Wedding updates

So, since it seems like all I've been doing lately is wedding planning (really, who cares about school?) I thought I would give an update. And maybe a school update too since, you know, it's moderately important.

So, wedding update:

I bought my wedding dress and picked out the bridesmaid dresses, Brian picked out his tux and the groomsmen's, and we're working on our wedding registries (finished one, working on the other two). We've also booked a car to take us from the wedding and the reception, sent out save-the-dates, and are working on booking our honeymoon (in Charleston).

Next up: Figuring out the music for the ceremony (Brian's choir, the Vox Clara Schola [I think that's what it's called, anyway] is going to be doing all the music), picking out invitations, and buying our wedding rings. I also have a dress fitting in a few weeks.

Whew! Things are moving fast (only a little more than 4 months now), and it seems to be getting more real by the second. I'm alternately excited and terrified. Brian's set to hear from grad schools in mid-March so that's not doing much to remedy the situation. BUT, hopefully by April 1 we will know something about where we'll be moving.

A short update on school (because that's all I can stand), here are the classes I'm taking this semester:

• Disability Policy (interesting, but most of what we're learning I know already and it's not a long enough class to get into new things)
• Evaluation (it has a longer title, but i'm not interested in learning it)
• Grant writing (which has so far proved to be VERY useful)
• Financial management of nonprofits
• Facilitative leadership (iffy, b/c we're using a model the professor's husband developed).

I'm tired just looking at the list.

As we rocket towards June, I'll try to keep updating...maybe I'll even add a "days to graduation" calendar..

2009 in review

Similar to last year, I thought I would review my favorite books/movies of 2009 (I also admit to needing a more positive post after the last one).

So, first up: books.

Series I've gotten into this year:

• Mr. and Mrs. Darcy mystery series. These are a much more lighthearted take on Darcy and Elizabeth than Rebecca Ann Collins' Pemberly Chronicles, and despite being slightly predictable, they're a fun easy read.
• Elizabeth Peter's Amelia Peabody series. Amelia is possibly one of my favorite literary characters ever, if only because this series put "Good Gad!" in my vocabulary.
• The Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire series. This is the basis for the HBO show True Blood, and the best way I can describe it is Twilight, except for adults and with good writing. And no cheesy romance. Or teenage angst.
• The Mistress of the Art of Death series. History + mystery=a good book for me.

Other good books I chanced upon this year:

• Books by Georgette Heyer (so far I've read The Convenient Marriage, Black Sheep, and Cotillion. ) They were written in the 1920s and set in the 1820s, and are funny without being cheesy.
• Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married. This was good British chick lit.
  
• Eats, Shoots, and Leaves. This is heaven for an English major. Or, former English major.
  
• My Sister's Keeper. Despite the ending being really sad, it was very fitting--not to mention fantastic.

As for movies, I haven't seen too many this year, but a few stand out:

• Julie & Julia. This made my favorite books last year, and the movie definitely lived up to its name. Meryl Streep is fabulous as Julia Child, and the Amy Adams sections reminds me of many, many times when I've been cooking and freaked out when I get overheated and things aren't working out the way I wanted.
• It's Complicated. Yet another Meryl movie, this one nailed divorce right on its complicated head (cheers for a movie that recognizes how hard divorce can be on kids). AND it's funny. A winner.
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I think this is my favorite Harry Potter movie. Funny teenage love angst, combined with fighting Voldemort, made for an excellent movie.
• Night at the Museum 2: Battle at the Smithsonian. Amy Adams's Amelia Earheart was the key in this movie. I also liked that the sculptures and pictures came to life too.
• Star Trek. Brian drug me to this, but I ended up liking it--action + space should equal Battlestar Galactica...but, it turned out, can equal this too.
  

Reflections on 2009

The more I think about it, the more I realize that 2009 was a decidedly mixed year. From Brian's dad's heart attack (a year from today!), to being made supervisor at summer camp, to moving to Cary (Brian and I are living in the same town for the first time in 6 years!) to struggling to maintain my (conservative) identity at school, to wedding planning, it's been up and down constantly.

Recently I've also come to realize that caring for my parent's medical ailments doesn't start when I'm 40--it starts now. From buying my dad diabetic cookbooks for Christmas (yes, I really did) to nagging him to not buy/eat sugary stuff, to taking my mom to colonoscopy appointments and consulting with the doctor afterwards--we're all growing older. That never really hit me until this year. The bursitis in my hip started flaring up, as did my dad's--and the spectre of hip replacements dances on the horizon like a nasty, unwanted sugarplum.

With only 5 months and 3 days left until the wedding, and about 4 months left until I graduate, lose my insurance, and become seriously unemployed (at least now I can put "student" as my occupation), it's going to be a year for big changes. I'm excited about graduating--I've never wanted to go back to school less and I am SERIOUSLY tired of being "the intern"--but terrified of finding my first real job, moving somewhere as yet unknown (but hopefully not for too much longer!) and setting up a married life when I'm so used to this one.

If you pray, add me in. I'll need it.