grateful

Today on the way Up North, after my very necessary drool filled nap, I started to go through pictures on my computer for our slide show. Now, I know I have many wonderful people in my life, but pictures are a great reminder of all the good times you have had with those wonderful people. I am so lucky to have all the people in my life that I do…and I often wonder how I got so lucky.

Did you know that wedding planning can have its dramatic moments? I know, you wouldn’t have ever thought that, huh? Well, I had my first “What the h e double hockey sticks are we going to do” moment. We are lucky that we have such a supportive family behind us. Let’s just say, working with a church isn’t what you always hope it would be. After many attempts at scheduling our marriage counseling, and it get rescheduled time and time again, we decided we needed to go a different direction with our officiant. Fortunately, there are two people in our life who we knew we could count on. My “Uncle” John and my “Aunt” Marie (really my mom’s cousins) are both ordained ministers. So, we knew we had two wonderful people we could ask. And, what do you know? They were both so willing. It actually gave me butterflies in my tummy. After some research by a number of people, we found out that either one of them in fact could marry us. So, we have the best of both worlds. Uncle John is going to perform the ceremony, and Aunt Marie is going to do the reading and give the dinner prayer. We feel like the luckiest people in the world to have such a wonderful, willing and supportive family.

My last thought…I am dedicating the rest of this blog to my bridesmaids…because Lord knows I wouldn’t have made it through without them (after looking through the gobs of photos I have with them…I got all sappy, and stuff). And, because I am the first of our friend group to get married, I give them major credit. We all went into this without a clue as to what we were supposed to be doing. And yet, they have been there every step of the way. They threw me an amazing bridal shower, and a double bachelorette party…with a touch of crazy and a tall pour of fun. So, I raise my glass to Megan, Amber, Lauren, Natalie, Brittany, Katie, Ali and Emma. Thank you for being my sanity through this crazy mess ride. I love you all to death. I cannot wait to have eight of my favorite people standing with me as I say “I do” to the man of my dreams. 

At my bridal shower...minus lauren and Emma!

At my bridal shower...with lauren!

Bachelorette Fun!

Aren't I lucky?

Feeling Grateful,

Sam

it's way too late.

30 days, 30 short days until our wedding. I cannot believe how fast the time goes. It is actually unbelievable. Deep breath…deep breath…deep breath.

Todays thought: Why, oh why did I choose the Northwoods to get married? Holy macaroni, it is so much work to plan a wedding in the first case. But, add a four hour drive to that, and it is almost impossible. This is why…dun, dun, dun…we hired a wedding coordinator. Janet is her name, and planning weddings is her game. Though Janet currently lives in Las Vegas, she will be flying back to assist with the preparations of the wedding and making sure the event flows smoothly. I am breathing so much easier after talking with Janet a measly two times. She rocks.

This has been a completely eventful week. Yesterday was my last day at camp. Major sad face. But this year was different…I wasn’t leaving camp as a student teacher...this time I left camp as a real teacher. What a completely scary unbelievable feeling.

Then, today, I had my first real day at school. I worked in my classroom, and then I helped out at registration. I got to meet five of my kiddos. The kiddos that will be in my class this year. Unreal.

Tomorrow we are headed back Up North to continue the planning brigade. This weekend we will not be spray painting 220 mason jars…because that is what we did last weekend (with the help of my lovely mother, aunt, uncle, grandma and cousins). This weekend, well, let’s just say that I see a lot more mason jars, except this time it won’t be the spray paint, it will be burlap. Sigh. 

Heavy eyed,

Sam