Our pictures are in!

Today in sum: officially have a cold.  Ran three slow miles.  Shivered and shook in my office’s polar-ice level air conditioning.

But it’s all okay.  Because guess what we got today?

1000+ professional pictures from our wedding.

I will do full recaps, probably starting next Monday, but here’s a taste of a few of my favorites thus far.  Just a few to wet your whistle!  They are faaaantastic.

    

 

 

Eeeep!  I love them.

Adjusting to married life

Phew.  The last few days have been nuts.  Not only did we drive 9 hours on Monday, but we had to pick up our animals from being boarded, unpack our suitcases and gifts and carload of wedding paraphernalia.  Last night was spent grocery shopping—we literally had nothing in the house.

Generally…our relationship doesn’t feel any different.  We’ve been living together for over a year already, and had joint finances and stuff, so nothing has really changed, except my name and calling each other “wife” and “husband.”  The name change is REALLY throwing me for a loop—I keep introducing myself as Brie Oldlastname at work, and my secretary keeps yelling “BRIE NEWLASTNAME!” at me every time I do it.  It will take time, but my new name is a definite upgrade.  I love it! 

I’ve also been busy with these.

Thank you notes.  I’m determined to get them all out before our one-week anniversary hits!  I hate having them hang over my head, and I think people appreciate getting them quickly.

In other news, we’ve been enjoying all our new stuff.    

Matching plates, bowls, and glasses that didn’t come from a Red Lobster that was going out of business!

 

Pretty new bedding (that does not hide cat hair at all, unfortunately):

The first gadget I used?  The food processor.  To make homemade peanut butter.  Heaven.

(I bought macadamias, pecans, almonds and cashews last night and I’m dying to make a mixed-nut butter.  Mmmm.)

Our new Keurig that actually brews a full cup of coffee…

Oh, and all the wine I bought back in Napa finally made it back to Kansas City!

I think we are planning on bringing two bottles on our cruise with us—Carnival allows one bottle a person, so why not splurge a little?  (We got a Gamay Rouge, a Cabernet, a Semillon and a Moscato.)

But of course, I forgot to thaw anything for dinner.  Wife fail.  (Kidding.)

Chipotle to the rescue!  I’ve recently discovered my love for black beans.

On the exercise front: I’ve been really tired and frankly, de-motivated since the wedding.  I want to get the house and my life back in some kind of order before we leave for the honeymoon next Friday.  And lunch break workouts are not a possibility anymore, because my office goes down to a 4-days-a-week schedule so I’m working over lunch to try to make up some hours.

So, I’ve decided that I’m giving myself permission to take it easy until we get back from the honeymoon.  What I’m planning on doing?  Breaking in my orthotics very carefully.  I plan to take Milhouse out walking for a long time every night, and not running in them until I’ve done that at least 4 or 5 times, per the orthotist.  I don’t want to do too much too soon.

Frankly, I’m a person who thrives on goals and schedules, and not training for something is making me a little lazy.  And that’s okay!  Because come June 5th, I’ll be in hardcore marathon training mode, and it will be nice to start that coming off a bit of a break.  I’m not going to wither away and die, and I may still exercise here and there aside from walking.  Balance, friends.  Sometimes I will be training really hard, like I was in March and I will be in June-October.  But for now, it’s time to relax a little bit, and be married.  (Don’t worry, I’ll still be blogging!)

In more exciting news, our fantastic photographer will be posting some more teasers on her blog tomorrow from our first look, along with my strong recommendation to do one.  Hooray!  I can’t wait to see them.

And now, I’m off to cuddle my husband.  WHOA.

Advice from the other side

While this is all still fresh in my memory, here are my words of wisdom for brides still in the planning process.

• Think long and hard before you accept money from anyone for your wedding.  With money comes control.  Some parents may offer you a check and say “have fun,” others may hold the purse strings.  If you want to assure complete control of everything, pay for your own wedding.
• Do a first look.  I am so glad Tim and I decided to do this (and so was our photographer).  I know a lot of people think that it will “ruin” the whole walking down the aisle experience, but it completely didn’t.  I got jittery and excited right before my entrance at the church anyway, and I totally choked up like a goober.  The first look was, more than anything, FUN.  We walked around with our photographer and got to giggle and talk and people shouted congratulations as they ran by and stuff.  We did the robot.  It was SO nice to have time together to cuddle and look lovey-dovey, and it made the rest of our day that much less stressful.
• Don’t worry about the rain (unless your wedding is outdoors).  We had rain off and on all day and it was cold and windy.  I barely noticed, and the rain and wet sidewalks and grass actually gave us beautiful light and depth to our photos.  There was a rainbow outside the church after the ceremony.  The bottom of my dress got wet.  It was fine.
• Things will go wrong.  I forgot to put on my garter (my “something old”) and didn’t have anything borrowed.  I promise our marriage is still valid.  Our venue forgot to put out the flip-flop basket, so my mom went to find it and walked around with it half an hour before the reception ended.  The DJ forgot to play music as we entered.  Our ring bearer ate it in the middle of the aisle.  It was all okay, because so many more wonderful, unexpected things happened that completely countered all the little insignificant stuff.
• Find somewhere unique to take pictures. Think outside the box, but get permission first!
• Don’t waste money on a veil. This is, by far, the biggest racket in the entire damn wedding industry.  My veil was, I think, either $14.99 or $9.99 on eBay, and it looks absolutely gorgeous in photos and in person.  And it got soaking wet anyway, and I didn’t feel at all bad about wadding it into a ball and shoving it into a bag afterwards.  Tulle is tulle.  I swear.
• Take mental pictures like Jim and Pam did.  I will always remember the way Tim’s thumbs looked on top of my hands as we prayed in the church during our ceremony.
• Be kind to vendors, your wedding party, and guests!
• Speak up. I wasn’t crazy about my hair trial, so I told her, and we fixed it, and I loved it.  Don’t be mean, but opinions are perfectly fine.  You’re paying vendors for a reason.
• Hair and makeup is worth splurging on. It’s in every wedding picture.
• The monogrammed aisle runner was a huge waste of time and money.  Our pastor stood on the monogram so you won’t be able to see it in the pictures.  Oh well.
• Put time and effort into personal touches people will appreciate. Our display of family wedding photos was a HUGE hit because pretty much every guest knew someone in those pictures.  And for those who didn’t, vintage pictures are cool anyway.  Same went for our table numbers–they were very “us” and people liked them.  (Although I did get asked, “Whose beagle is that?” more than once.)
• GEL FOOT PADS for your shoes. They saved me.  I wore my heels all day and was only a little uncomfortable at the end of the night.
• Make an exit. We left our reception as soon as we saw the crowd starting to peter out—there were still some people there, but not many, and we left at about 10 to midnight.  I had a feeling that if I stuck around, I’d start cleaning up…and that’s why we vacated.  We said goodbye and slipped out and went back to our room and decompressed.
• Don’t, um, have expectations for the wedding night. You will be tired, and sweaty, and your feet will hurt, and it will take an hour to get bobby pins out of your hair and your makeup spackle off.  You will both be excited and want to talk about everything that happened at the wedding.  Wait until the next day.  It will be better.

Anyway, these are just the things that stuck out in my mind as being potentially useful.  I hope it helps!

More pictures!

Hi guys.  I hate to do this, but I am still super busy and it doesn’t look to be getting any better the next few days.  Getting married is hard work!  Tim and I went out and got new phones tonight (mine was on its last legs; Tim’s is really, really old), and we’re still working on getting unpacked, cleaned up, and settled.

Also, the winner of my Cascadian Farms giveaway is Ali @ Redhead Reports.  Congrats!  Please email your address to thefitbride at gmail so we can get you your prize pack.

Here’s a few pictures stolen from my bridesmaids off Facebook of things that WEREN’T in the pro teasers!  (Speaking of which, our wonderful photographer is really excited about the images and is submitting them to some wedding blogs!  Exciting!)

Getting ready at the salon:

I underestimated how much I’d sweat.  Hence, attractive deodorant application picture.

The background on my iPhone is one of our engagement pictures (from our wedding photographer last year).  Tim texted me and I showed her the picture—she took a picture of the text.  Can’t wait to see it!

My sister, cousin, and adorable flower girl.  I was really happy with her dress!  Super cute.

The bottom of my shoes!

In the bride’s room at the church.

 

Flower girl and ring bearer going down the aisle together!  They both did great for their ages (she’s 3.5 and he isn’t even 2 yet!)

All the bridesmaids and Tim watching them:

 

Not the best picture, but this is me going down the aisle.  My face says it all.

 

My mom handing me over.

At the altar!

Saying our vows.

Our collection of old family wedding photos—this was a HUGE hit and conversation starter at the cocktail hour.

Cutting the cake.  We had some issues, but fed each other nicely. 

The table numbers!

Me and my sister:

…and Tim.

        

This sequence of photos was…near the end of the night.  Yes, that is a tambourine in my hand.  My dad was known for always stealing the tambourine from the band at weddings, getting drunk, and banging it against his leg so vigorously all night that he’d wind up with giant bruises and ruined suit pants the next day.  So, we obviously had to have a tambourine in his memory.

 

We like to have a good time!

Regular blogging will resume in the next few days!  Bear with me!

Professional Picture Teasers

Hi guys!  I’m super busy—we just got back to Kansas City from Chicago and have a ton of unpacking to do.  But if you haven’t seen them, here are the pro pic teasers from our wonderful photographer, Danielle Aquiline.  If you would like to see them larger or read her commentary, check out her blog here!

Our first look.  Best idea ever.  We had a blast!

I love, love, love this look on Tim’s face when he first saw me.

My bridesmaids were all champs.  They rock.

And the dapper groomsmen.

 

A few more after the ceremony shots:           

I love how the rain makes everything shine.

 

Before the reception, we hit up Barnes and Noble…

  

And Johnny Rocket’s for a shake.

 

And our lovely cake.

Gotta run, but if you want to see more of our flowers, check out our awesome florist’s blog here!  They were incredible.

The Aftermath

Just a quick check-in while my HUSBAND (!!!!!) is in the shower!

Everything was fantabulous yesterday.  We are so, so happy and lucky and loved.  It rained off and on, mostly sprinkles, but the sun peeked through the clouds for our first look and it actually gave us some beautiful light and wind for the photographer to work with.  Everything was absolutely gorgeous—check out my peony/ranunculus/tulip bouquet:

I honestly don’t have any pictures yet, but as soon as the non-pro shots start rolling in I’ll post, and I’ll do full recaps later.  Our fantastic photographer said she’d have teasers up on her blog later today and I can’t wait to see them.

A few highlights that stick out in my mind:

• Tim and I were so sure we were going to be crapping-our-pants nervous all week long.  Tim even went out and bought Pepto Bismol just in case.  But neither of us was nervous at all—I was a little jittery once I heard the music, and choked up walking down the aisle, but we were both totally happy the whole time.  Neither of us full-on cried.  It was so great to just be happy the entire day. 
• Our ring bearer fell walking down the aisle.  Our flower girl hauled him up by one hand, dropped her petals, and stopped to pick them all up before proceeding down the aisle.  She had been promised an underwater Ariel if she made it down, and come hell or high water, she was getting that doll.  (Ring bearer was bribed with M&Ms.)
• Our flower girl also gave us the cutest wedding card/gift ever.

Her allowance.  How cute is that. 

• After the ceremony, we got some gorgeous pictures outside the church, and went to Barnes & Noble and Johnny Rocket’s for some really fun pictures of the two of us.  They gave us free milkshakes at Johnny Rocket’s and someone told our photographer I was the most beautiful bride he’d ever seen.  I think we got some awesome shots sitting at the counter there!  And it was really fun to just spend some time talking to Tim.  Oh, and we almost got kicked out of B&N by a mean manager, even though we totally had permission and another very nice manager came to the rescue.
• My uncle, the DJ, was drunk and played The Electric Slide three non-consecutive times.  We also led a very enthusiastic Locomotion train, and he also decided we needed a second first dance, so we danced to “Amazed” by Lonestar.  He was generally hilarious.  “This is a nice little song.  Everyone here has to dance.” 
• We had three excellent toasts.
• I smudged my manicure almost instantly.  (It got fixed, though.)  I loved my hair and makeup, too, and all the bridesmaids and my mom looked beautiful too.
• I got so many compliments on the details.  People loved the little personal touches—the pets on the table numbers, the family wedding picture display, our photo card box, the out-of-town boxes.
• Our flip flop basket never got put out.  It didn’t matter.
• Tim got me beautiful aquamarine and diamond earrings for my wedding gift, and I got him an iPhone!  I think they were both well received.
• Doing a first look was probably my favorite part of the day.  I would absolutely recommend it to any bride and groom—it was so much fun and we were just giddy. 

We’re off to lunch with my mom and some other relatives.  More pictures as I get them, I swear!

Today’s the day!

Hi, friends!  I’m currently waiting on my sister/maid of honor to get  out of the shower.  The rehearsal and dinner went awesome!  More details later.

Our wedding is tonight at 6 p.m. and the reception is at 7.  I have my fingers crossed that all will go well!  Even though my dad won’t be walking me down the aisle today, I am confident we will have a wonderful day filled with lots of love and laughter.

If you’re interested in photo stalking us, our wonderful photographer has a blog that she updates the day after weddings.  So, tomorrow, hopefully you’ll get to see several photo teasers of our wedding here.

Thank you all for your support, advice, and kindness while we planned this whole shebang.  My blog will obviously be headed in a new direction in the coming months, but I’ll still be here, talking about my adventures in marathon training with Team in Training and life as a newlywed.

Here we go!

Three days to go!

Sorry this is a little late.  I think I’m going to be able to post in the morning on Thursday and Friday, so you’ll be a day behind, kinda—Wednesday’s post will go up this morning, Thursday’s will go up Friday morning…and then you’ll just have to wait until I’m all married to get the rest of the weekend update! 

This morning I went to pick up my custom orthotics.  Hooray!  The podiatrist wrote the prescription for them back in mid-April, and I’ve been waiting ever since. 

They are a soft foam insert with a cork bottom.  Top view:

 

And bottom.

Cool, huh?  I do think I will need to go to a wider shoe (I’m thinking a New Balance, since I lurrrrved their wide toe boxes), but they feel pretty squishy and good.  He listened to me (yay) and didn’t build up the arch too much so I won’t blister.   They are nice and squishy under my forefoot, which felt good.

I’m supposed to break them in by just walking around in them for a few hours for 3-4 days before I start running in them.  I’ll deal with that…after the wedding.

As soon as I got back, we packed up the car and got on the road!  (Tim dropped the animals off to be boarded while I was at the doctor.  I get too sad and emotional when I take them.  Lame, I know.)

We had perfect driving weather the whole way.  I drove three hours, Tim drove three hours, I drove three more hours.  Not quite fair, but we had lots of lovely conversation about politics and marriage and how Buckley, Southpaw, and Milhouse would behave at a sleepover.

Tim drives:

 

While I napped.   I sleep so soundly in moving cars!  I love it.

We took a pit stop for lunch at a Panera in Des Moines, and stopped for gas at…

 

The World’s Largest Truckstop.  I love it so.  Only in rural Iowa can you find things like this:

Hmm.  Questionable.

Anyway, we drove and drove and drove and finally stopped at my sister’s house (about half an hour from my mom’s) and went out for real Chicago pizza with her.  It was delightful. 

Then, we Redboxed the Blind Side (which we both Hated, capital H) and chilled at my mom’s house all night. 

The plan for today?  Well, I’m blogging this from breakfast at Panera..  Then we’re going to drive up to where the wedding is (about an hour and a half from where my mom’s house is, but close to where my mom lives during the school year—it’s a long story), get our marriage license (OMG!), pick up some last minute gifts (oops), meet with the pastor, have dinner, and head back down to my mom’s house for the night.

See you tomorrow!

Four days to go!

Today was a MUCH better day.  Thank goodness!

Late last night, all my stress from yesterday worked itself out.  So, I bounced out of bed today feeling quite bridal and ready for my last day at work as a single person.

I bought a cantaloupe and a huge bag of spinach on Saturday and I’m determined to finish them before we leave tomorrow.  Guess what was for lunch?

And a giant, unpictured spinach salad.

At lunch, I ran the 0.4 miles to the gym, ran 3 miles on the treadmill at a halfway decent pace, and ran the 0.4 miles back to work.  It was sweaty, but a good workout.  My gym time this week has really been almost Zen-like—it just feels so good from my head to my toes and so restorative in so many ways.  (Aside from the fact that my shoes make my feet and legs and hips hurt.  But whatever.)

Snacktime?

Love Clif Kid bars. 

The Milhouse:

 

Tonight’s activity? 

PACKING.  Tomorrow morning I’m going to get my orthotics (yay) early in the morning, then we’re putting all our wedding stuff in the car and making the eight hour trip to Chicago.  Tonight…I have to do laundry, check my lists and check them twice, and dump everything into a few suitcases. 

Weather check?

I am oddly really excited about the trip.  Tim and I always have fun on long car rides—we both like driving on the highway and we don’t even listen to music, we just talk the whole time.  It’s wonderful. 

I’m not TOTALLY sure how blogging is going to work this weekend—we’re staying at my mom’s house without wireless (sob), but I am going to try to pop into the nearby Starbucks here and there with some quick updates.

The plan right now is to drive tomorrow, and spend Thursday getting our marriage license and meeting with the pastor.  On Friday, we drop all our stuff off at the reception venue, have lunch with friends, and get ready for our rehearsal dinner and do all that.  Then…Saturday…well, you know what happens!

Hopefully I’ll be able to check in from the road. 

What’s your favorite way to travel?  Are you a road trip fan?

5 days to go!

And it was a doozy.

I don’t want to go into specific details on the blog, but this morning, I had a full blown panic attack by 6:45 am.  Hyperventilating, crying, wanting to puke, the whole nine yards.  Went to work, was fine, began completely panicking again around 10:30.  Control sobs in office.  Boss walks in, catches me crying, is totally awesome and understanding.  I take an early lunch and go to the gym.

Basically, what it boils down to is that weddings are really, really emotionally charged.  My emotions are at DEFCON-5 right about now.  I cried listening to the song “Forever” by Chris Brown last week in the car, for Pete’s sake.  My family’s are as well.  It’s not pretty.  There is some definite tension going on.  I am trying very hard to remember that feelings are just that—feelings—not the truth of the situation.  I just hope to God everyone can calm the fuck down (myself included) by Saturday, because I don’t want our wedding to be brought down by a bunch of drama llamas.

Anyway.  The workout.  Since I’d been bawling my eyes out, it wasn’t exactly the most intense gym session ever.  Jogged slowly to the gym, did some heavy squats and shoulder presses, felt like that was too taxing, chilled on the elliptical for 20 minutes, walked back.  It’s better than nothing.  It was seriously restorative, though, and just going through the motions of the gym felt incredible.  Sometimes I work out for reasons other than burning calories, and today was one of those days.

Tim’s out picking up his new spectacles tonight (hooray!) so I’m flying solo.  I’m decompressing with the following.  A healthy, HEALTHY glass of:

And a giant quesadilla with cheese and leftover chicken from last night.

We also got some of our flatware as a wedding gift in the mail!

Our registries are pretty well pillaged lately. Good times.

And fuckyouverymuch, 10 day forecast.

  

In happier news, I’ve been coffee/Diet Coke/red wine free for a week and a half-ish now.  Not dead yet!

My eyes are burning.  I’m going to go curl up with a beagle and a disagreeable tabby cat.

Don’t forget to enter to win some totally awesome Cascadian Farms goodies!

What’s your favorite kind of wine?  I’m usually a cabernet girl, but I can appreciate a good Riesling or Moscato too!