I Just Wanna Have Something To Do.

Mike and I with half of the Spill Canvas at our second trip to the Warped Tour.

Alright, where did we leave off at? Tax returns? That must be it. I did manage to get my refund back and I have a good amount of money under my belt. So what to do with this money? I am pretty sure I have it figured out. I first paid off two of my credit cards and put a dent in the other two. It feel so odd to say I have four credit cards. Two were useless store cards. I don't really shop much anymore. One was my emergency card and the last is my Tires Plus card. I was so close to paying the Tires Plus one off but about a month ago my brakes were shot. Either way with two cards out of the way, I will have to put less money towards the bills and more towards the wedding.

With all of this I have the spare money to put a deposit in to our wonderful photographer and our heavenly cupcake baker. This will all go down on Friday for sure (Target payday is my safety net). My amazing parents are contacting Summit Manor and if our date is still available the deposit will be put down asap. If not, I do have a few other places in mind. I hope we do not have to view those places but just in case, I am keeping them in mind.

I ordered save the dates! Do you believe it? I actually did something real. :laughs: I got 250 free business cards from vistaprint.com. I only had to pay for the shipping. Now I need ridiculously tiny envelopes or another idea to incorporate them into and send those babies out. That idea sort of stresses me out. Addresses. Ugh.

I have already started working on the invitations and as soon as we have the place we will probably send those out as well. Is it weird if you get an invitation the week after a save the date? :laughs: It probably won't work out that way, but it is a funny idea.

Today really is my first day off in two weeks. I said I wasn't going to do anything. Practically the opposite. I am fully caffeinated and there is much more coffee still waiting to be consumed. I am going the farthest I possibly can with wedding planning today. It probably means my google docs account is going to fill up. I am a list person. Mike makes fun of my lists all the time, but I deserve it. When cleaning the room Mike likes to show me all of the pointless lists I have created. Today is going to be a useful list sort of day.

I am stopping myself right now. I could write a thousand scrolls worth of ridiculous wedding babble, but I will save you from torment. I will keep you posted as things keep coming together. I am excited for this wedding, are you?

Pinhead

Well folks, I filed my taxes.

I should be able to swing a deposit on Summit Manor within the 1st week of the month. I just have my fingers crossed that the 26th of June isn't already booked. You know that would bring us back to square one. There is no way I am ready to go back there. I don't think I could handle searching for a new place, especially since our time to plan is so limited.

What else can I do but wait two weeks? I really have no choice. I continue to work and work and work. There is no end to this game. As sick as it may sound, I wouldn't mind adding a few more shifts to my schedule. Hours=money=wedding.

I feel like such a loser right now. Shouldn't I have this planned? Shouldn't I have this wedding in the bag? Shouldn't I have been able to save up enough by now? I mean, we have been engaged for a year and a half now. I should've, would've, could've. They say "hindsight is 20/20" for a reason though, right.

If you would like to keep your fingers crossed as well, that would be amazing. We can use all the help we can get. Some nights I am so desperate to make this happen I seriously consider baking brownies to sell for the cause. How silly is that? Meh, maybe I will just start giving plasma on my days off.

Okay kids, just a quick update. I need to sleep tonight.

Anxiety.

I love the imperfect pictures like this.
Just feels so perfect.

It is almost Friday again.
This week has flown by.

I have been getting so many compliments on my temporary engagement ring. I would say that is pretty cool considering it only cost me $8 from the silver booth I worked at during the state fair. Definitely an awesome deal.

Not a lot has really changed since the last entry. I am working both jobs and not much more has been done. The hotel job is getting easier as I figure things out. I have a knack for always getting into the weirdest situations there. It really isn't too exciting at all.

Of course, we have valentines day rolling around this weekend. I cannot believe the crap people buy for this holiday. I have to walk through the valentines section every night I close at Starbucks and I am pretty sure I will be blind every time. :laughs: Everything is so pink and terrible. What is wrong with all of this? I am not saying it isn't nice to get flowers or anything, but to make an entire day that is devoted to men getting last minute teddy bears and candy. It just sounds stupid to me. Shouldn't everyday be filled with laughter and love with your, what's the word, lover? So silly and yet there is nothing I can do but sit back and watch the chaos.


There are only two primary things filling my brain lately. Money and planning. They go together like hummus and pitas. One fuels the others progress and I still feel like time is passing too quickly.

To be honest, this planning is really getting to me. I know what I want but cannot get to it unless I make the step to put down the deposits. We need save the dates and invitations. We need to confirm the ceremony/reception venue. We need to give money to the photographer and cupcake lady. We have yet to register, but we are registering through target, and who really wants to be there more than they have to for work? I really cannot let this cause a flare in my anxiety. I am worried that if I keep my cool, I might be too cool and get nothing done until the last moment.

I am planning and hoping to get my w2s this weekend and get my taxes filed away. So I give it two weeks or so until I see a return. My return is going straight to booking our wedding site. From then on we can bring on the wedding planning. I will probably be a bit elusive until then. Maybe I will just fill your head with stories. I certainly have plenty to tell. I just need to keep working and calm down a little. As well as squish my pennies together and save all that I can.


Michael is doing pretty well, as far as I know. He has been working full time still at Target. No word on the promotion yet. He has guitar lessons with an awesome little lady on Thursdays. So when we do see each other, things go well. We make some meals together and talk about ridiculous things.

I can't believe how awesome everything is. Really, I am constantly amazed that I got so lucky. Everything was so perfectly timed between us. I am so blessed to have such an amazing soul mate here. Mostly, I cannot believe he puts up with all of my nonsense.

oh prom. it feels like it was so long ago. why do i feel so old?

I Believe In Miracles

this is how you eat a wonton

Saying you're busy sounds like such a sad excuse sometimes. It is vague and could mean so many things. It simply says you don't have the time you'd like to do whatever you want.

We are very busy lately. Working away. Next week I believe I have a few days off for once. It seems that once we save up some money, something happens. Yesterday, I took a trip to the bank to deal with overdraft fees. One was for being $.10 under with a transfer on the way from my savings. The guy was very unhelpful and pretty demeaning. I am pretty sure I am not an idiot when it comes to my money. At least I hope not. It was a hard day.

I have been in touch with Jay F. Jeweler for the past few weeks. We were going to fully redesign my antique ring and have really amazing rings. I have realized a few things along this process. As you most likely know, we are saving up for the wedding and getting our own place. If Michael is saving up for those as well, what help is another payment process? I would like a new ring. One that reincarnates the antique ring Michael proposed to me with two Decembers ago. It is just a ring though. I have two perfectly good silver rings with czs and getting Michael a simple silver ring will be $20 or less I believe. I would hate to place us in a position where our savings would be minimal.

With all this said, I am going to hold off on getting my ring. I would much rather have an awesome wedding and an amazing home with Michael, before I would get an expensive trinket on my finger. It can be a one year anniversary deal, or even a five year anniversary, I just don't need it now. Spending my life with this boy is so much more valuable than any piece of metal and stone. I can't exactly express in words how much he means to me, but I think some of you may understand

silly geese

Our tattoos will be our version of the ring. :laughs: We are going to get tattoos after the wedding. They will each be the keys to each others hearts. They will be over our sternums. Probably antiques skeleton key in appearance and somehow incorporating the things we love about each other. No names, just forever a key to one anothers hearts.

Ready for story time?
You can take a break if you like.
I hate reading long entries too.
Okay, if you're ready...This is our journey through rings.

It all really started on June 27th. That one year anniversary together was great. We were pretty much homebodies for the evening. We talked about everything possible, including marriage. We were laying on Mike's bed just talking the night away. Mike then rolled off the bed, was on one knee and took a $.25 ring and asked me to marry him. I said yes to this plastic ring with 5 googly eyes looking back at me. It was silly and fun to do, but the way my heart raced at the thought of it being real, wow. On the drive back to my place, it was almost silent. I asked Mike if it felt real to him too. He said yes. This is how we quietly engaged.

A week or two later we took a trip to Duluth together. I believe it was the best week I have ever had. On a day trip to Gooseberry falls, we went to a really dorky tourist shop. He actually had some really cool rings made of steel and cubic zirconia. We each got one and they sort of pretty much matched. With those rings, everybody started asking questions. Oh my goodness, it was so silly.

We admitted to being engaged, but really didn't want to make it official and tell the family until Mike got a real ring. So we sat on our hands and said we would like to get married for six months. That is when our year and a half together came by. Two days after Christmas, we went to the depot for some ice skating. I love ice skating so much. It wore me out and we were hungry. We braved the winds and went along to Kin Dee, a little thai place kitty-corner to the Guthrie theater. We shared a plate and the world's best company. After dinner, Mike suggested we walk along the stone-arch bridge. It was so cold and my brain must have been frozen because I wouldn't agree to it. :laughs:

There we were in the chilled wind, stuffed with food, and tired. We went back to Mike's place after a super long drive. We luckily made it out of Minneapolis, having taking chance turns when we passed our exit. The Beatles were cranked up and I was singing along. Once we made it home, our song came on, and Michael told me, "I can't wait any longer". He got down beside me and had a box with a gorgeous antique ring inside. I was crying immediately. So sappy, so ridiculous. I did manage to get a "yes" out there at some point. You always think about what you are going to do when that someone pops the question. Never in a million years did I see myself crying and confusing the love of my life.

can we say beautiful?

Then we had the ring. We told everyone. To my knowledge everyone was happy for us. It only took me two months to ruin the ring. The prongs were not as strong as we would have liked and have lost two stones. It was such a sad day, and we are hoping to someday reincarnate it through another ring. So for now I have a perfectly good pair of silver rings that will work for the ceremony. How about that.

I have to say, you really just know when you are going to be with someone forever. No doubts, no questions, and no worries. There is no need to rush into things if you know you are going to spend your entire lives together.