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| From wedding prep |
discovering quinoa
14 years ago
Friday, August 28, 2009
cousin shout out
This post is a thank you shout out to my cousins, Nick & Jesse, who were so helpful to my Dad yesterday in fixing up the deck & backyard.
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| From wedding prep |
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| From wedding prep |
groom's cake
Holly is an amazing baker! So I asked her to bake the groom's cake. Unfortunately, not everyone will get to try it, because we're having it at the rehearsal dinner instead of the wedding. But here it is in the early stages!
check out all the butter! And I bought 2 more boxes after she went through these.
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| From wedding prep |
check out all the butter! And I bought 2 more boxes after she went through these.
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| From wedding prep |
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programs
So it turns out that I was really, really bad at tying the bows on the programs. But thankfully, my dad, Holly, and Aunt Sherry were total pros!
The top bow is Holly's, the bottom bow is Dad's. Hehe.
The great helpers:
The top bow is Holly's, the bottom bow is Dad's. Hehe.
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| From wedding prep |
The great helpers:
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favors
Before I start the post...please pray for me! The zinc only worked so well...I have been battling a cold for the past 3 days :( I really hope to be healthy by wedding day! I think family drama has really worn me down, and I'm just trying to stay alive at this point. ha! Also pray for the weather. It has been cloudy and sprinkling every now and again.
My grandfather on my mom's side, Pop Pop, worked at the M&Ms factory in New Jersey. He died before I was born, so I never knew him. But my family is really big into M&Ms because of him, and my mom still has a friend who works up there and shipped us many pounds of pink & green M&Ms. They are "fresh" since they came straight from the factory and didn't sit on a grocery shelf at all. Mmm.
We bought these little translucent pockets that say "love" all over them, and we stuffed them with the M&Ms. The pockets were really cheap, but they were kind of hard to put together, and we ended up taping the ends just to make sure no M&Ms would fall out. Enjoy!
My grandfather on my mom's side, Pop Pop, worked at the M&Ms factory in New Jersey. He died before I was born, so I never knew him. But my family is really big into M&Ms because of him, and my mom still has a friend who works up there and shipped us many pounds of pink & green M&Ms. They are "fresh" since they came straight from the factory and didn't sit on a grocery shelf at all. Mmm.
We bought these little translucent pockets that say "love" all over them, and we stuffed them with the M&Ms. The pockets were really cheap, but they were kind of hard to put together, and we ended up taping the ends just to make sure no M&Ms would fall out. Enjoy!
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| From wedding prep |
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
closing thoughts
Well, I have about 30 more inserts to print, and then we get to flip them over and print the other side. Don't worry, I'll probably just do them tomorrow.
Just thought I'd close the night/morning with a few thoughts.
Now that it's 2 am, we are officially 3 days away from wedding day!
Even with all the craziness going on, it's important to take time out with the Lord and also with each other. I re-memorized Psalm 23 and have been thinking it a lot, especially last week when I was going through some especially tough times. Ryan and I have had some spontaneous date nights without spending too much money :) And those have been really sweet times where we didn't talk wedding, but just enjoyed each other's company.
Speaking of the Lord, if you have some time this week, please pray for us! And for these specific requests:
- traveling mercies for everyone driving & flying
- good health for everyone - I personally have been struggling with the start of a cold and have been loading up on zinc lozenges, I hope they work!
- good weather
- that our wedding day would ultimately glorify God
Thanks everyone! Good night/morning :)
Just thought I'd close the night/morning with a few thoughts.
Now that it's 2 am, we are officially 3 days away from wedding day!
Even with all the craziness going on, it's important to take time out with the Lord and also with each other. I re-memorized Psalm 23 and have been thinking it a lot, especially last week when I was going through some especially tough times. Ryan and I have had some spontaneous date nights without spending too much money :) And those have been really sweet times where we didn't talk wedding, but just enjoyed each other's company.
Speaking of the Lord, if you have some time this week, please pray for us! And for these specific requests:
- traveling mercies for everyone driving & flying
- good health for everyone - I personally have been struggling with the start of a cold and have been loading up on zinc lozenges, I hope they work!
- good weather
- that our wedding day would ultimately glorify God
Thanks everyone! Good night/morning :)
today's mail
still printing programs...
Today I got some interesting mail! The first was an article from my sister about a historic monument in front of First Christian Church, where we are getting married. It's a monument for Emily Tubman, and she was a member of the church. Her husband Richard wanted all his slaves to be freed when he died, but the Georgia Legislature denied him. So Emily offered to fund moving them to Liberia or to have them choose to continue to work for her. A third moved to Liberia and took her last name in her honor. The others stayed with her, and later in her life she was able to free them and give them land. She was a pretty amazing, giving woman...she also became a good businesswoman and donated much of her money to her church and schools. So, when you come to the wedding, and you see this monument right outside the front door, you'll know what it's for and the story behind it. You can read more about her on First Christian's website. I think the article originally came out of the Augusta Spirit, but I don't see it on their website. The Augusta Chronicle has a cool little article though.
Another letter I got was from Macy's and Wedgwood/Royal Doulton. It was an apology letter, saying sorry for the ridiculously long shipping times for items on our registry. I know someone bought us 1 place setting of Royal Doulton, our fine china, and it's not supposed to arrive until...drum roll...November!! Yikes. So, if you too have been wondering what was up with their shipping times...I still don't have an answer for you except that they are aware of the problem and they're trying to ameliorate the situation. And that this is a Macy's/Wedgwood/Royal Doulton universal problem, not just for me & Ryan. I guess that makes me feel a little better.
This has nothing to do with mail, except for the fact that I got the mail about 3 hours after I did this:
Got my nails done! There's not really any place in Augusta I trust, so I got them done up here in Atlanta. Hopefully they'll last til Sat. Raegan told me not to wash any dishes, and I should be fine. Haha! Music to my ears. Plus I just wanted to show off my ring again. It looks a lot better on manicured hands, hehe.
Today I got some interesting mail! The first was an article from my sister about a historic monument in front of First Christian Church, where we are getting married. It's a monument for Emily Tubman, and she was a member of the church. Her husband Richard wanted all his slaves to be freed when he died, but the Georgia Legislature denied him. So Emily offered to fund moving them to Liberia or to have them choose to continue to work for her. A third moved to Liberia and took her last name in her honor. The others stayed with her, and later in her life she was able to free them and give them land. She was a pretty amazing, giving woman...she also became a good businesswoman and donated much of her money to her church and schools. So, when you come to the wedding, and you see this monument right outside the front door, you'll know what it's for and the story behind it. You can read more about her on First Christian's website. I think the article originally came out of the Augusta Spirit, but I don't see it on their website. The Augusta Chronicle has a cool little article though.
Another letter I got was from Macy's and Wedgwood/Royal Doulton. It was an apology letter, saying sorry for the ridiculously long shipping times for items on our registry. I know someone bought us 1 place setting of Royal Doulton, our fine china, and it's not supposed to arrive until...drum roll...November!! Yikes. So, if you too have been wondering what was up with their shipping times...I still don't have an answer for you except that they are aware of the problem and they're trying to ameliorate the situation. And that this is a Macy's/Wedgwood/Royal Doulton universal problem, not just for me & Ryan. I guess that makes me feel a little better.
This has nothing to do with mail, except for the fact that I got the mail about 3 hours after I did this:
Got my nails done! There's not really any place in Augusta I trust, so I got them done up here in Atlanta. Hopefully they'll last til Sat. Raegan told me not to wash any dishes, and I should be fine. Haha! Music to my ears. Plus I just wanted to show off my ring again. It looks a lot better on manicured hands, hehe.
pink & green invasion
Yep...still printing programs...
A couple days ago, I took some ribbon in our shades of pink & green and decorated the ringbearer pillow and flowergirl baskets. They started out plain white...which was a problem because they are whiter than my dress, and I think that looks kind of funny. But, they were on sale at...you guessed it, Michael's. My mom & sister purchased them a while back, I think altogether it was under $15.
Anyway, I don't know what the tradition is surrounding these items, but it seems everywhere I look, they're plain. And I figured, you know, these little kids should have something more fun than just plain white stuff. And ok, ok. I admit that I really wanted something more fun than just plain white stuff. Well a glue gun, ribbon, and an hour later...
A couple days ago, I took some ribbon in our shades of pink & green and decorated the ringbearer pillow and flowergirl baskets. They started out plain white...which was a problem because they are whiter than my dress, and I think that looks kind of funny. But, they were on sale at...you guessed it, Michael's. My mom & sister purchased them a while back, I think altogether it was under $15.
Anyway, I don't know what the tradition is surrounding these items, but it seems everywhere I look, they're plain. And I figured, you know, these little kids should have something more fun than just plain white stuff. And ok, ok. I admit that I really wanted something more fun than just plain white stuff. Well a glue gun, ribbon, and an hour later...
your after midnight update
Hi! Betcha didn't expect an update this late. Well seeing as it's wedding week, I wanted to make sure to update more often. Tonight, I happen to be printing out the ceremony programs. Even with my printer on the highest speed, it is taking several hours to print all the inserts.
We bought the program materials back in January or February on sale at Michael's. Only $10 for 40 programs (covers, inserts, and green twine to tie it all together). You download the template online from Gartner Studios and then print at home.
They may not be as fancy as getting them done at a printers, but I think they're really cute, and they were much cheaper! We got 200 programs for $50 and then I had to buy ink cartridges for $50. Grand total = $100.
Here's a template that we printed over just to test...gives you an idea of what the finished product will look like. I'm REALLY looking forward to tying all those little green bows. I will let you know a final tally on how many man hours that takes! Haha.
We bought the program materials back in January or February on sale at Michael's. Only $10 for 40 programs (covers, inserts, and green twine to tie it all together). You download the template online from Gartner Studios and then print at home.
They may not be as fancy as getting them done at a printers, but I think they're really cute, and they were much cheaper! We got 200 programs for $50 and then I had to buy ink cartridges for $50. Grand total = $100.
Here's a template that we printed over just to test...gives you an idea of what the finished product will look like. I'm REALLY looking forward to tying all those little green bows. I will let you know a final tally on how many man hours that takes! Haha.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
my bouquet!
Holly sent me some pictures of my rehearsal bouquet! It looks so pretty and big, I can't wait to see it in person. I think it might be prettier than my real bouquet!
Here's how she started, with a paper towel tube and a plate:
Adding all the bows & ribbons:
The finished product!
Here's how she started, with a paper towel tube and a plate:
Adding all the bows & ribbons:
The finished product!
Monday, August 24, 2009
experimenting...
I went by Ikea the other day to buy candles & holders for the centerpieces...I got about 60 glass votives and 100 candles for $35:
The plan is to have different vases with pink roses and kiwis in them...Ryan & I kinda played around and this is what it looked like...
Of course, we'll have full size roses and we'll cut the kiwis thinner so they fill the vase up more. Costco has 10-12 kiwis for $5, so it won't be too costly. Maybe tie some tulle around the vase? Any thoughts, suggestions?
Hey guess what? We're getting married THIS WEEK!
The plan is to have different vases with pink roses and kiwis in them...Ryan & I kinda played around and this is what it looked like...
Of course, we'll have full size roses and we'll cut the kiwis thinner so they fill the vase up more. Costco has 10-12 kiwis for $5, so it won't be too costly. Maybe tie some tulle around the vase? Any thoughts, suggestions?
Hey guess what? We're getting married THIS WEEK!
Thursday, August 20, 2009
let's make a deal
Another task I completed last weekend was the gift buying & wrapping for my side of the wedding party. I love buying gifts for people! Shopping for these gifts was so much fun. So just because I love games & teasing...let's play Guess-What-the-Presents-Are!! If this were really Survivor, you could think of this as a Reward Challenge! I can't wait to reveal what they are after the wedding!
Hint #1: These boxes are for the bridesmaids, and they are all identical except for Holly's. They were handcrafted by a coworker.
Hint #2: These gifts are identical, and they are going to our parents. Wrapping paper from Hallmark (love that store!)
Hint #3: The green bags are gifts for my reception hosts, and the pink bags are gifts for the bridesmaids. They are all the same gift, just the hosts have reversed color scheme from the bridesmaids. Also not pictured are 2 smaller pink bags with the flowergirls gifts, which are different from all the gifts I've already mentioned. Confused yet?
Here is the monogrammed stationery I'm using to write all my final notes as a Navarro. A very good friend from college, Erika, gave this stationery to me as a gift our freshman year from a super cute gift store in Baxley. I've only used the stationery a couple times through the years, and I rediscovered it when I was putting the gifts together. It's perfect and I'll be sad when I've used it all up!
Hint #1: These boxes are for the bridesmaids, and they are all identical except for Holly's. They were handcrafted by a coworker.
Hint #2: These gifts are identical, and they are going to our parents. Wrapping paper from Hallmark (love that store!)
Hint #3: The green bags are gifts for my reception hosts, and the pink bags are gifts for the bridesmaids. They are all the same gift, just the hosts have reversed color scheme from the bridesmaids. Also not pictured are 2 smaller pink bags with the flowergirls gifts, which are different from all the gifts I've already mentioned. Confused yet?
Here is the monogrammed stationery I'm using to write all my final notes as a Navarro. A very good friend from college, Erika, gave this stationery to me as a gift our freshman year from a super cute gift store in Baxley. I've only used the stationery a couple times through the years, and I rediscovered it when I was putting the gifts together. It's perfect and I'll be sad when I've used it all up!
rings
Sorry, we are really bad at keeping this up to date. Things are really getting crazy now! A couple weekends ago, we went to Augusta for the last time before we go for the wedding. One of my favorite things we did that weekend was pick up our rings! I also picked up Ryan's wedding present. Here's what they look like:
I just love the difference in size of our rings, haha. Ryan says it's a secret what we've inscribed inside our rings "for now" so maybe some day I can tell you what they say. Also funny - when I tried my ring on at the store, I couldn't get it off, because it was so thin it was hard to get a grip on it! Later back at the house, Ryan did a shaking test where he vigorously shook his hand/arm to see if he could throw his ring off his finger. Don't ask me when in his life he will ever shake his arm that hard...but he seems to think that could really happen.
Hey guess what? We exchange rings in just 9 days!
I just love the difference in size of our rings, haha. Ryan says it's a secret what we've inscribed inside our rings "for now" so maybe some day I can tell you what they say. Also funny - when I tried my ring on at the store, I couldn't get it off, because it was so thin it was hard to get a grip on it! Later back at the house, Ryan did a shaking test where he vigorously shook his hand/arm to see if he could throw his ring off his finger. Don't ask me when in his life he will ever shake his arm that hard...but he seems to think that could really happen.
Hey guess what? We exchange rings in just 9 days!
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Other good news
Ok, so maybe my next blog won't be post honeymoon, and actually 2 minutes later.
Anyways, I got a great wedding present that I wanted to share with everyone. On 8/13/09, 5 months and 2 days after I got laid off (thanks economy), I got a job offer. I accepted the next day, and will be starting a position with The Hanover Insurance Group on 9/14/09. It couldn't have happened at a more perfect time, considering how much everything costs these days, weddings, honeymoons, everything else.
I'm very thankful to have a job right now though. Hanover is a great company, and I'm excited to be working for them shortly. Thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers...and help during the past 5 months. Unemployment is not easy, and now I know that.
Anyways, I got a great wedding present that I wanted to share with everyone. On 8/13/09, 5 months and 2 days after I got laid off (thanks economy), I got a job offer. I accepted the next day, and will be starting a position with The Hanover Insurance Group on 9/14/09. It couldn't have happened at a more perfect time, considering how much everything costs these days, weddings, honeymoons, everything else.
I'm very thankful to have a job right now though. Hanover is a great company, and I'm excited to be working for them shortly. Thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers...and help during the past 5 months. Unemployment is not easy, and now I know that.
Bachelor Party
Sorry, no pictures... haha. I had a very nice bachelor party on 8/14/09. My brother put everything together, and was helped out by the rest of the guys. Matt Duckworth, Danny Karnik, Jon Straub and Matt Ward showed up, with Ryan Russell and Jonathan Ferro being just a little too far away (Vegas and LA) to make the trip.
The night started at one of my favorite places in Atlanta, Turner Field. Though it was my... 15th? 20th? Braves game of the season, it was a lot of fun. We had club level all you can eat seats, so good times were had. I do despise those Phillies though.
After that, we went out and had some fun in the VA Highlands here in town. Overall it was a nice night, good times shared with good friends. Now I'm looking forward to next week, when all of my friends are back together, but this time in an awesome golf cottage in SC. Not to mention the excitement of this wedding coming up.
Who knows, maybe the next blog you'll see from me will be the post-honeymoon blog!
The night started at one of my favorite places in Atlanta, Turner Field. Though it was my... 15th? 20th? Braves game of the season, it was a lot of fun. We had club level all you can eat seats, so good times were had. I do despise those Phillies though.
After that, we went out and had some fun in the VA Highlands here in town. Overall it was a nice night, good times shared with good friends. Now I'm looking forward to next week, when all of my friends are back together, but this time in an awesome golf cottage in SC. Not to mention the excitement of this wedding coming up.
Who knows, maybe the next blog you'll see from me will be the post-honeymoon blog!
Friday, August 7, 2009
bachelorette dinner
Last weekend, two of my bridesmaids threw me a shower. It was so much fun! Unfortunately, I don't have any of the pictures yet, but hopefully Meg will send me some soon and I will recap it for y'all then.
After the shower, we went to Eclipse Di Luna for dinner. I love tapas and sharing good food with good friends. It was really a great time hanging out with my favorite girls! Again, I don't have any pictures, but Lauren managed to sneak one on her iPhone of my awesome headgear. She bought it in Disneyland in LA and brought it back just for the bachelorette and the rehearsal on 8/29. Check it out:
After the shower, we went to Eclipse Di Luna for dinner. I love tapas and sharing good food with good friends. It was really a great time hanging out with my favorite girls! Again, I don't have any pictures, but Lauren managed to sneak one on her iPhone of my awesome headgear. She bought it in Disneyland in LA and brought it back just for the bachelorette and the rehearsal on 8/29. Check it out:
Thursday, August 6, 2009
bad hair day
Now our posts are getting all out of order, but that's ok. Back when I had the shower in Augusta, I also had my hair consultation.
Here's how it went:
Here's what Ryan thought about it:
Haha. Ok, in all seriousness, my hair won't be all that crazy for the wedding day. That's just all the prep work to make it humongously awesome. Now here's the quandary...we did a half up with lots of curls and an updo that looked cool too. But of course, only one hairdo can win. Any thoughts on which hairstyle I should go with? I'll keep the winner a surprise for 8/29 :)
Here's how it went:
Here's what Ryan thought about it:
Haha. Ok, in all seriousness, my hair won't be all that crazy for the wedding day. That's just all the prep work to make it humongously awesome. Now here's the quandary...we did a half up with lots of curls and an updo that looked cool too. But of course, only one hairdo can win. Any thoughts on which hairstyle I should go with? I'll keep the winner a surprise for 8/29 :)
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Support a great chairty...
So good news on the registry front. If you purchase gifts for our wedding through weddingchannel.com, up to 3% of the money from the purchases will go to a charity of our choosing. The charity will get more money as more gifts are purchased for us through WeddingChannel.com. The actual donation is based on a percent of the registry products purchased through WeddingChannel.com (excluding taxes and shipping) up to 3%. Six months after the wedding, the charity will receive a check for all the donations generated through WeddingChannel.com. Since wedding gifts are often purchased after the wedding, they wait six months to give the charity the chance to reach the highest donation percentage possible.
We chose The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society as our charity, because leukemia has hit close to home for both of us. Corrie had a young cousin, Sean, pass away due to leukemia. I have had two friends pass away, Jonathan Shirlock and Sara Keene. They were both in college at Georgia Tech when diagnosed and fought long hard battles. We miss them all.
On the same note, another great charity dealing with Leukemia is the Shirlock Foundation, at this link. The Shirlock Foundation's mission is to ease the financial burden faced by families of college students who have been diagnosed with Leukemia.
So, if you want to purchase gifts from either registry, please go through weddingchannel.com to get to the Macy's or Bed Bath & Beyond sites. Every donation to charity helps!
We chose The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society as our charity, because leukemia has hit close to home for both of us. Corrie had a young cousin, Sean, pass away due to leukemia. I have had two friends pass away, Jonathan Shirlock and Sara Keene. They were both in college at Georgia Tech when diagnosed and fought long hard battles. We miss them all.
On the same note, another great charity dealing with Leukemia is the Shirlock Foundation, at this link. The Shirlock Foundation's mission is to ease the financial burden faced by families of college students who have been diagnosed with Leukemia.
So, if you want to purchase gifts from either registry, please go through weddingchannel.com to get to the Macy's or Bed Bath & Beyond sites. Every donation to charity helps!
guess now it's official
bonus points for you if you can guess what song the subject line came from :)
Today, we took one step closer to be officially married on 8/29 - the marriage license!
Now, I don't know about you, but my political leanings favor a government that makes the most of my tax money, not wastefully spends it etc. Can I tell you that getting the license was a pretty inefficient and silly process? First we got the form. Then we had to fill it out, but oh no, we couldn't sit anywhere we pleased, we had to sit at a certain counter, even though the closer tables had marriage license signs on them. Hmmm. I wanted to say "you know, my tax money probably paid for part of this table that you won't let me sit at, even though there is NO ONE else around." Then we presented not 2 forms of ID, but just one. Our drivers licenses. I guess GA doesn't really question who you are. The clerk took her time and then we had to go to yet another counter to pay and then come back to the original counter. Whew. I really wanted to say something about this convoluted process but I saved my rant til after we got outside. And I saved my rant for tonight so I could share it with all of you. Did anyone else have a similar experience? Or is this just a Fulton County anomaly?
Another funny note - free group weddings on Fridays at the courthouse. I almost want to go just to witness it!
Anyway, there it is. The license. It expires in a year so no worries about that! Haha. And we actually paid for it with a monetary gift from one of the ladies at my church back home. So thank you Mrs. Rooks :) And it was discounted because of our premarital counseling. Yay! Dr. Jon gets to sign the license on 8/29 and then we send that back off to the govt and then get our real marriage certificate. Yippee!!
Today, we took one step closer to be officially married on 8/29 - the marriage license!
Now, I don't know about you, but my political leanings favor a government that makes the most of my tax money, not wastefully spends it etc. Can I tell you that getting the license was a pretty inefficient and silly process? First we got the form. Then we had to fill it out, but oh no, we couldn't sit anywhere we pleased, we had to sit at a certain counter, even though the closer tables had marriage license signs on them. Hmmm. I wanted to say "you know, my tax money probably paid for part of this table that you won't let me sit at, even though there is NO ONE else around." Then we presented not 2 forms of ID, but just one. Our drivers licenses. I guess GA doesn't really question who you are. The clerk took her time and then we had to go to yet another counter to pay and then come back to the original counter. Whew. I really wanted to say something about this convoluted process but I saved my rant til after we got outside. And I saved my rant for tonight so I could share it with all of you. Did anyone else have a similar experience? Or is this just a Fulton County anomaly?
Another funny note - free group weddings on Fridays at the courthouse. I almost want to go just to witness it!
Anyway, there it is. The license. It expires in a year so no worries about that! Haha. And we actually paid for it with a monetary gift from one of the ladies at my church back home. So thank you Mrs. Rooks :) And it was discounted because of our premarital counseling. Yay! Dr. Jon gets to sign the license on 8/29 and then we send that back off to the govt and then get our real marriage certificate. Yippee!!
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