It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Well, no, I guess it really isn't here in the Midwest, but inside our house it is since we put up the tree on Monday. Yes, I know that today is Thanksgiving and I have a post about what I am thankful for in the works too, don't worry. Just a bit out of order. I love Christmas and I don't care for turkey, so deal with it. :)

Our tree is a hodgepodge of decorations from both before and since we have been together. It's definitely a random assortment of items, but it works. Here are some of my favorites:

This is an ornament with a picture of our first cat and from our first Christmas together. We actually got a kitten in late August, who I thought I had written about but I guess not. So now I need to work on a blog post about her in addition to getting her an ornament for the tree.This is a new ornament for this year and was a gift from my mom. Nothing can put me in the Christmas mood faster than watching the claymation Rudolph. Of course, this can also make me a tad homesick, as it reminds me of the long hours spent watching Christmas movie after Christmas movie with my mom pretty much every December that I can remember.
I couldn't resist purchasing this adorable cow angel ornament that I found at Target when Doug and I stopped by to pick up ornament hangers. I am considering it a tribute to my Aunt Sharon who married a dairy farmer.
Doug made a set of two Ninja Turtles when he was a kid and they have always found a place on our tree as a reminder of how one of the first things we bonded over when we met was our mutual admiration for the Turtles when we were younger. What can I say? - Barbie just didn't interest me. We also bonded over going to and disliking the same orthodontist but that hasn't warranted an ornament.
This ornament was a gift from Doug's mom from the Christmas we got engaged.
This sparkly pear is from the wedding of my sister Audra and brother-in-law Derrick. I'm not actually sure if it is in fact an ornament but I love sparkly things.
I majorly heart snowmen. When we move (hopefully before next Christmas) and have more room I fully intend to have two trees. One will be our hodgepodge tree. The other I hope to decorate in snowmen, silver garland and ribbon, and white lights. These are two of my snowmen from past years...

... and this is a new snowman for this year, also a gift from my mom.
And to top it off, our version of an angel- the angel bear! This is actually a small Boyds bear that was a gift from my mom's good friend forever ago. I have always loved it and when we were putting up the tree together for the first time and I discovered that Doug had no tree topper, I knew just the perfect one!
Anyone else have such a motley crew of ornaments on their tree?

A Good Cry

It seems to me that lately the only thing that seems to be coming from the dwindling of days between now and wedding day (the official count is 189, by the way) is an increased frequency of wedding related drama and therefore, for me at least, a lot more crying. I can't even remember the last week that went by without me breaking down over something. So far I have chosen not to address these things here for fear of this blog being discovered by those causing the crying. For now I think I will keep it that way but let's just say there is a group of people who seem to find anything and everything we decide for the wedding to be wrong and bad. And they have to tell us. This explanatory/defensive post, for example stemmed from one of our encounters with these people. If you know me in real life, I would imagine that you have already heard one, two, or all of these stories but another one happened today so feel free to ask.

So obviously none of those are good cry's and the topic of this post is actually a good cry from a few weeks ago. I arrived home on a Friday afternoon (not usually a crying event) and had received a package in the mail (also, not a crying event). I opened it to find the bouquet charms I had ordered from Etsy seller DesignsbyTami. And I cried, but this was one really good wedding related cry. I sat there by my front door and cried and just remembered and thanked God for the blessing that both of my grandpas were to me and my families.I initially ordered these to adorn my bouquet, and they will. However, I know these will find a more permanent place in my life post-wedding. I miss and think of my grandpas often and these charms will be such a nice way to carry them with me always, not just on my wedding day.

"I thank my God upon every remembrance of you." Philippians 1:3

A nice reminder

While shopping with my wonderful mom (who now reads my blog- Hi Mom!) yesterday, we of course talked about Doug a lot. But, kind of out of the blue she said, "You know Jamie, you really got a good one." While I obviously know this and thank God every day for the great gift he has given me, it is always nice to get a little reminder/confirmation.

I am also so thankful that my parents love Doug. I think this line from the Edwin McCain song my dad and I will dance to illustrates how they feel: "And I can't help thinking that I'm the lucky one, You're still my baby daughter and now I've gained a son." Coming from a few past relationships where my parents were, let's say, less than thrilled with my choices this is completely refreshing. It's so nice to be able to spend time with both Doug and my parents at the same time and to really enjoy each others' company. Most weeks this is comprised of at least one weekly dinner and sometimes more and I love it.

I have a couple of other posts swirling around in this head of mine but for now they must wait as I fight with my camera to get decent pictures of some of the recently developed "small" wedding details.

Ain't that the truth

While listening to Pandora just now I heard an ad that went something like : "Marriage: It is the only family member you get to choose and it gives you a second sane person at the dinner table."

Given our recent experiences with a couple family members, I would have to say this is a fairly accurate statement.

Anyone have any terrible inlaw related stories to share, because they would sure make me feel better.

Why we want a small wedding

Now I know small is a relative thing, but I consider our hope for the guest list to be as little over 115 as possible to be small. Especially considering we have 75+ in family between the two of us.

And yes, it's partially a budget thing but for the most part it's not because there are so many other good reasons!

1. We want to spend this incredibly important day with those that are most important to us. Our families and close friends are both incredibly important to us and we want to share our wedding with those we love and who love us. Random people that aren't actively in our lives could only detract from that experience.

2. Less random extra people = less anxiety. Both in the planning and execution stages as well as the actual events. Being immersed in a day spent celebrating with good friends and family, where everyone (and us especially) is completely comfortable. We want our day to be a joyful celebration of our marriage, not some sort of big show or spectator event. A small group promotes a closeness where emotions can flow naturally and comfortably.

3. We want to be able to spend time with our guests! The smaller the group, the more time per guest. We don't want one of those weddings where the bride and groom can't even remember who they saw or talked to. I want our guest book to remind me of the good time we had with each individual, not whether they were there or not! Also, we want to spend time with people who we are actually interested in spending time with. No use wasting precious time making conversation with people out of some forced obligation when we could be enjoying the most important day of our life so far with those most important to us.

Jamie's Great Day Part 3: An awesome concert and an unexpected random wedding check

First off, if you don't currently listen to Edwin McCain go buy some of his music right now. And not just "I'll Be" or "I Could Not Ask For More"- there is way more to this great artist than those two songs. If you don't like it, I will pay you back, but I seriously don't expect that to happen. My wonderful Friday ended at The Pageant with my dad for an Edwin McCain concert. Once again, Edwin did not disappoint. The money we spend to see him every year is always by far some of the best money we spend all year. He is a great entertainer with great songs and a great band and he puts on an awesome show every time.

So about that unexpected wedding check. I had always thought that my dad and I would be dancing to a song by either Styx or REO Speedwagon because we have seen them every summer for 9 years. They are some of our favorite concerts to see, and let me tell you we have seen a lot. One of my dad's college bands even opened for REO in Champaign, IL when REO was a $150/night band! So there I am thinking I have that planned already and then Edwin comes on stage and sings a new song he has coming out this fall. And by the end I am all teary eyed and know that Edwin has changed what I thought was my plan. This video is only an excerpt of the song when Edwin was on the Bob and Tom show, but I know you will understand why when you listen to him sing it.





And so, dear Edwin, you have changed my plan as only you could. Thanks for the great song to dance to with my daddy on my wedding day (and the accompanying tears) and thanks for coming to St. Louis and helping end my perfect Friday. Please come back soon. Oh, and please go to KC as my lovely older sister would love to see you too! Thanks and all my love, Jamie

I would have written tonight off as horrible...

I got attacked by a door and am now sporting a ridiculous bruise on my upper left arm,

I spent four and a half hours in a boring corporate taxation class,

and when I was finally able to leave said boring class I discovered that one of the straps on my adorable (and expensive) laptop bag is broken.

However, I came home to the sweetest card from Doug's uncle congratulating me on my graduation and new job! His uncle is one of the most caring people I have ever met. He is always the first person at gatherings to ask me how I am and what is happening in my life. However, he isn't the only one. Doug has (with maybe one exception) really nice and incredibly caring families on both sides. I have always felt completely welcomed by them and am excited to become part of both families. Bonus points for the fact that they are both large families. (Those of you who come from small families probably won't understand this, but big families rock.)

I already have a very large and wonderful family who I love so much, but in less than a year I will be gaining some wonderful new family members and that makes me really happy. Yay for mood changing cards from new uncles and yay for new family being a part of this whole getting married thing!

Wow.

There is nothing like a life-altering event to make you realize that little wedding details are unimportant.

Found the love of your life? Hold on tight, cause he (or she) is what's important.

I'm sure I will go back to thinking about tiny wedding stuff. In a while. When the shock wears off and a new sense of normalcy is established.

Apparently I have no last name

At least that's what it would seem people think. Any piece of mail Doug and I receive that is addressed to us always says "Mr. Doug LastName and Jamie." And it is not because the senders of said mail do not know my last name. They are all family and close friends who could at the very least find my last name on facebook if they have forgotten it. We received a wedding invitation this week addresses like that, and I can't help but being annoyed. Am I wrong to feel like this is how you would address the invitation to Doug and his (fictional) child? Even having it addressed to Doug and Jamie LastName, though we aren't married yet, would be preferable to me.