass the bridal salon about being 2 months later with my dress than they originally said.  (I could write a really nasty blog about how irritated this makes me, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt before I trash their company...)
3. Coordinate with the church organist for ceremony music, pick out readings, and Chris and I will likely start meeting with our priest later this fall for some more pre-cana counseling.
4. Finalize menu with the Tap Room for the reception, and pick out the 12 beers we want on tap :)  Beer tasting anyone?
5. Finalize floral arrangements and talk with our dj about music selection.  Send any music requests our way and we'll put it on our list, if we approve of course :).
6. Oh yea, and pay for everything!  Minor detail of course.

I'm sure there are more things to add to that list, but its Saturday morning and I'd rather eat breakfast and get my day started then send my brain into overdrive (as if it isn't already) with wedding details.

Can you believe we've already been engaged for 9 months?  Whooooa, we're halfway there!

259 days to go!

I'm a horrible blog mom

I've left my little blog baby alone for too long!  I can't believe its been a month since my  last post!

I'm trying to think of what to update on, but all I can think about is how excited I am for this week to be over!  Chris and I have a cake tasting set up for Saturday with a Bakery that is owned by a family that just happens to know a lot of my friends from trivia.  I just love having connections.  I just hope their cake tastes as good as my friends have been saying!

I also just bought tickets to the upcoming New Kids on the Block/Backstreet Boys concert that will be here in St. Louis next week.  Jenny, you're gonna hate me for saying this, but I'm way more excited to see BSB than NKOTB.  I was in loooooove with BSB back in the day.  I'm going with my friends Amy and Alexcia, and I'm sure it will be a blast reliving the songs of our teeny bopper days :)

Then!  I'm going to Cincinnati next weekend with Amy to see our guy friends play in a footy tournament.  What is Footy? Just click HERE to find out!  They are conveniently playing about 10 minutes from my future in laws, which means I get to see the lovely Thumanns for a few days :)  Chris is trying to rearrange his work schedule so he can tag along too.  There's also a Cleopatra exhibit at a downtown museum that Amy and I both really want to see.  So it'll be a quick, but fun filled weekend in the Queen City.

Can't you see why I'm ready for this week to be over?  Ugh!

284 days to go!

Yay!

Chris comes home tomorrow! 

I've had quite the weekend, spending some time at Clearwater Lake with some friends was much needed and quite relaxing.  I got some sun too :) 

Cindy came in town for the weekend, so I only got to see her Thursday before I left for the lake.  Wouldn't you know it, she got me something off our registry already!  My dream mixer.  Seriously, its awesome.

Isn't it just beautiful!  I cant wait to make cakes and cookies and bread and all kinds of treats.  For now, it's living in my FSIL's basement, because, unfortunately, I have absolutely no counter space at my current apartment :( 

Thus, "lots of counter space" has now been added to the checklist of things our future home MUST have. 

All in all, I suppose the only thing I really have to say on here tonight, is that I am beyond excited to see my love tomorrow.  It has been way too long and I'm almost to the point of getting weepy whenever I think about him.  Needless to say, tomorrow can't come soon enough!

Wah.

So Chris has been gone since last Tuesday (5 days if you're counting)  and has been out of contact since Friday evening when he crossed over to Canada for his annual fishing trip.  He did call me Saturday morning for one last chat before heading off into the wilderness for a week, which was so sweet I tear up thinking about it.

I gotta tell ya, the old adage "absence makes the heart grow fonder" couldn't be more true.  I swear, it really feels like there is something missing, as cheesy as that sounds.  Whats funny is that this is not the first time he's gone off on this trip with no way to talk, text, or email, for a week. But this is the first time since we've been engaged, and I think that's what is making this especially hard. 

I've got quite a week ahead of me,  between work, yoga, Shakespeare in the park, my FMIL coming to visit, and a lake trip, I really should be so busy that he'll be back before I know it.  But its late, I'm tired, and it's Sunday. Our day.  And all I want to do is hear his voice tell me goodnight.

So for now, I'll be that girl that calls his phone even though I know its off, just to hear him awkwardly say his name for his voicemail.

I promise my next post wont be so sappy or sad.

Too much fun!

So tonight I met up with my lovely FSIL for coffee, dinner, and looking at options for DIY (do it yourself) wedding invitations and save the dates.  Too.much.fun.  Jenny is a genius/miracle worker/artist/awesome lady who found this website with all kinds of fancy paper and envelopes to use and print our own designs on, and for a fraction of the price.  I'm beyond excited to see the samples I ordered and see what ideas they spark.  We also came up with some cute ideas for Save the Dates, and I'm now in search for pictures to use for that project too.

I've been in touch with a DJ that I've heard and read great reviews of, and hopefully Chris and I can meet with him sometime this month.

That just leaves a cake for the bigger budget items and we'll be pretty well wrapped up.  I cannot believe how the time is flying and how much I've been able to get done so far.  I'm beginning to wonder what I'll have to do as the time gets closer...but I'm sure I'll find something to stress about :)

Chris and I started some registries last weekend too.  So far we're registered at Crate and Barrel and Target.  I have plans to add to both of those once we get closer to the wedding and have idea of where we'll be living.  We couldn't really pick out much besides kitchen stuff because we haven't discussed what aesthetic we'll want for our future home.  I can definitely say it won't include deer heads in the living room though, sorry Chris!  Still, it was so much fun picking out things like dishes and cookware and thinking "This is what we'll be eating meals off of in OUR place."  So fun!

I'm on my own for the next 2 or so weeks. Chris left this afternoon for his annual Canada fishing trip with his dad, Uncle, and some of their buddies.  I know he'll have a great time and hopefully the trip will leave him quite re-energized to start tackling some wedding tasks when he gets back.  Luckily, I have lots to keep me busy.  I have a friend from high school coming to visit this weekend, my FMIL will be coming to STL for a visit next week, and I have a lake trip planned with some friends that following weekend.  Then Chris will be home and all will be right with the world again.  I should also mention that I've recently acquired the first 6 Harry Potter DVDs and will be marathoning them each night (yes, I'm a nerd).  I won't even have time to miss Chris!

Okay, who am I kidding, of course I'll miss him :)