New Hobbies?

I just finished the last page of my action research project!! When I hit 'save' I felt a huge weight lift from me! I'm done!! The wedding plans are also coming along, there isn't much left to do there either. And I got released two weeks ago. I have often wished for more free time, and now that it looks like I'll have it, I'm not sure what I'm going to do. So here are a few hobbies that I'm thinking of taking up:

1. Carving egg shells. When I was in college I had some awesome roommates. One night we stayed up too late and decided it was a great idea to make our likenesses out of eggs. They all looked something like this. I really enjoyed that, and could make it into a full time hobby, working my way up to this! And just think of all the omelets I could enjoy while practicing!

2. Design my own fashion line. Everyone is doing it these days. Lindsay Lohan, Jay-Z, Victoria Beckham. How hard can it be? I'll probably watch a few episodes of Project Runway to get ready.

3. Writing angry letters to businesses, and possibly my congressman. The bathrooms were dirty, the ice cream was runny, the lighting was bad in the dressing rooms, I don't like the new 'no cell phone in the car' law. Maybe I'll even get free stuff out of the deal!

4. Shoe collecting. I always avoid collecting anything, because I know that's all I'll ever get for presents for the rest of my life. But if I become an avid shoe collector? I would love getting those presents! Plus, this would give me an excuse to buy this Ikea shoe organizer! I have to have something to show off my collection!!

This explains a lot!

In December I posted a list of things I wanted to do in 2010.  The year is approaching being half over, so I wanted to check in and see how it was going! 
 
Here is the list:
 
1.     Get an actual stamp in my passport
2. GRADUATE!!
3. Get a Texas drivers license
4. Sit on the beach and do nothing for a whole day- and don’t feel bad about it (sitting by a pool is also acceptable)
5. Learn to cook something outrageously fancy
6. Go on vacation without a plan, or even a map
7. Use the free volunteer day from work
8. Get a free makeover at the department store makeup counter
9. Host a dinner party
10. Get a pedicure
11. Make a quilt
12. Donate blood

And my progress:

1.      Not yet.
2.    FOUR MORE WEEKS BABY!!!!
3.    Why even bother until after my name change??
4.    Maybe on the cruise?  Nope… probably not…
5.    HAHAHA!!!  This is what I have Steve for!!
6.    Not even close.  Turns out I have control issues.  Shocking, I know…
7.    Check!  Thank you San Antonio Food Bank!
8.     I tried.  Turns out you need an appointment.  Who knew?
9.     Planning on it, when I move in with Steve and we have all our fancy wedding presents to show off!
10.Check!  Thank you college roomies!
11. Who has time for that??
12. Twice!! But the second time, I passed out on account of eating nothing the day before because of a stomach flu.  True story.
 
Well, I’ve done 3, and have plans for 3 more.  Which will put me at half.  Not bad!  If only I had put Get Married on the list ;)

Pictures!!

Below are some of my favorite engagements pictures (at least I think these are them, in the picture selector, they are really small, and I don't have my contacts in yet!!). We are both such hams, in half of them one of both of us is cracking up or making a funny face, but luckily we ended up with a lot of good ones. These are untouched and I was having a bad skin day, so don't click to enlarge ;)




Here is our invitation! Don't let me know what you think unless you say that you love it, because I just ordered prints and I don't want second thoughts :)

The Wedding Cycle

I have a theory. Planning a wedding has some similarities to the pride cycle.

First, you start out excited. Planning a wedding is fun! You get to tell everyone what to wear!! And pick out flowers!! And look for a wedding dress!! And buy new shoes! And take engagement pictures! And send out invitations. And find a place for the reception. And coordinate the rehearsal dinner. And get a photographer... And. And. And...

Which takes us to step two. Overwhelmed. There are too many choices. Too many things to get done. There's not enough time, not enough money, and trying to coordinate everything is like herding cats. If you think it's easy to herd cats then you need to watch this short video. Seriously, watch it, it's funny.

Step three is deciding not to care. No one really looks at the centerpieces. And do I really have to have food? Well, if I'm not going to do that, what the point of having a reception at all? Let's just get married and call it a day. In fact, I don't have plans next week. Let's get married then. So you mentally decide that you're canceling everything. But then step four kicks in.

Sentimentalism. But, if I don't have a reception, I can't have a Daddy Daughter Dance. And what's the point of buying a dress if no one is going to see it? And I've always wanted to have great pictures of my wedding day to remember forever. No! I have to have a wedding reception! It's so fun to plan them!

And the cycle begins again.

Registering

So, I had this idea of how registering would go. I've always been a fan of home goods, but most of the time when people try to pick something out for me, I wonder if we've ever met. Do I seem like the person that would really like a frame with cute/trying too hard to be touching sayings on it? Or the person who would enjoy having cups with fish painted on them?? Because I'm not... So the thought of being able to have people buy me things that I picked out- best idea ever!

Well, registering did not live up to my expectations. IT EXCEEDED THEM. We made the mistake of looking around for things we wanted before starting the registration process. I say it was a mistake, because it was a total waste of time. One we had the gun in our hands, we just scanned things that caught our eye, and ended up with a lot of things we didn't even know we wanted. It was so much fun!! It's been fun to check in and add more things online, too.

While I thought it was fun, I was exhausted at the end of it. It had all the fun of shopping with someone else's money, but no shoppers high at the end (you know, when you take your new purchase home, take it out of the packaging, find a place for it, know that that your life is better because you have something new, start to wonder if you paid too much, or if you really like it after all. Am I the only one with a shoppers high? really?). So, it is an exercise in delayed gratification, something I am still trying to learn.

I think the best part of registering was it gave Steve and I a chance to pick things out together, and made me imagine myself cooking a wonderful dinner for him in my super cute apron (hint: it's on the list at Bed Bath & Beyond- buy it for me and I'll love you forever) in my shiny new pans and serving the meal with matching pot holders and coordinating dishes. In reality, I will probably be eating something HE cooked, or eating something I defrosted, but a girl can dream, right?

Update

Special thanks to Amy for all the topic ideas ;)

So the wedding plans are coming right along. Finding a dress was quite the ordeal! Of course, there wasn't a dress with a sleeve in the whole city, at least not a pretty one, (and PS, David's Bridal, when you say you can put sleeves on any dress, and then bring out a thin strip of netting? Not acceptable!!) so I started my hunt online. I had found one that I loved for a great price, but wanted to try a few more on just to be sure I liked the shape. This store didn't allow returns, so I had to be sure!! So I decide that I will try some dresses on while I am in Phoenix visiting my college roommates. When I got to her house, I pulled up the website to shoe them the dress-and it was closed. The company had shut down!! I freaked out!! But luckily, we went to the dress store and found THE dress! I love it!! I make my roommates help me put it on all the time (they're probably glad I'm moving out soon!) and I love it. I especially love the headband with tons of rhinestones, and the best part- it came free with the dress! I love wearing it, I totally understand this episode of Friends:

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Next post- registering. Let me just say- funnest thing ever!!!