{ Tasks } Getting Things Done

It's been a busy weekend! So far, we've assembled the invitations:

I've tested out our chocolate making molds for some yummy wedding favors:

 

And mocked up the final table center piece after cutting up my burlap and buying some flowers:

 

It feels good to be getting it all done! Or, at least, knowing what will be done when the times comes!

Now, I'm off for a run in the beautiful weather!

{ Details } It's HERE!!

Five weeks ago, I let go of my engagement ring, much to me anguish. It was necessary at the time, because I was having my wedding band made.

We took my ring to Inlow Designs in Hudson, WI. After discussing what I had imagined and what I was hoping for in a wedding band, I nearly had a stroke when I realized the had to take the ring while the made the band.

Duh. Of course they had to! But I'm quite fond of my ring and on the one occasion where I forgot it at home, I constantly felt like I lost it. I instantly missed it when I chose to not take it on the cruise... and I even bought a blingy fake ring to hold it's spot.

After a week of my ring being in the shop. I traded the gaudy one I bought for a solid silver band, which I was much happier with. I'm just not a flashy gal, it seems!

Finally, my ring is done and I have it back on my hand where it belongs. I couldn't be happier with how my band turned out. It is exactly what I wanted: simple, contoured to my engagement ring's unique shape, and classy.

Tree + Cabin = :(

 So this is the story of how we came to have a tree in our living room.

It was a chilly, gloomy night at the cabin, and after watching the UFC card, we went to bed. It was rough getting to sleep, but eventually, it happened. At about 1:23 am, I woke to find Carl not in bed. It worried me, so I got up to see if everything was ok. At the same time, I noticed crazy lightning on a sort of constant, horror movie-esque basis. It was really pretty.

I found Carl in the kitchen. He had been coughing and didn’t want to wake me, so he had been up in the living room, killing time. We sat in front of the large bay window, watching the lightning. Suddenly, there is rain. It’s big, heavy rain, hitting the window with a bit of force.

Looking out across the horizon, we see the end of the storm moving, and fast.

The hyper-paranoid storm freak I am, I tell Carl we need to get away from the window with the winds picking up. Just then, the windows and doors start squealing like a banshee. It is getting louder and louder, and I make my way from the living room entry way to the hallway, which I have deemed the only safe place in the cabin in a storm.

Carl is still in the doorway. My instinct kicks in, and since I already need him to comfort me, I pull him to me in the hallway. Then, only seconds after clearing the living room, the cabin fills with light. There is an ear-splitting crack of thunder and then, the loudest, most horrifying crashing sound.

This is when I started screaming. However, I really don’t remember screaming. As Carl said, that is exactly what "uncontrollable screaming" means. This wakes up my parents, who are now screaming back as I continue to scream. Is everything ok? Am I ok? I finally realize that the sound I am hearing is coming from me and I stop. I am shaking uncontrollably. We turn on the light and peek in the living room…

It wasn't lightning, as I originally thought. Instead, it was 70mph straight line winds. 

I instantly remember my cat had been lounging on the table, and my mom’s had been curled up on the chair. Both are missing. My eyes shoot to the window to make sure there are no major holes in the walls and that the windows aren’t broken… What if they got out?!

My parents come out of their room to see what is happening. My mom and I are both crying and in hysterics. I can’t form sentences, so Carl, who has been making sure to keep me from jumping out of my skin and running stark-raving mad around the cabin, explains that the tree in the front is now in the house. The tree has fallen through the roof.

We begin to make sense of it all, and thankfully find the cats under the bed in Carl and my room, hiding. Then we worry about the structural integrity of the house that is starting to soak from water pouring in. Mom runs to the neighbors to tell them what is happening. After a little while, we are told the house is ok for us, so long as we stay in the back rooms.

So what do we do now? We wait. We cry. We panic. We try to figure out what happens next. Rain is pouring in and we have a variety of buckets catching water. Finally, at 4am, the adrenaline wears off and we all agree to try for a little sleep. It comes really slowly. I am jumping at every loud sound, every flash of lighting. I am still terrified… but two hours of sleep finally happen.

I am still in shock. The tree has been cleared. We burned most of the brush. It was a lot of clean up, especially inside where there was Styrofoam, sheet rock and fiberfill everywhere, but little by little, we got it done.

For someone who is already terrified of storms, this is no good. Loud noises have me jumping out of my skin and in a panic in seconds. As cliché as it is, though… at least we are all okay and no one was hurt. Family, animals… we are all fine. Very tired, but fine. 

 

Eep.

Dear friends and family:

As I sit here eating my tuna noodle salad, taking one minute or two to unwind before delving into the next task, I feel like it needs to be said.

I'm sorry.

I know right now I am not the most fun. All I can talk about is wedding stress and the things that still need to get done, or about the good things that are done. Life outside of a full time job has become two things: nights off and wedding planning nights. When I'm not doing one, I'm doing the other.

I feel like I'm less available and hard to see... and I know it is within good reason, but I have always really liked how flexible my schedule is. I've been able to say yes to so much and so many last minute invites that having to say no right now is really killing me.

There are some of you I saw on a regular basis before the wedding planning took over. Some of you I saw less frequently and now it has become barely ever. I want to see you all. I want to spend time with you... I miss you. And it will all be better once the wedding is over.

Until then, bare with me. I'm so incredibly excited to see our day come together and I can't wait to share it with all of you that I love. I promise I'll be a better friend and more available soon. Thank you all for tagging along on this journey. I couldn't do it with out you.

Love,
Katie

{ Tasks } Making the Lists

I feel a little like Santa right now…
 

By that, I mean I’m making lists and checking them twice. Ok, three, maybe four… All right, all right FIVE times. I am in a strange cycle of making and remaking the same lists over and over again. Vendors that still need to be secured (cake!), out standing (not outstanding :P) DIY projects. Upcoming meetings. Tasks that haven’t been taken care of (picking readings… writing ceremony… re-checking the budget).

I sort of feel like I am making a list to double check the list and the last item on the list is to triple check the list.

Yikes! 86 days to go and it’s all starting to move so, so fast!