We're back from the best trip EVER! What a time! It was fantastic! We laid around on the beach, at the pool - then when we got bored laying around (which we always do because that's who we are), we went kayaking, sailing, snorkeling on the reef and wandering around Cancun (we didn't stay in Cancun, but in a resort south of there in the Rivera Maya). Fabulous! It's so hard to come home - especially when from the time we landed until we got out of the airport was over two hours with immigration, customs, agriculture check and baggage -what a pain!
Anyway, we're back - many more updates to come. For now, I've been working on the webpage and just now have the February pictures up. I'm going to try to get caught up on the rest shortly. :) For now I have to go start on Harry Potter #2 - my friend Melissa finally convinced me to give them a shot and that they're not some dumb kids book - I obviously had my reservations. So I rented the first one from the library before we left - and it was AWESOME - I read it in no time. So today I went and turned that one in and rented #2 and #3 - I can't wait to see what happens - I'm hooked!
Monday, April 30, 2007
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Absence . . . is AWESOME!
Nope - I haven't been intentionally neglecting my blog - I just forgot to leave a post before we left for our honeymoon. :) Yup - we're on our honeymoon - day 4 actually - and I just now found a computer. This place is AMAZING! Usually Cody and I are the types to plan vacations where we run around doing this and that all day, travling and sightseeing, and we come back even more exhausted then when we left - not this time! We're in Cancun at the coolest resort ever - first it's all inclusive so everything is free (or at least already paid for and at no additional charge). Free breakfast, lunch, and dinner, all the drinks you can drink (seriously), free room service (pizza at midnight? no problem! they'll deliver it!), everything - it's fabulous! And gorgeous and RELAXING! We've hung out on the beach, at the pool, eaten at awesome restraunts, went snorkeling on the second largest reef in the world (very very very cool - neat fishies). Anyway things are awesome and I'll have to write a ton more about it when we get back!!!
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Life is great!
Life is wonderful without wedding planning. Today we got home from work - before dark - and didn't have anything totally pressing to do. So we dug around in the yard, preparing the bed for the vegetable garden soon to come! Yes -I actually got to play in my yard! I was so tickled! I'm loving married (aka non-wedding-planning) life!!
Run, Missy, Run!
What an April it's been so far! First weekend Gators win ANOTHER National Championship! Second weekend we get MARRIED! Third weekend, I run another half marathon - and I rock it!
I was so caught up with wedding-ness that I almost totally forgot about the half marathon this past weekend. So much that I totally forgot to run at all last week to sort of "warm up" for it. Oh well. So we had to get there obnoxiously early on Sunday - the race started at 7am - and yet again, it was freezing - literally - it was 32 degrees. But at least it wasn't snowing like last year at the start of this race. :) I already knew I could finish a 1/2 marathon - I'd done it before so really had nothing to prove to myself there. I also made one in under 2 hours so I really had nothing to prove to myself there either. So I decided to be a moron and go out totally fast - much faster then I was prepared for or had trained for. I figured I'd run a few quick miles and worse case, I'd have to walk a few and it wouldn't be the end of the world - like I said, I had nothing to lose on this one. :) So I lined up with the people running 8:48 miles (yes, I can run a mile that fast - but not 13.1 of them). The first mile we ran in 8:30 and the second was about the same. Usually I'm feeling great until about mile 7 - not this one - everything after about 1/2 mile hurt - my lungs hurt, my legs hurt, I just hurt. But I pushed on, mindlessly putting one foot in front of the other staring at this group of girls in front of me. Before I knew it I had run 7 miles with them in exactly one hour. At that point I realized that even if I ran every remaining mile at 10 minutes each (slowish) then I'd still beat 2 hours. That pumped me up. But then I got a cramp and had to really bite my lip for the next three miles. Usually at mile 10 I can kick it up a notch and run fast the last three miles - not this one - it was all I could do those last three miles to keep my head up and put one foot in front of the other. It was a tough one but I kept telling myself to just push myself for 2 hours and it would all be over soon. And it was. I finished in my fastest time ever - chip time of 1:53! If you go here and type in Raffensperger as the last name (my first race as a Raffensperger!) then I pop up! Yeah me! Usually I'm not all about patting myself on the back, but this one I really feel proud of. Now I have to make the decision about the marathon or what to do next. . . .
I was so caught up with wedding-ness that I almost totally forgot about the half marathon this past weekend. So much that I totally forgot to run at all last week to sort of "warm up" for it. Oh well. So we had to get there obnoxiously early on Sunday - the race started at 7am - and yet again, it was freezing - literally - it was 32 degrees. But at least it wasn't snowing like last year at the start of this race. :) I already knew I could finish a 1/2 marathon - I'd done it before so really had nothing to prove to myself there. I also made one in under 2 hours so I really had nothing to prove to myself there either. So I decided to be a moron and go out totally fast - much faster then I was prepared for or had trained for. I figured I'd run a few quick miles and worse case, I'd have to walk a few and it wouldn't be the end of the world - like I said, I had nothing to lose on this one. :) So I lined up with the people running 8:48 miles (yes, I can run a mile that fast - but not 13.1 of them). The first mile we ran in 8:30 and the second was about the same. Usually I'm feeling great until about mile 7 - not this one - everything after about 1/2 mile hurt - my lungs hurt, my legs hurt, I just hurt. But I pushed on, mindlessly putting one foot in front of the other staring at this group of girls in front of me. Before I knew it I had run 7 miles with them in exactly one hour. At that point I realized that even if I ran every remaining mile at 10 minutes each (slowish) then I'd still beat 2 hours. That pumped me up. But then I got a cramp and had to really bite my lip for the next three miles. Usually at mile 10 I can kick it up a notch and run fast the last three miles - not this one - it was all I could do those last three miles to keep my head up and put one foot in front of the other. It was a tough one but I kept telling myself to just push myself for 2 hours and it would all be over soon. And it was. I finished in my fastest time ever - chip time of 1:53! If you go here and type in Raffensperger as the last name (my first race as a Raffensperger!) then I pop up! Yeah me! Usually I'm not all about patting myself on the back, but this one I really feel proud of. Now I have to make the decision about the marathon or what to do next. . . .
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Wedding Post #3 - Addendum
Three things to add to the last post:
(1) I don't want anyone to think for one second that I ever questioned getting married (especially at the rehearsal dinner). I was never upset or crying about getting married - I was often upset about the wedding, but never about getting married. I've known I wanted to marry Cody for so long it's amazing. There was never a question in my mind that I would spend the rest of my life with him and that this was the best decision I would ever make in my life - the wedding was a different story - it was stressful - most of it was likely self-induced but however it came it was stressful. At that point I was insanely stressed about the wedding - we had literally gotten about 3 hours of sleep the night before and I was at the end of every rope I had. I was dead dead dead tired (not only from the night before but the weeks preceeding as well) and crazy emotional (girl's get that way the day before they get married) and that's the whole reason I wanted "to go home" as I told Cody 100 times - I was just beat - I wanted to rest and be away from the madness.
(2) Piggy backing on that thought - I never thought I would say this, but all the stress, all the work, all the effort and planning - and crying - was 200% worth it. My wedding day was honestly the best day of my life (not to say I wouldn't go back and change a detail here and there if I could) - so far. :) It was worth every bit of stress, every long night, every bit of lack of sleep, every craft project and every penny - I wouldn't trade those memories and that day for the world.
(3) And just a last thought that I forgot to add. Just a testiment to our lack of sleep and total head-in-the-clouds-ness (is that a word?) - we totally meant to give out parents gifts and bridal party gifts at the rehearsal and never even got around to it - we totally forgot. This is one of the things I would go back and change - make a toast to our parents and bridal party, give gifts, express our appreciation appropriately - but as our officiant says, "With a wedding there are no mistakes, only memories." So we ended up sort of handing them gifts in a rush the day of the wedding while getting dressed and we didn't get the parent's gifts out until Sunday night. Actually since we didn't see my dad on Sunday (he lives in Sopchoppy which is not in Tally or even remotely close to an interstate) we had to mail him his package this week - so he likely still hasn't seen his gift. :) Such is life and weddings. At least it's all over and I can look back and laugh and enjoy it now. :)
(1) I don't want anyone to think for one second that I ever questioned getting married (especially at the rehearsal dinner). I was never upset or crying about getting married - I was often upset about the wedding, but never about getting married. I've known I wanted to marry Cody for so long it's amazing. There was never a question in my mind that I would spend the rest of my life with him and that this was the best decision I would ever make in my life - the wedding was a different story - it was stressful - most of it was likely self-induced but however it came it was stressful. At that point I was insanely stressed about the wedding - we had literally gotten about 3 hours of sleep the night before and I was at the end of every rope I had. I was dead dead dead tired (not only from the night before but the weeks preceeding as well) and crazy emotional (girl's get that way the day before they get married) and that's the whole reason I wanted "to go home" as I told Cody 100 times - I was just beat - I wanted to rest and be away from the madness.
(2) Piggy backing on that thought - I never thought I would say this, but all the stress, all the work, all the effort and planning - and crying - was 200% worth it. My wedding day was honestly the best day of my life (not to say I wouldn't go back and change a detail here and there if I could) - so far. :) It was worth every bit of stress, every long night, every bit of lack of sleep, every craft project and every penny - I wouldn't trade those memories and that day for the world.
(3) And just a last thought that I forgot to add. Just a testiment to our lack of sleep and total head-in-the-clouds-ness (is that a word?) - we totally meant to give out parents gifts and bridal party gifts at the rehearsal and never even got around to it - we totally forgot. This is one of the things I would go back and change - make a toast to our parents and bridal party, give gifts, express our appreciation appropriately - but as our officiant says, "With a wedding there are no mistakes, only memories." So we ended up sort of handing them gifts in a rush the day of the wedding while getting dressed and we didn't get the parent's gifts out until Sunday night. Actually since we didn't see my dad on Sunday (he lives in Sopchoppy which is not in Tally or even remotely close to an interstate) we had to mail him his package this week - so he likely still hasn't seen his gift. :) Such is life and weddings. At least it's all over and I can look back and laugh and enjoy it now. :)
Friday, April 13, 2007
Wedding Post #3 - The Rehearsal
Honestly I don't remember too terribly much about it - it was all a very distorted blur. That might be a good thing - call it a coping mechanism. :)
We had the rehearsal at Maclay Gardens - site of the wedding the next day - and then had the rehearsal dinner at the Gardener's Cottage a short walk away. We got there early and pretty much just set everything up. Cody had his "Game Over" shirt on and I had a white eyelet dress on - it was a bit chilly for Florida but I survived. We all headed over to the gardens, only to find another group there already rehearsing. Well, you see, they wanted to charge me $75 an hour to reserve the place in the (public) garden to have the rehearsal and I thought that was ridiculous so I just banked on no one being there - I guess I banked wrong. But it turned out fine because there's ended at 6 pm which is right when our's was supposed to start anyway.
The officiant (who is AWESOME - if you get married in Tally and need an officiant I highly recommend him) ran us through a short but sweet rehearsal of the ceremony. I thought I'd be really uptight and worried about getting everything down perfect but I really just trusted the whole thing to him at that point and he took care of things.
After the reheasal we headed back to the cottage for a dinner of Sonny's BBQ - my favorite! I think it was good but am not too sure because by this time I was so stressed I had seriously lost all my taste buds - nothing really had a taste at all. But I ate because I was told I needed to. :) Sometime around dinner time things start getting blurry. I remember sitting at a table with my friends wondering why they all came all this way for this stupid wedding and then I was outside crying to Cody that I "just wanted to go home" - over and over and over again. I was just done with wedding hell - I wanted to go to the courthouse and I wanted to be back in my own house and back to my own life and out of wedding hell. I just wanted to get in the car and head home to St. Louis - it's not that I didn't want to get married - I wanted very much to get married - I just wanted the wedding hell to be over and I didn't want to deal with one more little thing. So he calmed me down enough for me to walk inside, only to start crying again. Luckily I think it was Cody's sister who was there that time to save me. She talked some sense into me (it totally helped that she had been through all this 6 years ago - so she had credibility) and then we moved forward. I tried not to talk much or look at people much because then I just wanted to cry more - so I sat, relatively quiet for me, and chilled. Sara made delicious Chocolate Eclair Cake for dessert and with it we had a fabulous ice cream bar - with all sorts of ice cream and toppings. It would have been great, but again, I couldn't taste anything. :)
After the dinner was over and most of the people left we had the core group ready to get moving on the rest of the "to do" list. Like I mentioned in an earlier post, Sara ran to Walgreens to get my prescription filled while Cody, Marissa, Melanie and I went to Wal-Mart. We ran through the garden department gathering every flower in the wedding colors - the we collected some hair products for Marissa, some picture frames for seating charts, more ribbon and we were off. We met up with everyone at the hotel and got to work!
Marissa was in charge of writing out the names for each table on a sheet of paper to go in the frames, while Sara, Donna, Mommy, Melanie and I did the wrapping paper around the pots (see above picture). They turned out better then I even expected - I just wanted very simple centerpieces - real flowers so I could plant them and then a touch of decoration and uniformity with the wrapping. After those projects we moved on to the veil. Here it was midnight before my wedding and I wanted a single strand of beads all the way around the veil. Yes, I'm insane. Weddings do that to you. :) So at first I was going to sew a row on one by one. Everyone looked like they were going to tar and feather me. So then I conceeded that maybe we could glue them on one by one - everyone was more receptive to this idea but still considered me insane. At this point my mom was leaving to go to bed, so I walked her to the elevator and started bawling again - go figure. So she tried her best to calm me down and then Cody came to help out and about 20 minutes later when they got me in a workable state, I returned to the reception room - only to find Marissa and Melanie had totally finished my veil. It was wonderful - it's truely one of a kind. They just ran a glob of glue all the way around and dumped beads on it. They thought I was going to be mad, but I was actually quite relieved. They took it to my room and took a hair dryer to it and it was done. I had a "designer" veil. This is one of those stories I'll be telling my grandkids one day - about the night my friends glued beads on my wedding veil. :) A girl couldn't ask for better friends.
Favorite Wedding Cards
Here are some of my favorite passages from wedding cards so far. Yes, some people actually do READ the cards - Cody was shocked and appalled at this concept. But then again I'm the person who insists on taking at least 30 minutes to write every single thank you card so I can adequately determine what I want to say and how I can convey that to the individual person - I seriously put a lot of thought into them, so I hope people know that whatever I say, I really mean. So if you're waiting on a thank you card from me, hang tight - I'm working on it but it's a slow, though thoughtful, process.
From Aunt Bev, Matt and Jessica:
Marriage: A journey beginning where two pathways meet, Where hopes are exciting and feelings are sweet, A new world unfolds at the joining of two, In the beautiful promise of marriage, "I do."
May you always know the kind of love that brought you to this day - a love that is built on trust, a love that is unafraid of sharing and compromise . . . a love that holds the promise of still greater happiness with every passing year.
From Bobbie and Joe Frank (this one's long but worth the read if you're feeling sentimental about your new marriage):
How to make a beautiful life together: Let love be your shelter. The world is noisy and confusing at times, so make a home that is a haven, a peaceful place where you can listen to your hearts and savor the comfortable closeness you share.
No matter how busy your days may be, make time for yourselves. Hold hands. Unwind. Surprise each other. Find little chances every day to show you're grateful to be partners, to be friends, to be married.
Life is not perfect. You will make mistakes, but each time you meet life's challenges together, you will grow wiser, stronger, and surer of your love.
Cherish your yesterdays. They are irreplaceable souvenirs of your journey through life. Make memories that will bring smiles and signs whenever you look back. (Look back often!)
Look forward too. Dream together. Plan together. Make promises to keep. Believe in your tomorrows, because tomorrows are what forever is made of.
To make love last, put each other first. This is the way to make a beautiful life together, the kind of life you both desrve so much.
From Aunt Bev, Matt and Jessica:
Marriage: A journey beginning where two pathways meet, Where hopes are exciting and feelings are sweet, A new world unfolds at the joining of two, In the beautiful promise of marriage, "I do."
May you always know the kind of love that brought you to this day - a love that is built on trust, a love that is unafraid of sharing and compromise . . . a love that holds the promise of still greater happiness with every passing year.
From Bobbie and Joe Frank (this one's long but worth the read if you're feeling sentimental about your new marriage):
How to make a beautiful life together: Let love be your shelter. The world is noisy and confusing at times, so make a home that is a haven, a peaceful place where you can listen to your hearts and savor the comfortable closeness you share.
No matter how busy your days may be, make time for yourselves. Hold hands. Unwind. Surprise each other. Find little chances every day to show you're grateful to be partners, to be friends, to be married.
Life is not perfect. You will make mistakes, but each time you meet life's challenges together, you will grow wiser, stronger, and surer of your love.
Cherish your yesterdays. They are irreplaceable souvenirs of your journey through life. Make memories that will bring smiles and signs whenever you look back. (Look back often!)
Look forward too. Dream together. Plan together. Make promises to keep. Believe in your tomorrows, because tomorrows are what forever is made of.
To make love last, put each other first. This is the way to make a beautiful life together, the kind of life you both desrve so much.
No I'm not pregnant, but . . .
I found this video HILLARIOUS!! It's a short skit entitled "Mom my Ride" - it's really really funny.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEFE3B0Rje0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEFE3B0Rje0
Wedding Post #2 - Top Moments
In the interest of continuing to catch everyone up on the wedding happenings, I figured I'd do a Top Wedding Moments blog. In no particular order:
- Making the programs Thursday night (until 5 a.m.) with Cody's family. We had a whole assembly line going - Kinko's already folded the programs so we didn't have to do that but then Rick (Bonus Dad) used a special hole punch to punch two holes in the top of each program. The programs then went to Uncle Bob who threaded green ribbon through the two holes in each of the programs (Trish - if you're reading this, your dad is great at crafts!). The programs were then passed to Donna (Bonus Mom) who tied perfect little bows on each and every one of them - at first she was getting frustrated because I have a particular way of tying bows but then she got the hang of it and rocked at bow tying. Then I got the programs and stamped the back with embossing stamp stuff and put the embossing powder on the stamp. Finally the programs were then passed back to Rick (because he finished his hole punching early) who used the heat gun to melt the embossing powder on each one. It was hillarious to watch the guys do crafts - late night but fun!
- At the wedding, Sara gave a speech and toasted "Bridezilla Missy is gone and Happy Missy is back" - not only did I think it was hillarious but it was quite a cool moment - I felt like the hard stuff was finally over and normal, happy life could return. I'll never forget that feeling.
- Another Sara quote. After the rehearsal dinner everyone was telling me I couldn't do everything myself and that I needed to let people help. I then retorted with "Well, I've got to run to Walgreens tonight to pick up my birth control. No one else can do that - that's something I have to do." Well, Sara quickly responded with "Hell no you don't. I know your name, address and birthday, I'll get it for you." Sure enough she called Walgreens got my prescription filled and picked it up for me. Now that's a Bonus Sister for you!
- Another rehearsal night story. After the rehearsal dinner, Cody, Melanie, Marissa and I all ran by Wal-Mart to see if we could pick up some centerpieces (this is while Sara was at Walgreens). You see, instead of cut flowers that would just die, I wanted to buy potted plants/flowers, wrap them in cute wrapping paper and use those as centerpieces - it's "green," cheap and now I can plant them in my yard and they'll come back each year. So here we are, the night before the wedding, all running around the Garden Department at Super Wal-Mart searching for any flower that could possibly match the wedding colors. Sure enough we succeeded and we had great centerpieces for every table!
- One more night before story. Upon returning to the hotel, flowers in hand, we proceeded to make each centerpiece (thanks Melanie, Donna, Sara, Mom and even Kristy) and make table assignment cards for each table (thanks Marissa!). Well then I only had one thing left - my veil. It was getting pretty late and I was insisting that I wanted to thread one row of beads around the entire veil (I never found one I liked so I got a plain one and was going to add the beads I liked). When they convinced me it would be morning before I could sew on all the beads, I tried to glue a row of beads on the veil - very difficult. Well then my mom left and I started crying so while she was calming me down Melanie and Marissa had at the veil. They took the glue bottle and basically ran a thick line of glue around the entire veil and then just dumped a bunch of beads on the veil. I got back in the room, prepared to glue one bead at a time, to find they had already finshed the veil. Honestly if I had been in the room I would have never okayed that so I'm glad I wasn't there because I loved it! First it looked really cool and really great (if you need a veil designer I can give out their names). I really thought it looked wonderful. And on top of that it was made with love which made it even more special. So as I was wearing my "designer" veil on my wedding day I was thankful to have friends and family that cared about me.
- And last, but not least for tonight, is the toilet. Best told in pictures, but I'll give it a shot. During the ceremony the DJ announced a special presentation by the Germans. They all walked in carrying a toilet - a real life toilet from Lowe's. Well it was filled with chocolate pudding and ziplock bags of money. It was so gross and so hillarious. I still cannot stop laughing about it! It was the hit of the party. So Cody and I got down on our knees, with our rubber gloves (kindly provided by the Germans) and fished out the bags of money from the pudding. You had to be there because the pictures can't do it justice but it was hillarious.
- Making the programs Thursday night (until 5 a.m.) with Cody's family. We had a whole assembly line going - Kinko's already folded the programs so we didn't have to do that but then Rick (Bonus Dad) used a special hole punch to punch two holes in the top of each program. The programs then went to Uncle Bob who threaded green ribbon through the two holes in each of the programs (Trish - if you're reading this, your dad is great at crafts!). The programs were then passed to Donna (Bonus Mom) who tied perfect little bows on each and every one of them - at first she was getting frustrated because I have a particular way of tying bows but then she got the hang of it and rocked at bow tying. Then I got the programs and stamped the back with embossing stamp stuff and put the embossing powder on the stamp. Finally the programs were then passed back to Rick (because he finished his hole punching early) who used the heat gun to melt the embossing powder on each one. It was hillarious to watch the guys do crafts - late night but fun!
- At the wedding, Sara gave a speech and toasted "Bridezilla Missy is gone and Happy Missy is back" - not only did I think it was hillarious but it was quite a cool moment - I felt like the hard stuff was finally over and normal, happy life could return. I'll never forget that feeling.
- Another Sara quote. After the rehearsal dinner everyone was telling me I couldn't do everything myself and that I needed to let people help. I then retorted with "Well, I've got to run to Walgreens tonight to pick up my birth control. No one else can do that - that's something I have to do." Well, Sara quickly responded with "Hell no you don't. I know your name, address and birthday, I'll get it for you." Sure enough she called Walgreens got my prescription filled and picked it up for me. Now that's a Bonus Sister for you!
- Another rehearsal night story. After the rehearsal dinner, Cody, Melanie, Marissa and I all ran by Wal-Mart to see if we could pick up some centerpieces (this is while Sara was at Walgreens). You see, instead of cut flowers that would just die, I wanted to buy potted plants/flowers, wrap them in cute wrapping paper and use those as centerpieces - it's "green," cheap and now I can plant them in my yard and they'll come back each year. So here we are, the night before the wedding, all running around the Garden Department at Super Wal-Mart searching for any flower that could possibly match the wedding colors. Sure enough we succeeded and we had great centerpieces for every table!
- One more night before story. Upon returning to the hotel, flowers in hand, we proceeded to make each centerpiece (thanks Melanie, Donna, Sara, Mom and even Kristy) and make table assignment cards for each table (thanks Marissa!). Well then I only had one thing left - my veil. It was getting pretty late and I was insisting that I wanted to thread one row of beads around the entire veil (I never found one I liked so I got a plain one and was going to add the beads I liked). When they convinced me it would be morning before I could sew on all the beads, I tried to glue a row of beads on the veil - very difficult. Well then my mom left and I started crying so while she was calming me down Melanie and Marissa had at the veil. They took the glue bottle and basically ran a thick line of glue around the entire veil and then just dumped a bunch of beads on the veil. I got back in the room, prepared to glue one bead at a time, to find they had already finshed the veil. Honestly if I had been in the room I would have never okayed that so I'm glad I wasn't there because I loved it! First it looked really cool and really great (if you need a veil designer I can give out their names). I really thought it looked wonderful. And on top of that it was made with love which made it even more special. So as I was wearing my "designer" veil on my wedding day I was thankful to have friends and family that cared about me.
- And last, but not least for tonight, is the toilet. Best told in pictures, but I'll give it a shot. During the ceremony the DJ announced a special presentation by the Germans. They all walked in carrying a toilet - a real life toilet from Lowe's. Well it was filled with chocolate pudding and ziplock bags of money. It was so gross and so hillarious. I still cannot stop laughing about it! It was the hit of the party. So Cody and I got down on our knees, with our rubber gloves (kindly provided by the Germans) and fished out the bags of money from the pudding. You had to be there because the pictures can't do it justice but it was hillarious.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
I love being married.
I've never felt so wonderful about anything in my whole life. Honestly. I really realized how much I love being married. Tonight was my first "Me Night" of married life and I've really had time to take everything in. You see, while I may be the most talkative person you've ever met, the most outgoing person in the family or the most obnoxious person ever, I also love my alone time. I honestly cherish that side of me as much as I do the outgoing side. I take a day every now and then when Cody has something planned with the guys (tonight it was Matt's going away happy hour and I think they're at the casino now) and just chill with myself - I decline the offer to hang out and just be quiet (yes, I know this is impossible to believe for some of you - but I really can be quiet sometimes). This is great for me as it allows me to reconnect with myself and be the talkative, outgoing, extroverted person the rest of the time - because somewhere in me I'm actually a nice, quiet, introverted person too.
Anyway, I really think marriage is the greatest thing ever - so far at least - and I'm only on day 6. :) As a female, your entire life is constantly swirling with questions when it comes to boys and marriage (or at least mine was) - who will I marry? will he be nice? when will I get married? will I be an old maid? will he be good to me? what will he look like? will the marriage last?
Then you meet the man of your dreams - the guy who you love to be around and makes you a better person - the man who makes you smile every day of your life - he makes you giggle when you're sad or when you're mad and holds you even when you're yelling - he is kind and the most generous person you've ever met. And then there are new questions - does he love me back? does he think I'm stupid? is this going to last? are we going to break up? what if I mess things up?
And then the best thing happens - he proposes and you realize that he does love you and he wants to be with you forever - you connect in a way you never thought you could. And then there are even more questions - will he go through with this? what will the cake look like? will he think I'm stupid for wanting to sling a monkey across the room instead of the garter toss? will he hate me after this whole wedding planning crap is over? what do we do about the dress, the flowers, the programs, the rehearsal dinner, the dj, the photographer, the centerpieces, the favors, etc., am I pushing him away throughout this process?
And then you get married - you smile at him saying his vows and can't help but burst into tears (so much that Marissa has to hand you a tissue which you then very unlady-like blow your nose on and then tuck in his tux pocket with your snot on it). As you say your own vows you can't help but cry and giggle at the same time with utter joy. And then you're married and all the questions stop. For the first time in my entire life (that I can remember) my mind is just calm. It's quiet. I feel at total peace with the way things are. I have finally reached a point where I am just purely and utterly happy and peaceful - no more worries, no more fears, no more questions, no more "what if. " I'm set - I'm settled - I feel like I'm ready to take on the rest of the world together and that we can conquer anything. And I love it.
Anyway, I really think marriage is the greatest thing ever - so far at least - and I'm only on day 6. :) As a female, your entire life is constantly swirling with questions when it comes to boys and marriage (or at least mine was) - who will I marry? will he be nice? when will I get married? will I be an old maid? will he be good to me? what will he look like? will the marriage last?
Then you meet the man of your dreams - the guy who you love to be around and makes you a better person - the man who makes you smile every day of your life - he makes you giggle when you're sad or when you're mad and holds you even when you're yelling - he is kind and the most generous person you've ever met. And then there are new questions - does he love me back? does he think I'm stupid? is this going to last? are we going to break up? what if I mess things up?
And then the best thing happens - he proposes and you realize that he does love you and he wants to be with you forever - you connect in a way you never thought you could. And then there are even more questions - will he go through with this? what will the cake look like? will he think I'm stupid for wanting to sling a monkey across the room instead of the garter toss? will he hate me after this whole wedding planning crap is over? what do we do about the dress, the flowers, the programs, the rehearsal dinner, the dj, the photographer, the centerpieces, the favors, etc., am I pushing him away throughout this process?
And then you get married - you smile at him saying his vows and can't help but burst into tears (so much that Marissa has to hand you a tissue which you then very unlady-like blow your nose on and then tuck in his tux pocket with your snot on it). As you say your own vows you can't help but cry and giggle at the same time with utter joy. And then you're married and all the questions stop. For the first time in my entire life (that I can remember) my mind is just calm. It's quiet. I feel at total peace with the way things are. I have finally reached a point where I am just purely and utterly happy and peaceful - no more worries, no more fears, no more questions, no more "what if. " I'm set - I'm settled - I feel like I'm ready to take on the rest of the world together and that we can conquer anything. And I love it.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Wedding Post #1 - Dress Saga
Ah, and I thought the dress saga was over in St. Louis when I picked up my dress! Oh no - that would be WAY too easy. So it goes like this:
I picked up the larger sized dress in STL prepared to take it in Monday to be altered. We get to the alteration place on Monday and talk with the person who assured us he could do it in a week - well, he lied - or at least wasn't 100% honest. He took one look at the dress and basically said "no frikin' way." At that point Cody's mom (my "Bonus Mom") and I had a dress too big and no idea what to do. So we did the only thing I knew how - run to family. My aunt is an insanely good seamstress so naturally we ran to her. At 9 am we show up at her door and shoved the dress in her face and begged for her to tell us if it was possible to hem it and take it in. She reassured me that it would be possible, just not easy. That made me feel better. So once David's opened we ran there to see if we could find ourselves an angel. We found one. Apparently Bonus Mom's boss has a friend/seamstress that works there and she just happened to be there on Monday (she normally does not work Monday's). She was fantastic. She had me put on the dress and started pinning away. The dress was unzipped half way down my back and she had it all pinned and I was convinced it would never zip the way she had it pinned - not only did it zip but it was perfect. She even gave us two bustle options! So we left the dress with her Monday morning, having complete confidence in her abilities.
And she didn't let us down one bit. We went back on Thursday for a "fitting" (for those who don't know most people have their final fitting months before their wedding - mine was less the 48 hours away). She had the dress hemmed, bustled and taken in, but hadn't finished the details. It was perfect. It was the closest I came to crying over a dress this entire process (but I was crying a lot that day so that might have played a factor too). :) It fit wonderfully. She basically took a huge dress that was ackward on and remade the entire thing - she took in a ton of room from the top all the way through my hips and made it work for my body - she was a miracle worker. Then Friday Melanie and I went to pick it up. It was perfect. She then taught Melanie how to do the bustle as well (it was a VERY complicated bustle - 6 ties for the bottom bustle and a button for the top layer) - her and Bonus Mom ended up having to teach everyone else by the end of the wedding. :) So Friday around 2 pm - about 26 hours before my wedding - I finally had a perfect wedding dress!!!
Of course it was great at the wedding - perfect actually for me - at this point I could care less if anyone else liked it our not. :) At the reception I pretty much tore the dress apart. :) As I think Bonus Mom said or maybe it was someone else, the sign of a good wedding is how messed up the bride's dress gets. Mine was good then. I ended up with blue icing on it from the Gator grooms cake and at some point someone (or me) stepped on the bustle, busting the button. My mom then tied the bustle up with a string (there's a picture on picasaweb of her doing this - it's the one of me with my butt in her face) from the favors. This lasted a little while but it tore off eventually so I just carried the train over my arm.
Today I took the dress to the cleaners to get it pressed and cleaned (I think I might wear it to the STL party so I didn't get it preserved). I think the cleaning and alterations together cost more then the dress - not kidding. It was worth it. I could have done without some of the dress drama, but in the end I loved the dress I wore and I had a great time in it.
I picked up the larger sized dress in STL prepared to take it in Monday to be altered. We get to the alteration place on Monday and talk with the person who assured us he could do it in a week - well, he lied - or at least wasn't 100% honest. He took one look at the dress and basically said "no frikin' way." At that point Cody's mom (my "Bonus Mom") and I had a dress too big and no idea what to do. So we did the only thing I knew how - run to family. My aunt is an insanely good seamstress so naturally we ran to her. At 9 am we show up at her door and shoved the dress in her face and begged for her to tell us if it was possible to hem it and take it in. She reassured me that it would be possible, just not easy. That made me feel better. So once David's opened we ran there to see if we could find ourselves an angel. We found one. Apparently Bonus Mom's boss has a friend/seamstress that works there and she just happened to be there on Monday (she normally does not work Monday's). She was fantastic. She had me put on the dress and started pinning away. The dress was unzipped half way down my back and she had it all pinned and I was convinced it would never zip the way she had it pinned - not only did it zip but it was perfect. She even gave us two bustle options! So we left the dress with her Monday morning, having complete confidence in her abilities.
And she didn't let us down one bit. We went back on Thursday for a "fitting" (for those who don't know most people have their final fitting months before their wedding - mine was less the 48 hours away). She had the dress hemmed, bustled and taken in, but hadn't finished the details. It was perfect. It was the closest I came to crying over a dress this entire process (but I was crying a lot that day so that might have played a factor too). :) It fit wonderfully. She basically took a huge dress that was ackward on and remade the entire thing - she took in a ton of room from the top all the way through my hips and made it work for my body - she was a miracle worker. Then Friday Melanie and I went to pick it up. It was perfect. She then taught Melanie how to do the bustle as well (it was a VERY complicated bustle - 6 ties for the bottom bustle and a button for the top layer) - her and Bonus Mom ended up having to teach everyone else by the end of the wedding. :) So Friday around 2 pm - about 26 hours before my wedding - I finally had a perfect wedding dress!!!
Of course it was great at the wedding - perfect actually for me - at this point I could care less if anyone else liked it our not. :) At the reception I pretty much tore the dress apart. :) As I think Bonus Mom said or maybe it was someone else, the sign of a good wedding is how messed up the bride's dress gets. Mine was good then. I ended up with blue icing on it from the Gator grooms cake and at some point someone (or me) stepped on the bustle, busting the button. My mom then tied the bustle up with a string (there's a picture on picasaweb of her doing this - it's the one of me with my butt in her face) from the favors. This lasted a little while but it tore off eventually so I just carried the train over my arm.
Today I took the dress to the cleaners to get it pressed and cleaned (I think I might wear it to the STL party so I didn't get it preserved). I think the cleaning and alterations together cost more then the dress - not kidding. It was worth it. I could have done without some of the dress drama, but in the end I loved the dress I wore and I had a great time in it.
Day 5
People say marriage is so hard and this and that. I don't think it's hard at all - it's actually quite enjoyable and easy - and I've been at it for FIVE days already! Wait, never mind, I'm not a movie star so that's not a long time yet - maybe by the end of the week?
In other post-wedding news, I'm loving marriage - or maybe I'm just loving life without wedding planning. :) While I loved the wedding and honestly think it was all worth it (all the stress, crying fits, money, more money, anxiety, work, more stress, etc.), I hated wedding planning - really really hated it. But I'm LOVING life now that it's all over and I'm happily married! Regular, non-crazy person, non-foggy brained Missy is back! :)
Some more wedding stuff:
Check out our AWESOME DJ's link: http://gtentertainment.typepad.com/.
We're on there under Saturday (duh!). So far he's had the best picture I've seen of us and the toilet! There's also one of me and the bridesmaids.
Also if you want to see the first of the wedding pictures as they are coming to me go to http://picasaweb.google.com/melissa.flynn . Instead of loading them bit by bit onto the website, for now I'm just loading them all onto Picasaweb - plus if you have Picasa (which if you don't and own a digital camera you should because it's an AWESOME photo organizer - free from Google) it's super easy to download any you want onto your personal computer (rather then trying to download them from the website which can be more difficult).
On the picture note, if you have any please please please send them to me!!! Preferably by uploading them onto picasaweb or via CD in the mail - email doesn't do well and the pictures are usually shrunk to fit email standards. If you need a CD, I can mail you one!
In other random thoughts, in order to catch up on blogging I think I'm going to try to do one present post and one past post a day until I catch up - this should get everyone caught up on the wedding festivities and drama. :)
In other post-wedding news, I'm loving marriage - or maybe I'm just loving life without wedding planning. :) While I loved the wedding and honestly think it was all worth it (all the stress, crying fits, money, more money, anxiety, work, more stress, etc.), I hated wedding planning - really really hated it. But I'm LOVING life now that it's all over and I'm happily married! Regular, non-crazy person, non-foggy brained Missy is back! :)
Some more wedding stuff:
Check out our AWESOME DJ's link: http://gtentertainment.typepad.com/.
We're on there under Saturday (duh!). So far he's had the best picture I've seen of us and the toilet! There's also one of me and the bridesmaids.
Also if you want to see the first of the wedding pictures as they are coming to me go to http://picasaweb.google.com/melissa.flynn . Instead of loading them bit by bit onto the website, for now I'm just loading them all onto Picasaweb - plus if you have Picasa (which if you don't and own a digital camera you should because it's an AWESOME photo organizer - free from Google) it's super easy to download any you want onto your personal computer (rather then trying to download them from the website which can be more difficult).
On the picture note, if you have any please please please send them to me!!! Preferably by uploading them onto picasaweb or via CD in the mail - email doesn't do well and the pictures are usually shrunk to fit email standards. If you need a CD, I can mail you one!
In other random thoughts, in order to catch up on blogging I think I'm going to try to do one present post and one past post a day until I catch up - this should get everyone caught up on the wedding festivities and drama. :)
What I have to look forward to. . .
Cody forwarded me an email this morning that someone had sent out at his work because he brought in White Castle for everyone (you are supposed to bring in breakfast every time something "big" happens - Gators win the National Championship, we get married, Mr. Pickles takes a bath, etc.). The subject line read:
"Cody Raffensberger Wedding Bells White Castles in Galley." At first I didn't even notice why he forwarded the email - then upon closer inspection I saw it. It's RaffensPerger, not RaffensBerger! I guess I should get used to this . . .
"Cody Raffensberger Wedding Bells White Castles in Galley." At first I didn't even notice why he forwarded the email - then upon closer inspection I saw it. It's RaffensPerger, not RaffensBerger! I guess I should get used to this . . .
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
I'm married!!!
Yup - we're back in St. Louis (and thus to a reliable internet connection) and WE'RE MARRIED! It's super late and we've been driving all day - not to mention the emotional roller coaster of the past week - so no time to write now but wanted to say hi! The wedding was PERFECT! I never in a million years could have thought that all that stress, anxiety, worry, lack of sleep and long, hard work could have possibly ever been "worth it" at the end of the day but it completely was. Honestly even Friday night I didn't think the wedding could live up to all that I had put into it - but it was and more! It was honestly the best day of my life. It was very quintessential Cody and I - complete with me having to "hop" back to our proper standing place at the ceremony when we accidently forgot and walked too far forward - us being silly during our first dance - slingling a "sling shot" monkey across the room instead of the garter toss (we have Jessica Schilling and her almost husband, Matt to thank for that one) - me somehow ending up with cake UP my NOSE - oh yeah, and the presentation of a TOILET (a real life toilet) filled with chocolate pudding (and bags of money - thankfully it was in bags) at the wedding from the German relatives!!! Yeah, that's a whole blog in itself. The wedding was fabulous and I was never happier - not sure if the happy was all from being married or just having it over and having my life back to ourselves. :)
Thanks to everyone who made it down there - you were all fabulous - and to those who couldn't make it, you were in our thoughts nonetheless. Now it's time for the fun part - MARRIAGE, oh yeah - and hte STL party (tentatively MAy 12th STL people!).
Take care,
Mrs. RAFFENSPERGER . . . or as Sara would say, "Raffensperger party of 2" :)
Thanks to everyone who made it down there - you were all fabulous - and to those who couldn't make it, you were in our thoughts nonetheless. Now it's time for the fun part - MARRIAGE, oh yeah - and hte STL party (tentatively MAy 12th STL people!).
Take care,
Mrs. RAFFENSPERGER . . . or as Sara would say, "Raffensperger party of 2" :)
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