Yes, I know that I have shamefully neglected this blog in recent weeks. But, I've had a LOT going on!
Wedding planning! Figuring out where we're moving! Finishing school!
Ok, that's an excuse. But still.
As far as wedding planning, we've got most of the big details hammered out (my mom and Brian's mom are addressing the invitations back in New Bern as I write this), and despite some setbacks (Swoozie's, who originally was doing my invitations, went bankrupt and we had to switch vendors. We're really happy with the end result, done by The Write Image in Cary! Plus my bridesmaid dress was discontinued and David's Bridal kept getting the new choice mixed up which resulted in some disgruntled, confused customers), things are coming along. Now we're faced with the smaller details--what the choir is singing, what readings there are going to be, what the flowers are going to look like, what food is going to be served, etc.
As far as the future goes, Brian got into Ave Maria! We're going down in 2 weeks to check things out and hopefully sign a lease. I don't have any job prospects just yet, but I'm hopeful. We're also trying to find him some scholarships, since the government doesn't seem to want to fund doctorates in theology, and his eyesight is too good for scholarships in that area (you basically have to be truly blind to qualify).
As far as school goes, only 5 weeks and exams left! WHOO! I've lost all my motivation, and I feel like I'm already halfway in the future. It's a serious struggle to keep going to my internship and finish up my final papers. The end of an era is in sight, and the start of something new--Florida, married life, and a job of some kind--are on the horizon. It's terribly scary and terrifically exciting all at the same time.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
Bridal Breakdown
Yes, it has happened. I've had my first Bridal Breakdown.
It was mostly precipitated by David's Bridal, who are showing themselves to be incredibly incompetent, and that's me being nice.
The story:
In December, I went to try on wedding dresses. It was a busy day, so I wasn't too upset the consultant wasn't paying too much attention, since I hate overbearing salespeople anyway. When I went in January to pick it up, though, I was pretty pissed off that when the saleslady wrote down the number on my dress, they wrote it down WRONG. So the dress they ordered was not only a dress I'd never seen, but it was also $107.75 MORE than the dress I wanted.
At the time, I was panicking so much that I didn't say much other than "fix it!". David's Bridal didn't offer any apologies, and at first didn't believe me...but eventually I got them to reorder the right one and give me the difference in money in store credit.
This past week, I went in for my first fitting..when I went to pay, I requested to put my store credit towards the fitting fee, and produced the exchange receipt. Which they then insisted they couldn't honor because I didn't have some coded card (which they never gave me). Then they tried to take the receipt. I finally got them to honor the store credit, but still no apologies for all of this.
In short...I nearly had a meltdown in the store.
Honestly, I don't ask for much. I'm usually pretty genial, and I ask that in return. David's Bridal: EPIC FAIL.
Besides the dress debacle, all the details to think about is making my grind my teeth more than usual. I've started to break out in a sweat (literally, I turn red and start sweating, it's not a pretty sight) whenever anything wedding comes up. By the end of the 2 1/2 hours I spent in Swoozies looking at invitations, I was dripping.
Combine this with 5 classes, 24 hours a week in internship, not having the SLIGHTEST idea where I'll be post-wedding or what I'll be doing...yeah, I'm freaking out. HELP!
Note: Make that 2nd breakdown. Man, this kinda sucks.
It was mostly precipitated by David's Bridal, who are showing themselves to be incredibly incompetent, and that's me being nice.
The story:
In December, I went to try on wedding dresses. It was a busy day, so I wasn't too upset the consultant wasn't paying too much attention, since I hate overbearing salespeople anyway. When I went in January to pick it up, though, I was pretty pissed off that when the saleslady wrote down the number on my dress, they wrote it down WRONG. So the dress they ordered was not only a dress I'd never seen, but it was also $107.75 MORE than the dress I wanted.
At the time, I was panicking so much that I didn't say much other than "fix it!". David's Bridal didn't offer any apologies, and at first didn't believe me...but eventually I got them to reorder the right one and give me the difference in money in store credit.
This past week, I went in for my first fitting..when I went to pay, I requested to put my store credit towards the fitting fee, and produced the exchange receipt. Which they then insisted they couldn't honor because I didn't have some coded card (which they never gave me). Then they tried to take the receipt. I finally got them to honor the store credit, but still no apologies for all of this.
In short...I nearly had a meltdown in the store.
Honestly, I don't ask for much. I'm usually pretty genial, and I ask that in return. David's Bridal: EPIC FAIL.
Besides the dress debacle, all the details to think about is making my grind my teeth more than usual. I've started to break out in a sweat (literally, I turn red and start sweating, it's not a pretty sight) whenever anything wedding comes up. By the end of the 2 1/2 hours I spent in Swoozies looking at invitations, I was dripping.
Combine this with 5 classes, 24 hours a week in internship, not having the SLIGHTEST idea where I'll be post-wedding or what I'll be doing...yeah, I'm freaking out. HELP!
Note: Make that 2nd breakdown. Man, this kinda sucks.
Monday, January 25, 2010
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:
As we rocket towards June, I'll try to keep updating...maybe I'll even add a "days to graduation" calendar..
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).
As we rocket towards June, I'll try to keep updating...maybe I'll even add a "days to graduation" calendar..
Monday, January 4, 2010
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:
As for movies, I haven't seen too many this year, but a few stand out:
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.
- 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.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
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.
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.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
2 1/2 weeks til freedom
....from this semester at least.
I have to say, I will be GLAD it is over, really more glad than I can ever remember being. Between my community theory class where I regularly spar with the teacher over her beliefs and choice of guest speakers, my intense nonprofit law class, and my excellent-opportunity-but-overwhelming-workload internship (not to mention my inability to find a job and time to do it in), I need a break. As I had mentioned in an earlier post, I was hoping to make it to Thanksgiving without losing it. Well, I was close...SO close...but it didn't happen. I managed to burst into tears in the middle of a large (and important) meeting at my internship, when they told me I had to go back to the office by myself for most of the day, while everyone else went out to lunch and then home early.
The next 2 weeks will be just as crazy as the last few...2 conferences, 2 finals, a final presentation and paper, an RFA to write, a family reunion, not to mention wedding dress shopping and going to see the Nutcracker..
Needless to say, I'll be glad for a break. But it keeps hitting me, at random moments, that this is the last year I'll really be doing these things, coming back to school after a holiday, buying textbooks, even living in NC...it's a little over 6 months before Brian and I get married, but things are already going fast. We'll likely be moving to Florida, DC, or Chicago (depending on where he gets into grad school), so next year, if we even make it back for Thanksgiving, will more than likely involve a plane flight and (hopefully!!!) going back to some sort of job on Monday. It's strange to think that, as many years as I've been trucking back and forth from New Bern and the Triangle (this makes 6), it will soon all be over. I'm not sure yet whether I'm happy, or utterly, utterly miserable about that yet. Stay tuned.
I have to say, I will be GLAD it is over, really more glad than I can ever remember being. Between my community theory class where I regularly spar with the teacher over her beliefs and choice of guest speakers, my intense nonprofit law class, and my excellent-opportunity-but-overwhelming-workload internship (not to mention my inability to find a job and time to do it in), I need a break. As I had mentioned in an earlier post, I was hoping to make it to Thanksgiving without losing it. Well, I was close...SO close...but it didn't happen. I managed to burst into tears in the middle of a large (and important) meeting at my internship, when they told me I had to go back to the office by myself for most of the day, while everyone else went out to lunch and then home early.
The next 2 weeks will be just as crazy as the last few...2 conferences, 2 finals, a final presentation and paper, an RFA to write, a family reunion, not to mention wedding dress shopping and going to see the Nutcracker..
Needless to say, I'll be glad for a break. But it keeps hitting me, at random moments, that this is the last year I'll really be doing these things, coming back to school after a holiday, buying textbooks, even living in NC...it's a little over 6 months before Brian and I get married, but things are already going fast. We'll likely be moving to Florida, DC, or Chicago (depending on where he gets into grad school), so next year, if we even make it back for Thanksgiving, will more than likely involve a plane flight and (hopefully!!!) going back to some sort of job on Monday. It's strange to think that, as many years as I've been trucking back and forth from New Bern and the Triangle (this makes 6), it will soon all be over. I'm not sure yet whether I'm happy, or utterly, utterly miserable about that yet. Stay tuned.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Marathon
I realized I haven't posted in a while...but my excuse is that I have been running a marathon.
If you know me at all, you'll know that this is not an actual marathon (I never run, both because I have bad knees and because I find running boring), but a work-related one.
All my assignments have ended up in the end of the semester, including what will probably be a 30+ page paper (it's currently 20 and I'm still working), a terrifying law exam, and lots of marketing & fundraising reading and papers. Not to mention all the work I have for my internship--a 3-day long Council meeting, 2 conferences, one workshop, my mid-year evaluation, and writing an RFA, which is really a big deal and is thus terrifying.
Not to mention wedding stuff...we finally got our engagement pictures made (but haven't seen them yet), and I have a host of things to do before the New Year, including finalizing the guest list, sending out save-the-dates, reserving a block of hotel rooms for people coming in out of town, finding a (preferably antique) car to take us from the church to the reception, and, of course, buying a wedding dress.
Whew.
I'm positive I'm going to fall flat on my face, but hopefully I'll manage to accomplish all this before that happens. It's looking unlikely at this point...just in the past 2 days, I fell asleep while reading and also while sitting up.
I am currently accepting assistance in the form of tasty food.
If you know me at all, you'll know that this is not an actual marathon (I never run, both because I have bad knees and because I find running boring), but a work-related one.
All my assignments have ended up in the end of the semester, including what will probably be a 30+ page paper (it's currently 20 and I'm still working), a terrifying law exam, and lots of marketing & fundraising reading and papers. Not to mention all the work I have for my internship--a 3-day long Council meeting, 2 conferences, one workshop, my mid-year evaluation, and writing an RFA, which is really a big deal and is thus terrifying.
Not to mention wedding stuff...we finally got our engagement pictures made (but haven't seen them yet), and I have a host of things to do before the New Year, including finalizing the guest list, sending out save-the-dates, reserving a block of hotel rooms for people coming in out of town, finding a (preferably antique) car to take us from the church to the reception, and, of course, buying a wedding dress.
Whew.
I'm positive I'm going to fall flat on my face, but hopefully I'll manage to accomplish all this before that happens. It's looking unlikely at this point...just in the past 2 days, I fell asleep while reading and also while sitting up.
I am currently accepting assistance in the form of tasty food.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)