Stuff and Things

Well, four days to go! I'm getting pretty darned excited! I'm a little nervous, though. Mainly because I'm planning this huge party where everyone will be watching me. Brian and I have a busy week coming up before Saturday. I'll be taking Thursday off from work to make the last of the pinwheels... Good riddance. ;) Just a little tired of making them, that's all...

This past weekend was the bachelorette party. I had a blast with my maids! We started off with manicures and pedicures... Then we had dinner at Sam's Joint in Caledonia... On the way there we totally saw an older guy wearing cowboy boots, jeans, wife beater tank top, handle bar mustache, with longer (yet balding) hair staring at us in the car... After dinner we went bowling and had a lot of laughs there. Then we settled over at Brian's house (he was at his bachelor party in Somerset) and watched Bride Wars. After the movie it was down to three of us. We talked until around midnight. After that it was just down to Nicole and I. Where we managed to talk and watch a movie until 6:00 a.m.


My bachelorette "glow."



Me getting my pedicure. I have incredibly sensitive feet. So, I squirmed and sqealed a bit...


This is by far one of my favorite pictures of the night. Rachel was presenting the shirt she bought for me to the camera and I changed my expression at the last second. :)

Also, coming up... Next Monday, before Brian and I leave for the honeymoon, I will be cutting off all of my hair (around 20 inches) and donating it to the Locks of Love. I'm very pleased with my decision, even though Brian is sad to see my hair go. Locks of Love is an amazing non-profit organization that provides hair pieces to financially disadvantaged children that have lost their hair to any type of medical diagnosis. If you're interested in donating please check out the requirements/standards on their site's donation page. Click Here.

10 Days To Go

Today Brian and I made our final payment to the banquet hall. It was nice to get that out of the way. We also went to GR to get a few last minute purchases for wedding decorations. Our tasks are coming to a close now...

I'm at the point some days where I'm almost getting sick of planning. I basically just want to get married now and finally be able to relax and not have to worry about every little thing and detail. Just a few more days to go and I can get rid of that "Soon-To-Be" up there...

After our trip from Grand Rapids, I decided to get to crackin' on that shadowbox that we'll have on display at the wedding. And well... I couldn't help myself. And I finished it. :)



Feelin' pretty smug about it. :)



And there will be two of these at each side of the trellis. I have to be honest, I didn't like this when I first finished it. Brian really likes it. And I must say, it is growing on me.

Also, yesterday...

I got a pretty big shock to my system when Brian came out to my desk and told me that my Mom had just found out that my brother Robert was in a car accident and that his car was totaled. Robert and I don't have the "normal" brother/sister relationship where they don't get along well. Robert and I are best friends and have always been there for each other. My eyes welled up in tears and I actually jumped up in my chair and let out a huge gasp. Brian assured me that Robert would be okay since he had actually called my Mom. Minutes later I saw my Mom pulling out of the HPS driveway. That killed me. I couldn't really leave my desk since my department was shorthanded. I was a mess and I couldn't concentrate.

What had happened was a car had hit Robert's passenger side door and flipped his car over on the drivers side doors. Robert managed to undo his seat belt and was standing up in his car sideways, so his feet were on the driver door and window. An ambulance crew arrived shortly after and bashed in Robert's windshield so he could exit the vehicle that way. They got him on a stretcher and got him to the ER. He was mostly fine other than some pretty bad cuts on his arm and elbow area, which required several stitches.

Throughout the afternoon my Mom would call/text me with an update. And right at 5:00 I was out of there. Brian and I drove as fast and safely to the hospital. I was frantic at the desk and the lady would only let one person go in at a time. So, I went back there. It was tough seeing them work on Robert and seeing him on a hospital bed. I did my best and didn't cry. We were there for over an hour before Robert was released. He's got some bruising and is pretty sore, but he's lucky to be here right now. The doctor said that if he hadn't been wearing his seat belt, he most likely wouldn't have been able to call someone. Which means, we most likely would have had the police show up at our door and give us the news.

Despite being in a lot of pain and feeling horrible that his newer car was totaled, we still managed to joke with him. We were telling him all the stories he could tell "the ladies" about how he got all those scars. And that "chicks dig them."



This is what is left of Robert's car. I tear up every time I look at them because they make me realize how broken I would be if I ever lost him.

Less Than Two Weeks To Go... And We're Incredibly Busy

Our countdown is about 13 days at this point... Allllmost 12 days.

This weekend we have been busy. Robert, Brian and I have managed to make 50 more pinwheels, about 70 of the wedding programs, assemble the wedding trellis, practice decorating it, writing up the thank you cards, and finishing all but a few of the candy wedding favors. And yes, we managed a lunch with my Pa for Father's Day. (Brian's Dad is currently in Romania helping with dental work.)


These are the pinwheels we've made this weekend.


Our candy favors...


Brian designed our programs. Isn't he great?


To close them, we have punched a star into them and tied them with ribbon.


This is the back of our program. We felt it was necessary to make a special thanks to everyone.


This is the inside of them.


My wrist is a little sore from writing all of the thank you cards... Yes, Brian helped.

Last Saturday was our wedding shower. HPS was kind enough to let us borrow the classroom for the day... And charged us $0. w00t! Here are a few shots...


Mmm... Cake. Thanks, Nicole!


They played a game where volunteers participated in making wedding dresses out of toilet paper. My brother, Robert, even made a toilet paper bouquet!


Can't forget the garter!


My cousin, Steven, was a good sport. Almost all of his Uncles whipped out their camera phones, though... Oops!


And Brian and I... The gift in front of me was from Nicole, a bridesmaid. It was a 25th anniversary scrapbook. She's just as sure of our relationship as Brian and I are. :)


Last Sunday afternoon, we FINALLY got the rocks for the wedding centerpieces. (No, they won't be in this dish... But I'd like to incorporate these dishes in the wedding decor.) My cousin, Sara, scoured a few dollar stores in GR. And found them in a store on 52nd Street.

That Sunday we also managed to buy all of the travel sized items we'd need for the honeymoon. Whew! It was a lot of stuff...

Coming up this Wednesday is the final payment for the banquet hall. And I'll be working on a huge shadowbox that we'll have on display at the wedding. We'll be finishing up the remaining pinwheels and programs... And honestly, that's almost it... Except for a few last minute purchases...

Our "never ending" list is somewhat winding down.

Oh! I almost forgot to mention, we ordered the flowers for the bouquets/boutonnieres/corsages! We pick them up July 3rd!

My Fingers Hurt... Bad.

Well, Saturday Brian and I met with John Drake. The meeting was fantastic! John believes that Brian and I are fit for marriage. See, Brian... No sweat. We're great together. Even John says so.

I haven't written a blog in a while. This past week has been absolutely horrendous. We went through AAA to book our Alaskan cruise... And well, I'm not going to put it lightly, AAA sucks... Big time. They overcharged a ton of money. They said we didn't specify something on our cruise info that I know for sure I did. And they told us that since we didn't take screenshots of the pages that we entered info on when we booked it that they couldn't verify that what we were telling them was true. I was so mad that I wanted to swear. So, Brian and I had to pay the amount that they overcharged us again. Seriously, if you're going on a cruise, go with a cruise line directly. Or don't go through AAA. They will take your money. And that really bothers me. It bothers me that they are scamming people and they're okay with. Are they truly happy?

Ok, enough of my griping. We saw "Land of the Lost" this past weekend. It was hilarious. And I'd definitely watch it again.

Brian and I have finally made an actual pinwheel! (Well, actually 80 of them so far.) I finally decided on a way that I wanted to go about making them. Which explains the title of this blog. (hot glue gun...)

Here are a few of my favorites...









They were actually quite simple to make. And Brian and I literally spent weeks discussing on how we would attempt making one... Would we make it so it spun? We decided in the long run that since they were a decoration they didn't necessarily need to spin on their sticks. Hopefully the little kids at the wedding won't destroy several while attempting to spin them...

We measured them out, cut them, and then in the center we cut two slits. We inserted the sticks and then glued them together that way; fastening them to the stick...



So now Brian's house is overrun with pinwheels. And we have about 50 more to go...




Okay, enough of me ogling over the pinwheels...

One of my friends from High School gave me a ring bearer pillow. Thanks, Jenny. I could not justify paying $20+ on a piece of material and cotton batting. Luckily she had gotten the pillow from her sister. And she isn't having a ring bearer. So, she didn't really have a need for it...



Our floating candles for the centerpieces are adorable!



And we got these because I'm paranoid that someone will break a glass at the reception...



And since I just realized that I didn't take any pictures of my wedding shoes...



I am DONE.
'Night!