Wedding Planning - Stress Management Practice?

Wedding planning, wedding planning, how you stress me out.

Who knew wedding's could be so stressful? O wait, I did. Everyone has told me how stressful wedding planning could be but I though, "Meh, we're pretty simple people, it probably won't be that bad."

LIES!!!!!

Wedding Planner- Easy, Liane McCombs is and amazing wedding planner and used to be a Tri Delta, what more do you need? http://www.lianemccombs.com/


PicBox- Easy! Loved it!


Venue- Stressful! $17,000 at Zephyr for food, venue and "picnic ware" + a $250 fee for every vendor we didn't use on the preferred vendor list and a $2.50 cutting fee per person for the cake? I think NOT! Thank God for Embassy Suites and Lakeside Beach. http://www.embassytahoe.com/weddings/

Minister- Piece of cake! Venue suggested, he is amazing! Even figured out a way around our marriage license issues :) http://www.tahoe-wedding.com/Home.shtml


Photographer - STRESSFUL - Until I met the absolutely AH-MAY-ZING Stephanie and Nick Williams at Handlebar studios. I am so lucky to have found them. They seem amazing both as people and professionals and have gone out of their way to make me feel stress free. I can't wait till I am freaking out on my wedding day and my loving mother is talking to me calmly and my best friends are surrounding me trying to make sure everything is perfect and Stephanie is taking pictures and says something like "Dude, will you chill out!" I have to tell you I knew they were awesome but when we went to take our save the dates and Steven liked Nick and then Steven picked up a plastic warrior helmet from the prop box and said "This wouldn't protect anyone" and Stephanie looked at him with that 'are you crazy' look and said "Umm I'm pretty sure it isn't mean to" and everyone laughed...I knew that everything would be great! http://www.handlebarstudios.com/

• Even after we took our Save The Dates, Steven said he really liked them and that he could've kept taking photos. First time he has ever like a photographer besides my mom. He had fun, it made me so happy :)

Wedding Gown - David's Bridal... If you're looking for pretty dresses - you could go to David's if you are looking for good service and a great experience - RUN!!! Run far away. I'm sure people would disagree but I had the absolutely worst experience of my life there. Not of my wedding experiences, but worst of my life! Then mom convinced me to give a chance to the salon of a woman name Michelle Depoali. Mom said she had talked to Kendyl Depoali (she works at the school named after her) and she'd total her about Michelle and her salon Swoon. GOD SEND! Michelle and her girls are absolutely amazing :) http://www.swoonbridal.com/OurStory.aspx

Flowers - Stressful. Let you know more when I actually end up figuring them out. Thank God my Aunt Pandy is making half of my centerpieces. I am so lucky to have her!

Invitations- SO MANY INVITATIONS!!!!!

The Rest of The Wedding- Have yet to plan =P

I guess the moral of the story. Experiences may try to knock you down, some may even run you over, but with love and determination you dust yourself off and get back out there.. Who knows, what you find may be greater than what you lost. :)

Lessons

What I learned today,

• Waiting for one of your lifelong and best friends to give birth to a baby girl everyone can't wait to meet.... Makes one nervous.
• Using your abs and legs to make your hips shake makes you super sore
• Do not forget a hair tie when planning on doing Zumba (or any cardio i assume) for a long period of time. 
• Ask a coworker for something she was supposed to do months ago... "soon" ask her in front of your boss "done"! whoot
• Still makes me smile when someone from the past remembers me. I love looking at a person and remembering all the good times. I love looking at a person, sharing a smile and knowing while you may never have the same relationship again, or one at all for that matter, you will always have the past, you will always have the memories, you will always have that smile. Maybe you used to be enemies... but that smile, it says "I forgive you", it says "I hope you are happy", it says everything. 
• Chicken on a miniature George Forman  - difficult 
• Looney toons - still funny
• I have the best, most supportive friends and family
• I am not as weak as I thought :) Probably the most important lesson of the day

Had a great day at work today. I feel totally accomplished. For SO MANY reasons haha. At lunch however I went to the dentist. OMG it took forever. While I was waiting for the dentist I over heard one of the hygienists talking about how she found a gorgeous wedding gown but refused to pay $700 for something she'd only wear once. I was so curious because, heck, I know people who paid more than that for a prom dress. I was wondering if it could be because of money but listening to her talk about vacations I'm gonna think not. Then I heard her say how she was so simple but her fiance is freaking out planning everything... Lol I definitely think there's a little role reversal. I thought it was very interesting. I wonder what it would be like to be someone who wants to rent their wedding gown. I know there are people that have to, but to want to. Perhaps she's a tomboy, or just one of those girls who never dreamt of a prince charming and a big white wedding.
Unfortunately I am not one of those people. However, I have to admit, I'm not to torn up about that because our wedding is going to be one hell of a party. I am so excited to marry the man of my dreams. I can't wait to get all dolled up and see the look on his face when he sees me for the first time in a breathtaking white gown. I hope he'll think I'm breathtaking. I've always dreamt of being the girl that walks into the room and everyone stares. But honestly, as long as he's jaw drops or he's eyes tear up or something.. I will feel like a million dollars.

Thinking about my weight loss goal I've started thinking, "what if I do reach it? What do I do then?" and "When I do reach my goal, what will he think?" May 25th I will see Steven for the first time since December 26, 2011. There are 20 weeks between now and then which would be 40 lbs. I would weigh 148.4 lbs. That will be 23 pounds less than I have weighed EVER, in my entire life. Can i even get that small?? What will he think? Will he think I'm pretty, will I think I'm pretty? With my bone size will I look too thin. So many questions... I can't wait till I start seeing improvements in my body. I can't wait to see who I turn out to be. 

I am so excited. 

Stalker With A Dog Toenail Fetish?

Back to work another day :) I love my job but I could not bring myself to get out of bed today and when I finally did... I could not keep my eyes open all day. I really wanted to drink coffee or 5-hour energy but I tend to get a little loopy after haha.

Today I finally found a new e-newsletter layout, sent out an affinity partners email and scheduled another one. I had a few meetings, one in person and a few over the phone, with radio station managers to place our radio ad. Radio ads are a lot more expensive than I thought they were.

I also found out that we are all getting new computers! Thank God! My speakers are broken and my email doesn't work and my computer is super slow.. I'm so freaking stoked!

The highlight of the day though had to be when I received a package from a gentleman who wrote a book for CPAs. The book came in a package that was almost destroyed by the time it got to me and the papers were wrinkled. When I went to show my coworker how bad the package was some fell out of it on to her desk. Everyone was super freaked! We are 98% sure that it is a dog toenail! One of my coworkers and I took it around to the others (one kept running away Bahahahahah) and we ruled out pasta, dried garlic, human nail and a few other things. After googling dog toenails we decided that's what it must be. I am not sure why we found it so interesting but it was epic! We laughed so hard I thought I was going to die. I joked about having a stalked with a foot fetish and now my boss jokes about wanting to see what other kind of things I receive.

I didn't do very well on my diet today :( I am kind of disappointed in myself but I am not going to let it get me down. I went to Zumba today with Melyssa and Sarah, it was a ton of fun. I totally learned my lesson too! Stress eat junk food during the day = Feel like crap during/after zumba. Now I am exhausted and my stomach hurts haha. Progress??

I am looking forward to Zumba tomorrow and thursday. :) It makes me happy that I've finally found something I look forward to.I really want to go wednesday too but Wednesday is Zumba with weights.. haha I'm not quiet sure if I am ready for that after only four days of Zumba. We'll see how sore I am Wednesday, we did a lot of squats and stuff today.

Off to bed :)

Voice In My Head

I love hearing his voice it makes me happy and sad and excited and nervous and so many things all at once.

Right now though his voice is ringing in my head. He called today. We talked for a while then he called his parents. Then he called me to say bye. When my phone rang again I was confused.

"Hello?", I asked, "I thought you had to go"
He took a breath and said "I do, I just really wanted to hear your voice one more time"


Makes my heart flutter. God I love him :)

Blog O Blog How I Underestimated You

It is only 12:30 on Sunday and I already feel like I have so much to write about!!!

My blog... way different responses than I anticipated. As many of you may have noticed, my last blog changed a little bit. I am thinking about starting an anonymous blog somewhere so I can have my complaining blogs but for the sake of my job and my future... I will attempt to refrain from complaining on here.

So for a run-down of my weekend

Friday:

• While writing my blog the future daddy-in-law called and I ended up going to dinner with him and a friend. 
• Next I picked up Gabriele, my future mother-in-law, at the airport and we went to my house to close all my windows so my fish wouldn't freeze (apartment refinished the bath tup 80 ). I went into the laundry room to close the windows.... HUGE!!! spider! o my gosh we screamed and hid in the living room plotting our attack. I won't take you through the whole ordeal but... 
• 1/4 of a can of hair spray + 1/2 bottle of windex + a running shoe = that sucker is dead!
• We left the house and went to my parents, where we were planning to stay and I did all of the first time introductions... It went really well :) then it was off to bed.

Saturday

• 7 am Weigh in - I lost 1.6 lbs. Whoot!!! stoked! 
• 9:30 am Swoon Bridal Saloon- Progress ;)
• 12:00 p.m. Meeting with the wedding coordinator in Lake Tahoe at the Embassy Suites - More Progress
• 5 p.m. Dinner with my parents, Steven's parents and my grandparents. 
• 6 p.m. rehearsal Dinner planning. 

Sunday

• Took Gaby to the airport :( 
• Fell back asleep until 9 
• Wedding List Finalization 
• Bridesmaid Gift Ordering

Overall... I think it was a pretty productive weekend. Hopefully I will get to go to Fro-yo later with miss Amanda Alling. I can't wait until next Saturday. This past week i started my diet and new years resolutions on Tuesday. This week I have been pretty good on the diet all weekend and I get to go to my Zumba class Monday- Thursday maybe Saturday or Sunday if I am not too tired.
I'm not sure I've told many people why I think this time is different but perhaps I should. I've tried to lose weight before but I could never stick with it. Finding a studio completely dedicated to Zumba means I don't have to try and fit working out into my schedule.. The studio offers so many times, that it would almost be impossible for me not to find time to go. Also, the most important thing, Steven has always said that he believes in me and that I can do this. He's said he believes if I find the right plan I can stick to it... The last time we said goodbye we were hugging and he said goodbye and that he couldn't wait to see me...Then he kissed my forehead and said he couldn't wait to see the new me. For some reason, that, right there, changed everything.

Bored!

On our way home from a day of wedding planning!

T.G.I.F

While, it may not actually be true, at this moment in time I feel like I can say that I have NEVER been more thankful that it is Friday. This week has been absolute mas chaos and unfortunately shows no sign of giving in next week.


Just for a quick run down of my day.

• I Realized I have to create an entire new e-newsletter template by monday. 
• Lost track of time and missed my lunch hour
• I was asked 6 times when and email for a customer was going to be sent out
• My email has officially stopped working and I have to log in from a completely different location to view my emails. 
• I have a radio project that needs to be finalized within the next week
• I was not able to start on an advertisement who's deadline is Wednesday 

Two of my co-workers are absolutely amazing. Crazy, fun, yet professional... the other two? ... interesting

As I write this I am currently sitting in my office chair wondering if I should start my next project, or if I should just leave. My mother-in-law is coming to visit (yay) but her plane does not lane until eight. My projects will take a while. I can either go with out dinner (much like today's lunch) and work on all of the things that need to be done Monday, or I can be happy it's Friday, go find dinner and chill until my my mother-in-law gets here. Most of me wants to stay and get work done, however, my on-setting migraine and my growling stomach disagree.

Decisions, Decisions.

Revelation

What a day!

Today was definitely one for the books. On Monday I was worried that I was not a real necessity at my company. Some weeks I have a life time supply of work to do but a good majority of the time I haven't been busy with much.
Well, here comes the new year. Welcoming in the new year I am creating a new rate card, setting up a new 6 week radio project, creating a biweekly e-newsletter, maintaining our new website, creating ads for local publications, planning events that will happen later in the year, and also I have been made the main contact for our companies affinity partners, What I am noticing now is that my job is extremely important, I just joined the company at a time when my job was not as needed. Early I described myself as feeling like a little girl in a big kids world but now.. now I am starting to feel like I actually belong here.

I always thought that after college I would face this great change. I would become an "adult". I have graduated college, landed an 8-5, salary job and I am planning my wedding to the man of my dreams who I have been with for 4.5 years. How much more grown-up can I get. right? This is what I realized today. I am in the real world; it's here; it's now; and I'm a grown-up. As scary as that might sound, I'm ready for it because it doesn't mean that I need to be someone different. I just need to be me. I finally get that.

Another revelation I had was the meaning of "In order to love others, you must first love yourself." I have always known why people say that but I have never understood it. Until today. Today I realized that I have spent years liking myself. When I was growing up I was desperately trying to be someone; to be important; to be need; to be. My friends all fit into categories

• friends with problems i thought i could fix
• boys who thought i was the cutest, smartest thing on the planet (even if they weren't)
• friends who needed something
• friends who's life's were extraordinarily different than mine.

I used to drop friends like hot potatoes, never keeping a friend for more than a couple of years. Recently I've noticed that I've been more true to myself, i speak my mind, I'm honest with my friends... and I am subconsciously turning my life around. There has one thing that has always been not good enough for me though. My body. Even when I was thin I was told and believed that I was fat. 

That changes now. 

I have found a type of exercise that is fun for me and that I look forward to everyday and I am doing relatively well at watching what I eat. If I stay on this track and lose 2 pounds a week I can lose 36 pounds. I will be seeing my fiance for the first time in 2012 on May 27th and if I can keep the weight loss steady I can lose 40 pounds. 

To encourage myself to lose weight I am, for the first time in my life, going to admit how much I weigh. Last Saturday I weighed in at Weight Watchers as I do every Saturday and I weighed 190.2 pounds. My goal is to weigh 155 pounds by Saturday May 12th. That will be the Saturday after my birthday. I would like to set a goal of 150 pounds by Saturday May 19th but before I do that I want to see how my body does. 

• According to your height of 5' 8" your ideal healthy weight is 147 pounds. Your recommended weight range is between 131 and 164 pounds.
• http://www.healthstatus.com/cgi-bin/calc/calculator.cgi
• 146-167
• http://www.healthchecksystems.com/heightweightchart.htm
• http://www.healthdiscovery.net/links/calculators/ideal_bw_women.htm

I know these are not an exact science but based on these and the fact that the smallest I have ever been (when competing on two swim teams and training on a ski team) was 158, I think that 155 would be a great weight for me. As long as I get back to my size 8 dress.

Hopefully I show some progress this weekend at weigh in :)

Starting Off The New Year Right

This morning I got the urge to set up a blog. I thought to myself, "You've always wanted to set up a blog, Why not now?"  I tried setting up a blog on a different site and was unsuccessful and then I stumbled upon blogger.com. Needless to say, I have spent the better half of my day setting up my blog. I picked out a template and put up some photos and, while I know it is not completely set up yet, I am happy with it.

When setting up my blog I was presented with a difficult task; picking a blog title. I went through quotes, sentences, jokes, and finally a list of all of the most famous and popular song titles. There were many that fit who I am and even more that would be great blog titles, but when I read "All You Need Is Love" I knew that was it. In the grand scheme of things, love isn't all you need. For all those skeptics out there, I am aware that you also need food, air, shelter, clothing, money, etc. but when you don't have those or when those are running short, it is usually love that can bring you through those hard times. Whether it be a shared love between you and another person, or a love between you and yourself, the strongest people in life have love.

After I decided my title I played with the template backgrounds and then found my way to a blog layout site with a lot of choices. I found a few that I really liked and just chose one, since there are hundreds of pages of layouts, so I assume that I will probably be playing with them later.

When I'd finally made my decision on my layout I got to design (which is also not finished) and then came the time to write. "Awesome, What do I do know?" I said to myself. Then I got to thinking. I have wanted to write a blog ever since I was a little kid and realized i have better luck with a laptop then a diary. Every year I tell myself I am going to start a blog and I never do, so why don't a make it a part of my new years resolutions and write those.

Now I know that resolutions are usually made in the end of the previosu year so that you may begin them on day one of the next year, but I've never really been one for New Years Resolutions so ... I figure this is progress.

Lauren's Resolutions:

1. Start a blog.
2. Lose Weight 
• Diet
• Exercise
3. Learn French
4. Practice Italian
5. Worry Less

As of now, these are my resolutions. I planned to describe how I was going to accomplish all of these, however, work was busier that planned and now, to help accomplish resolution number 2 I have Zumba class at 5:30 with one of my BFF's Melyssa. So I must say goodbye. Tomorrow I will return and plan out my attack on my resolutions.

Ciao!