I am alive.

I know.  I know.  It has been FOREVER since I posted anything.  I was in St. Louis from Sunday - Wednesday and my hotel with "free Internet" actually had Internet that would not work so I couldn't keep anyone posted on anything.  Plus, I was pretty busy with work and dinners that by the time I got back to the hotel I was exhausted.  Needless to say.  I am very happy to be back in Atlanta!

The St. Louis Arch.  I was so excited to see it when coming home from dinner, I snapped a picture at a red light.  Yay for being a tourist. :o)

But bullet form an update on my life & the wedding.

• Kyle and I LOVE our wedding rings.  We got them from my parents and last night tried them on.  His is big, mine is a little big.  But I didn't want to take it off.  So there is a slight chance I wore it around the house for awhile.  Hopefully, that is not bad luck.
• Our minster is no longer missing in action.  YEAH!  Him and his wife RSVP'd yes to the wedding festivities.  So with that said.... we have a minister.  Now Kyle and I just have to read some pre-marital books.  Fun Fun.
• I have my 1st wedding shower this Sunday.  Stay tuned for a picture filled post.  I have 2 friends coming in from Alabama so I am so very excited for that reunion.  I am not going to lie.  I do get worried since our wedding registry has not changed much and pretty much everything "fulfilled" I already have in my possession.  I just wonder why people don't buy straight off the registry - I mean it is a slam dunk.  You know we want it.
• We are also getting RSVPs back and it is so exciting to see who is coming to the wedding.  We are so far at like 56 people.  Sadly, a lot of invites have gotten lost in the mail / people moved and did not forward their mail so I had to order more invites and *hopefully* those will come soon so I can get them out in the mail ASAP.

• 

  A RSVP from my dear friend Heather.  Girl is crazy!

   
• Speaking of my dear friend Heather -- she just took a job in Tuscaloosa with the University so I am so excited that she is closer.  I now think I should make trips to T.Town and see her often and eat lots of bad for you food.  And better yet - Kyle and I can now go to a game or just to town and have a place to stay!! Yeah for friends in Tuscaloosa! =D
• MY DRESS FITS!  IT IS NO LONGER 2' TOO SHORT.  Victory!  But... it is kinda loose now from all my workouts so we will see March 4th how much they need to take it in.
• Non wedding related :: today is my Mom's birthday - HAPPY BIRTHDAY!  We're doing dinner with her tonight since she is in Atlanta {they really should just move here}
• Kyle and I have a minor "words with friends" addiction and last night we were laying in bed, talking, watching TV and playing each other in Words.  This is where technology is taking couples.  ;)  But at least we're hanging out.
• I actually won a $50 gift card at my company's kick off event last week and I am excited that Kyle and I can have a dinner date somewhere nice soon.  I am thinking our 5TH ANNIVERSARY! Originally, I wanted to get a cabin and we could escape {and of course take the dogs} but it ended up being too expensive and we're really trying to save our money.  So, dinner date it is.

As of today we're 58 days out!!!

Beyond Stressed.

I have 67 more days to go until the wedding and I am on the verge of a total mental and emotional breakdown.  Honestly, I do not think I can take any more blows and things going haywire. 

Minister. Ours is MIA. Legit. MIA. Him and I have swapped a few texts today about how "he does not think it will be a problem" -- so I have now sent an email to the Gwinnett Courthouse to find out if it is okay or not okay. And on top of it all, I need to plan out my ceremony and I need to TALK to my minister to do so.  But since he is so MIA I am getting worried that he will even show up. =/
However... on the topic of Ministers.  I did find out that there is no "cleric registry" here in Georgia {whatever that means} so he is 100% good to go in Georgia to marry us.  Now.. it just comes down to WILL HE.  Like if he does not want to do it - that is fine - just say so.  But with 67 days i kinda need to know so I can start making other arrangements.  You know?
Rings.  FedEx just called me and said that they *probably* cannot release the package to my Mom since she is not me.  Something about Federal regulation since it has to deal with mail, but I call BS on that because how many times have I signed for a package that was not for me while at work or at home. So as of right now, I have sent an authorization form to the FedEx Facility & it will be the shipping manager's call if he will or will not let my Mom sign for it. 
Invitations. They went out like 2 weeks ago.  On the 6th.  And there are a bunch of people who have not moved and who have not received their invite.  Granted I know the RSVP date is February 24th - so we have time to get the RSVPs in but it is still not fun to know my invites are somewhere in the postal service land.

I feel like every wedding has its moments that try you and make it hard... but Kyle and I were talking and we feel like it is one thing after another.  If it isn't the bridesmaid dresses being ordered late {but luckily still making it on time} it is the store that has the bridesmaid shoes deciding not to restock the style and refunding every one's money.  Or is it my wedding dress alterations lady cancelling my 1st fitting to go to New York and it is my wedding venue trying to reschedule each and every appointment on the books and forgetting that I made changes to the ceremony site and flowers and being asked to "remind me again".

I legit feel like the only thing that has not caused me stress is my photographer and that is because he is calm and level headed and insanely organized.  Therefore, I am thankful for him.

But seriously, when you get engaged why does everyone tell you that this is "such a fun time" and to "enjoy it, it flies by" ... how about a honest "congrats" followed by a "it really won't be fun".

we have a minister!

another thing to check of the "to-do" list.  we have a minister!

after procrastinating for months i finally connected with one of my really good childhood friends and asked him to be our minister.  i thought it would be really cool to have someone i know marry us and the fact that i have know brian pretty much my whole life added a nice sentimental touch to the event.

oddly enough i was pretty nervous when asking him. don't know why. but i was.

next thing to do: premarital counseling. lets hope we aren't told we shouldn't be getting married.  ....do they even say that sort of thing?

now.... lets hope he leaves the embarrassing childhood stories in tennessee and doesn't bring them up in front of our guests. 

xoxo,
B & K