Break a Leg...WAIT THAT WAS A SAYING!

T-4 months until the wedding.  I am very accident prone.  I seem to have a combination of bones made of glass, no immune system, and world's worst case of clumsiness.  

My friends have recommended putting me into some sort of a bubble type contraption to protect me until the wedding.  My reaction, "You silly fools. I am a big girl. I can protect myself." Well I was wrong...Oopsies.


I could write about 500 pages telling you about my ailments.  But let's focus on the most recent, k?  Part of my "wedding-ready" routine was working out. I went from working out once or twice every other week to 4-6 times a week.  Had I not changed up what workouts I did, maybe nothing would have happened.  But I decided to incorporate running into my regimen.  I thought that was a FABULOUS idea. Lots of cardio means skinny bride.  Well between kickboxing and running, I got a horrible case of the shin splints.  Or at least that's what I thought it was.


So I did what anyone would do to get rid of shin splints.  I stopped running.  I started to only go to kickboxing.  However these stinkin' shin splints wouldn't go away.  So I told my kickboxing instructor, and he told me to massage my legs and to use some sort of "icy-hot on steroids" stuff.  "Excellent," I thought.  "This will surely cure my shin splints."  That was another oopsies.

So before working out, I would massage my legs and put this icy-hot type stuff on.  However, even with that and ankle braces, my shin splints were getting worse.  By the end of each kickboxing lesson, I would hardly be able to walk.  "Silly shin splints," I thought,"Man they sure are stubborn little things."  After about a month of this and excruciating pain, I decided it was time to go to a doctor.


So I went to the usual doctor I go to for bone type issues (yes I have a regular doctor) and they did XRAYS and sat me in a room for much longer than necessary.  When the doctor came in, he had the magical news. VIOLA! Fractured fibula.  Say whaaaaa?

How could it be a fractured bone? I didn't fall, I didn't get run over by a car, I didn't jump off a two story building, I just minded my own business and worked out like a normal person.  Then it hit me...I am NOT a normal person! My bones are made of glass.  That's right! So apparently adding running into my mix was a little much and my bone gave out...such a lazy bone.


So the doctor gave me my list of do's and dont's.  Do: sit down, lay still, wrap myself in bubble wrap. Don't: work out, move, THINK about moving.  Bleh.  I don't like your news Mr. Doctor-man.  That does NOT Work for me. It's crunch time and I don't have time for your shenanigans.  Sorry...gotta work out.  He didn't like that very much.  I kept trying to compromise with him on exercises, as though if he said I could do it then it wouldn't injure me.  I think he got a little annoyed that I wanted to still do kickboxing.  

So to no avail, I got stuck in a walking boot.  Yay...just what I wanted.  It goes SO nicely with every outfit.  Luckily for me, he said I should be out in a month. So considering I am still going to work out, I bet I'll be out in 6 weeks.  I think two extra weeks will make up for my complete lack of following his rules. (I came up with two extra weeks by using a math formula...don't ask for details)  So there you have it.  Less than four months until my wedding and I am stuck in a tacky boot, making people think even more about investing in a bubble for me.

Wedding Dress Disaster?

My family and friends know me for having VERY strange dreams.  Bordering on Tim Burton strange.  To me they usually feel very realistic.  I've even been known to get mad at people for the way they acted in my dreams.

Oddly enough, what I am about to describe is not even CLOSE to one of my weirdest dreams. However, it felt very real to me.  I officially had my first wedding nightmare.  No, my vendors didn't take my money and run, my photographer didn't bring only a disposable camera, and my groom didn't run away from me at the altar.  MY DRESS CAME IN WRONG!  AAAAAH!

Was the dress torn? No.  Was it stained? Nuh uh. Was it 5 sizes too small? Nope.  So what was wrong? It was white!

I bet after reading that, your face was a little like the one above.  So what you're saying is...that's not a normal thing to freak out about? Aren't wedding dresses supposed to be white?  Well yeah, ideally they are.  My dress, however, is a little off white and I love the way it looks with my complexion.  I feel like if I wear a dress that is purely white, I will look a little washed out.

Not exactly the look I want on my wedding day.  Like I said earlier, this is a VERY sane dream compared to the ones I usually have.  Which is probably why it scared me so much.  Something like this COULD actually happen.  Compared to some other wedding disasters, this one is very mild, but it worried me and made me REALLY fearful for my wedding dress appointment later this week where I'll see my dress for the first time.  I am now even more nervous...awesome!  I am sure my dress will come in exactly as I ordered it, but there is always that tiny little fear in the back of my head saying "Your dress won't fit you and it will be puke green and you're going to ruin your wedding."

Snow Bridget and the Seven Maids

I come from a large family.  7 daughters to be exact.  Where in that line do I fall?  Well I am the second oldest out of 7 daughters.  For those non-mathematicians, that means I have 6 sisters. That's a whole bunch. I am used to it and I love it a lot, but when I got engaged I immediately asked myself "How can I have all my sisters and my closest friends be in my bridal shower without being one of those brides with a huge bridal party?"  That was a silly question to ask myself as it is not possible.  6 sisters + 2 best friends + 1 very close cousin = 9 bridesmaids.  HELLO HUGE BRIDAL PARTY!

I am in no way against large bridal parties.  I just feel that a large bridal party is better suited for a large wedding.  When we originally started planning our wedding we wanted 100 people.  So a bridal party of 20 (9 bridesmaids, 9 groomsmen, 1 flower girl, 1 ring bearer) would be a fifth of our wedding.  I feel like if that many people are standing by me at my wedding then there will be nobody in the seats.  I couldn't get the image out of my head of empty seats with me at the altar and the only things I hear are crickets and coughs.

No...that was NOT an option.  (Had I known that my wedding would grow to upwards of 200 guests I may have reconsidered my bridal party.  I'll discuss how it grew that large in a later post)  I did not find many ways to go about choosing a bridal party without leaving those closest to me hurt. 


Options I considered:

1. Go with a VERY tiny bridal party, one or two people (This was never really an option as I wanted more than just one or two people by my side)
2. Choose three of my sisters and my two best friends (This was my best option until one of my sisters automatically assumed she was in the wedding and of course I could not say no)
3. Allow all my sisters, my best friends, my cousin, and a partridge in a pear tree to be in the bridal party (I don't think my fiance even knows that many people, so he would have had to have stand ins from the venue)
4. Go with just my six sisters (this made a lot of sense until I realized I consider my best friends to be my family)
5. Just have my dogs as my bridal party so nobody feels left out.  I mean, how can people feel left out just because they're not dogs (this was quickly shut down because I realized my dogs would not be able to plan a proper bridal shower or bachelorette party, nor can they give toasts)

After much deliberating and many pints of Ben & Jerry's consumed, I came to a decision.  I would have two sets of bridesmaids.  At first I called them my "Bridesmaids" and "Honorary bridesmaids."  Soon after that, I realized that's like getting an "honorary Degree" from a college.  Means nothing.  I decided to name them after their dress colors.  I have four sisters and my best friend as the "Oasis Bridesmaids" and my other two sisters as my "Glacier Bridesmaids."  This worked out perfectly because my fiance had a perfectly easy time of selecting his groomsmen since he has three brothers and two close friends.

But wait! You may be thinking "Eywa, you have 7 and he only has 5." What a bright reader you are.  That is correct! Our way to solve this was to have my Glacier Bridesmaids serve as my house party. They will greet people and look pretty.  My fiance chose two guys to be his ushers (my brother-in-law and a friend).  Viola! 7 and 7.  As for my other best friend who I consider to be family, I could not fit her into my immediate bridal party.  So how did I solve this? Her daughter is my flower girl.  I felt this was a wonderful way to still incorporate her family into my wedding without having to sacrifice a sister being in my wedding.  I feel this worked out perfectly.  And to make it even better, her daughter will look absolutely STUNNING walking down the aisle with my fiance's nephew who is just a few months older than my flower girl!

In the end it was a lot of thinking and a lot of heartache over potentially hurting someone's feelings, but at the end of the day I am very happy with my bridal party and feel like I couldn't have had a better way to incorporate those close to me into my wedding.  And luckily, not hurt feelings were incurred and I now have the most AWESOME bridal party EVER!

Turn That Frown Upside Down

Moments after writing my last post about how stressed I was and about how sure I was the world was coming to an end, I get a call.  Not just any call, THE call.  MY WEDDING GOWN CAME IN!

I did my happy dance in my office for a split second, texted my fiance, and then did what any logical bride would do. I decided I should leave work then and there and go try my dress on.  I reached to grab my purse and remembered key words from that phone call.  Words like "appointment" and "Thursday or Tuesday only".  Hmph.  Way to ruin my day.

I had to put aside my desire to run out of work flailing my arms and screaming "It's here! It's finally here" and realize the reality is, I have to make an appointment to go try my dress on.  So, I called my mom, told her my dress came in, and we decided we'll go together next week at a SCHEDULED time to try on my gown.  So now I can bring things like my necklace, earrings, veil, and shoes to get a REAL feel of my gown.  I guess this works out for the best, I don't look very fabulous today and everyone knows you have to look amazing when you try on your gown because frizzy hair ruins even the best looking gown.


So, next week it is. I get to find out if my gown looks as amazing as I remember.  Possibly even better since it will be in MY size. YAY ME!

Laid off, but not Paid off?

With less than 4 months to my wedding, I find out someone who was an integral part in helping pay for my wedding was laid off.  Cue freak out.

Luckily the wedding is ALMOST paid off.  Key word...ALMOST! I would say there is probably a quarter of the wedding left to pay. Not too big a deal, but still enough to add an unnecessary amount of stress onto any bride.  As if we don't have enough to worry about, now as a bride I have to worry about things like how I am going to get flowers for my bridesmaids and make sure I have shoes. (Every bride needs shoes)

To be honest, the only things I am particularly worried about now are the rehearsal dinner, bridesmaids/groomsmen gifts, and maybe little things to add to the wedding.  I am not TOO worried about paying off my vendors, so that's a good thing. (Bonus points to me for planning things and paying them off WAY in advance of the deadline)


I know lay offs happen, and sadly they happen to hardworking, deserving people at times.  It's just not something any bride wants to hear a mere 3.5 months before the big day. In my situation, the parties involved still want to do everything they can for this wedding.  That means so much to me and I am so lucky to have the support I have from my family and friends, but morally I feel more obligated than ever to find a way to do this myself.(It's all on me, this is the end of the world!) 

Here is how the brain of a bride works in this situation:

• I feel like now I need to handle the wedding entirely on my own (although this is not true)
• I feel the need to go above and beyond to make this a special day for those who were affected by this untimely turn of events
• I feel the need to cancel the wedding as it seems like a completely unnecessary event to hold in times like these
• I want to punch those responsible for the lay off in the face for doing this to someone who I feel didn't deserve it
• I want to not eat any food because I feel like if I eat, those who cannot afford to eat will get even LESS food (yes this one is completely irrational)
• I want to give all the money I receive for the wedding from friends to those affected by the lay off
• I want to pay for EVERYTHING (hair, makeup, suit, dress, shoes, tie) for the affected parties that they need for my wedding day so they don't feel any added pressure

After much brainstorming, I did, however, come up with the below options to help me with this situation and still have the wedding of my dreams.

1. Sell a kidney
2. Sell BOTH kidneys
3. Sell all of my belongings in a garage sale
4. Stop being a drama queen and just cut back on my spending a little and allocate all extra funds to the wedding to pay it off

Pretty sure I know which one I'll do, but I would like your thoughts as well.  What would you do in my shoes?

Avatar

My older sister is an "Avanerd".  There, I said it. 


I have been contemplating whether to start a blog for a long time.  Today, I finally decided to do it. However, I decided only about ten minutes before I was supposed to leave work. Oopsies.  So, my sister to the rescue.  I was starting my blog site and I needed a username and blog name.  I messaged a few people to help me come up with a creative username, and my sister was the only one who responded.  Her answer? "Eywa Ngahu".  Translated it means "Eywa be with you".   Have you seen Avatar? No...well Eywa is the sole deity on this distant planet "Pandora" and is concerned with the balance of life on the planet.





The picture above is the "Tree of Souls" with many of the Na'vi (Pandorian humanoids) surrounding it.  It's very pretty.  The tree of souls is a giant tree that is said to be the closest connection to Eywa on Pandora.  The Na'vi have these little things coming out of their head that can connect them to the tree of souls, called "queue".  I think they are a little creepy looking.





The Na'vi can bond to other living organisms using this "queue" and form a "Tsaheylu". Then they can speak to the other living things.  They are able to use this "queue" to speak with Eywa and put all their thought and memories back into their deity...sort of.  I am pretty sure my Avanerd sister will have a field day correcting this post.


Make sense? No?  I didn't think so. You'll have to watch the movie.  


Well, so my username means "Eywa be with you", so it's kind of like saying "God bless you".  Not as in a sneeze, but more a blessing to someone.  Then there is my blog title which is "Nga yawne lu oer" meaning "You are beloved to me". I liked this as my URL title because I truly appreciate anyone who takes the time to read my posts.  I plan on using my blog as an outlet for creativity, emotions, stress, and everything else I can think of. So, I think the Blog Title makes sense because the people who take the time to read what I have to say and comment on it are beloved to me.  Also, it's the only thing my sister could think of in the short span I gave her.


So there it is, the reason behind my odd username and Blog Title.  The only person who was available to help me with my blog was my older sister who, as previously stated, is an Avanerd.


Hayalovay (Until Next Time)