License & DIY Booklets

W and I went down and got our marriage license today; 40 more days until the wedding. I didn't change my name when we did it - I hadn't really given it much thought - I guess I'll go back later and change it, and just sign the way I want to be known until then.

Got a lot of other stuff done today as well, and I got started on some DIY stuff for the wedding as well (go me!). During the ceremony, the bridesmaids and groomsmen will have speaking roles; in order to make this easier for everyone, I decided to make little booklets that they can carry so that they don't have to worry about memorizing their lines. They're super simple, and very basic looking (so that they aren't holding something super flashy and distracting), but you can also easily dress them up any way you like once they're done. Please excuse the lame cell-phone photos.
I started by purchasing card stock in the colors of our groomsmen and bridesmaids' clothing (my bridesmaids will be black&turquoise, the groomsmen black&lavender). I also purchased corresponding ribbon (not pictured here).
My card stock was a little bigger than I wanted it to be (I found the colors I wanted in 12"x12" sheets), so I started by cutting them down to the size and shape that I wanted (8.5"x11").Then I folded them in half...Then, I took the ribbon that I had purchased (1/8" width, 10 yards per roll, for .50 cents a roll at Michaels), chose the alternate colors (purple and black for the blue programs, blue and black for the purple programs), wrapped them around the binding and tied a little bow. The ribbon is fun to move around - you can slide the bow up or down, depending what look you prefer. I liked having it more toward the front, and semi-centered; it's really all about what looks best to your own eye.That's the final product, as far as the basic layout goes. I'm going to also put a little photo of W and I on the cover, with a little 'thank you' note on the back (of the photo) to add a more personal touch to the otherwise blank outside. Easy, inexpensive, and fully functional!

Quick Update (revised)

The past few months have been absolutely incredible, in a lot of ways. W and I found out that (through no fault of our own) we would have to move out of the house that we thought would be paid off by the end of the year; we had to find a new house, get W and B all moved, continue to pay on the old house while also paying on the new one... we've (in no particular order) had a yard sale, seen my brother leave to go back to Chicago, celebrated my brother's 21st birthday, celebrated my 24th birthday, sold nine geckos (hopefully that'll bump up to ten tonight), injured my back&W's knees, had friends in from New York, celebrated another friend's wedding, continued to work on wedding planning, continue to balance in time with our family and our usual commitments, and - next weekend - I have my bridal shower. Life has been absolutely jam-packed.

I am incredibly frickin' proud of my fiance and myself. Life has definitely thrown us some curve balls in the past few months, and the two of us have - remarkably - sent them out of the park. If building a life with someone means being able to step up to the plate together, no matter what is coming at you, I think the two of us are going to do pretty a-okay. It feels good to be part of a team that's building something.

I thank whatever is out there for the continued abundance in my life; my loving family, my incredible friends, and, somehow, always having the money where we need it at the time.

The other day I ordered W's wedding band - it's going to look like this:
It is an engraving of the Taos pueblo (...I believe - either that or Acoma), and it represents the closeness and endurance of home, the joy and presence of harmonious family life. I really like it, and I'm happy that he picked it out so that I could get it ordered. I feel a lot better when I'm in action on the wedding stuff. (...I feel better when I'm in action, in general.)

I've also had a LOT of help on the wedding front from a friend of mine - she just recently got married, and she's pointed me in the direction of a lot of excellent deals that I hadn't found. If you want some really cool DIY projects for a wedding, check out her blog at: http://cognitivefragments.blogspot.com/

My MOH has been putting together some freakin' awesome stuff for the bridal shower coming up, too - makes me really relieved that no one has asked me to be their MOH yet, I would have had no idea what I was doing. You can check out her blog at: http://candidpets.blogspot.com/

Another One Bites The Dust...

In just under 36 hours, I will be turning 24 years of age (as marked by rotations around the sun, not mental or emotional maturity, or counting those 9 months I spent developing in the womb). It's definitely rewarding to me to look bck at the past few years, and see that my exit from college and subsequent entry into the 'real world' marked not the ending of growth, but the beginning of an almost entirely new kind.

I entered 21 with a college degree, a black belt, and a bar tending license. I had no (paying) job, was single (with the exception of an off-again-on-again-who-knows-what), no credit, and self-imposed social-awkwardness. It was during this year that I got a (paying) job, a (real) boyfriend, and came to the conclusion that - whatever it took - I was going to get myself some footing.

At 22, I obtained a credit card, started a new career (teaching), and began the incredibly-arduous-and-ultimately-rewarding task of 'being a better human'. (Although rather amorphous sounding, this basically means taking responsibility for my actions, cleaning up all the sh*t I had left in my past, and continuing to do so on an ongoing basis.) I quit consuming alcohol (I actually did that a few days before my 22nd birthday, but made the conscious decision a few days after), cut wayyyyyy back on the red meat, and all but abolished sugar. I slept more, ate healthier, let my body start to heal from the abuse it had suffered at the hands of my diet/martial arts/sleep habits. I began to say 'yes' to social gatherings, and started on the road toward self-confidence.

Over the course of this 23rd year... well. I've stuck to that path; I've continued to work on my interactions with others, and on my interactions with myself. I'm wayyyyy more confident than I ever was prior; dresses don't scare me, formal events are a cake walk, and I'm learning how to stand up for myself in a non-retaliatory manner. I've worked on my relationship with my family, my relationship with my (now) fiance (he proposed this year), and my relationship with myself. I've become more like a gentle guardian, rather than so much of a sadistic slave driver jerk toward myself. W and I are renting a house together - our names being the ones on the lease - obtained with my credit score as the primary. I am paying rent in two places (my home with him, and my parent's house, where I'll be staying until the wedding), working full time, organizing the wedding, continuing to own and breed my reptiles, and 'partying harder' than I ever did in college. I've stuck to my diet (Two years, no beers! Woo!) - avoided most of the stuff that's bad for me, and I'm getting better at keeping away from gluten or mixing my protein and carbs. I'm laughing more, crying less, and it isn't that the circumstances have gotten any easier. It's been an incredible year; I've learned and grown a lot, and I love that I'm starting to really see the rewards of the work that I've been doing. Thank you, 23, and may 24 be every bit as blessed.