time to breathe

signs that normalcy is returning to our lives:

• i packed lunch every day this week
• i've slept at least 5 hours every night this week
• remy, once again, has a morning routine
• we went climbing last night
• italics has a new home
• mg has a new home
• we're going climbing tonight
• i already have groceries bought and dinner planned
• the car is not hovering barely above "e"
• i have more clean laundry than dirty

of course, what is normal? i'm leaving tomorrow morning for a two day work trip to chicago, friday is officially 6 weeks from the wedding, and i've just agreed to work up a t-shirt design for a local ultimate team.

here's to the chaos that is daily life.

discovery

last night remy found a large cricket. he was fascinated, curious, and afraid all at once. i wish i'd had a camera to capture his reaction the first time it jumped. there's just nothing quite like watching a 65 pound dog leap away from a bitty black bug.

indescribable

we had our final pre-marital counseling session with our pastor yesterday. at a certain point in the evening he was discussing the biblical role of a husband and as his comments were directed mostly to mg i was sitting there quietly listening and letting my mind wander just a bit.

i was looking over at mg as he focused intently on what our pastor was saying, when something happened. i'm not sure exactly how to describe it, but there it was. a change. a certainty. that this is it. we're ready. we can do this. this man is going to be the one who grows old with me.

and i realized that if what i felt then is even remotely like what it will be, on a certain day in october, to look into his eyes and promise myself to him... well, i can't wait for that moment. because the wedding is really about the marriage. our marriage. and it's beginning.

packages

aren't they fun? i love packages. even if i already know what's in them. especially when they're all wrapped up so pretty.

we received this one yesterday. a wedding gift. mg wants to wait to open it... so i cheated and looked off the registry to see what it is. a coffee grinder. now i really want to open it.
yes, i know... patience is a virtue.

naughty

i just returned from having my teeth cleaned at the dentist. suddenly, all i want to do is eat chocolate.

turtle pace

this should have been friday's post. friday was exactly 10 weeks out. exciting! so i thought i'd share a little preview of the slow but steady progress on the dress. but then the weekend was totally nuts. so here it is. three days late.





•

a bittersweet note. a friend of mine has offered a home for italics. happy that he will have a wonderful place to live. sad that it will no longer be with me.

countdown

this is for marge:

8 Things I'm Looking Forward To:
1. Being married.
2. Cooking this recipe.
3. San Diego
4. Wearing my wedding dress (if I ever get it finished :)
5. Having more time to climb. (and cook, and draw, and read)
6. Moving to a house with a yard for the dog
7. Visiting New Zealand (someday)
8. The arrival of Baby Huber


7 Things I Wish I Could Do:
1. Dance
2. Hablo Español
3. Visit Africa (and Argentina, and Italy, and Great Britain...)
4. Improvise jazz.
5. Climb a 5.13
6. Fly (no one said these have to be realistic :)
7. Have a pet tiger.


6 Shows I Enjoy:
1. House
2. The Office
3. Family Guy
4. Scrubs
5. Bones
6. Law & Order SVU


5 Favorite Foods:
1. Cheese
2. Spinach (with artichokes, in pasta, as a salad...)
3. Pretzels
4. Onions
5. Freshly baked bread.


4 Guilty Pleasures:
1. Facebook
2. Cookies & Coffee
3. Doing nothing when I should be doing __________.
4. Staying up all night reading a book I can't put down.


3 Favorite Smells:
1. Coffee
2. Baking bread
3. Upper Limits


2 Frequently Visited Websites:
1. WeddingWire
2. Etsy


1 Person you would like to have lunch with (dead or alive):
Paul

alarm clock

someone decided he needed to be fed at 4:30 today.
good morning monday.

other's obsessions need not my life dictate

so i got a black eye playing ultimate yesterday. of course, the first thing people ask when they see me is "what happened?". so i explain. their next comment is invariably "you're going to stop playing the month of the wedding aren't you?"

this reminded me of the week i announced our engagement at work. the news spread fairly quickly and i instantly noticed a change in my female coworkers. they became obsessed with what i ate. the first time someone said, in total shock, "you can't eat that! you have a wedding dress to fit into!" i thought she was joking. nope. the trend has continued. should i get the urge to satisfy a cookie craving i must eat it in secrecy at my desk.

this has led me to the following realizations.
one: we are way too obsessed with appearance. sure, everyone likes to look nice and i do try to avoid injury and eat healthy. but beauty at the expense of activities i enjoy or the occasional cookie? it's not gonna happen.
two: the wedding is just one day folks! yes, i want to look lovely. but you know what? if i end up with a black eye, tan lines, or a giant zit right on my nose... the wedding will still happen. we will still be married at the end of the day, and hey - that black eye might just make a great story later.
my conclusion: i'm okay with the way i look. black eye, sudden outbreak of acne and all. i could get married tomorrow and still feel like the luckiest girl in the world.

•

on a side note. the paper for our invites arrived today. it's just as great as i hoped it would be and made from 100% post consumer waste. yay! now to get the invites printed and mailed.

doldrums

i haven't posted in a while. not because i haven't had things to post about, i've just been feeling kind of down-in-the-dumps. like something needs to happen. which is odd because a lot is happening in my life right now.
maybe that's the problem. maybe i have too much going on and need to seek some peace and stillness. anyway, i do still exist and i'll get something added here soon.

change

so mg is allergic to cats. and italics is of the feline variety. which has made me wonder: what is it about this fallen world that makes even good changes have an element of sadness?

simplicity

yesterday mg and i took a loaf of bread, peanut butter, and jelly to the park, sat at a picnic table, and ate lunch in the sun. i think it was one of the moments we've shared that i've enjoyed the most.

artistry

michael card came and played at our church sunday night. it was the second time i've had the privilege of hearing him live and i was once again amazed by his ability to drive everything back to god. so often musicians leave me amazed at their ability or in love with their music. but rarely, even from artists from the so-called christian music industry, do i hear a song and simply sit in amazement over the power, wisdom and amazing plan of god.

of course, one can listen to any brilliant piece of music and credit god for the artistry and beauty of it. still, it is unique - especially when listening to such a talented poet and musician - to leave a concert thinking "what an awesome god" and only later "oh, and what an amazing artist".

balance

Most people she never tells
about the tightrope
because she
doesn't want
to listen to
their helpful
comments
from
the ground.

– brian andreas

the importance of d

so anyone who knows me probably knows my lower spine hurts. a lot. all the time. so my new doctor (my old one moved away) suggested we check for a vitamin d deficiency. which it just so happens, i have. which can cause bone pain. and muscle weakness. and osteoporosis when you get old. so now i'm taking d3. and trying to spend more time in the sun.

maybe... in a few months... my back might not hurt. for the fist time in over 10 years.

this new doctor is amazing.

the dress

so these are photos of my parents on their wedding day and this is the dress i want to be married in. isn't it stunning? it is a vintage jessica mclintock, which is apparently rather neat if you're into designers. i think it's great because it belongs to my mom. and my aunt before her. and my grandmother sewed pearl beads onto the entire dress by hand. and it is lovely. overall it has been preserved in remarkably good condition, especially considering it's just been sitting in the basement all these years.


my original idea was to have a vintage wedding, bridesmaids in vintage dresses of their own selection but in the same basic color group, men in something casual that fits with the overall look... but mg disagreed. so, we're changing the style of the dress some (but still using all the original elements). it's a work in progress and right now i have buttons, vintage lace and bits of ribbon everywhere, but i'm optimistic that it will turn out great.

life • lace • laundry

i arrived home from texas yesterday, and found my package of vintage lace waiting for me! so i've unfolded it and hung it in the spare closet with all the other pieces that will eventually become my wedding dress. now if i could just find the time to work on putting it all together...

•

we found out yesterday that mg's grandmother has been hospitalized again. so, we're cancelling weekend plans to drive out and visit her. i knew it was the right thing to do when i suggested it and mg immediately said "let's do it". this is the guy who doesn't do spur-of-the-moment anything so if he's ready to drop our planned-months-ago climbing trip without a second thought he must be pretty worried. i think we're going to make a few stops along the way to visit some of his other extended family. i haven't met any of them before so i'm looking forward to it. now if i can just find someone to watch the dog for us... and feed kitty.

•

so this week is just another example of life never going the way it's planned. which is good. i firmly believe that god is in control and trust him to get us through everything - even the mountain of laundry i have to tackle before leaving town again.

A Beautiful Tribute to Life

I just came across the most amazing site: Days With My Father

Fiance

Really? We need a better word for engaged couples to use. Its original meaning is just the man in the relationship, so what does that make me - Wife-to-Be? Besides... it always sounds so pompous, and it isn't at all the right word to refer to MG. It doesn't fit his personality at all.
So what to use? Boyfriend/Girlfriend? Not intense enough. 15-year-olds on Myspace use these words to describe their crush of the week. Betrothed? Great word, but there's no way you're tossing that one out in regular conversation - "Did I tell you? Yesterday my betrothed and I were discussing... ".

The thesaurus is absolutely no help on this one. It politely suggested: affianced, intended, plighted. The first two have the same trouble as fiance and betrothed, respectively. And plighted? You've got to be kidding me. It makes our upcoming nuptials sound like something dreadful, looming in the future with no possibility of escape. We are plighted... doomed to be together for life.

So, not that anyone is actually reading my blog... but if you happen to stumble across it, what would you suggest? What great new word(s) can we add to the English language to describe two individuals, in love, committing to each other for life?

•

In keeping with that theme and inspired by the great community over at A Practical Wedding, I'm going to use this blog to post a little about our wedding plans as they take shape. I consider myself very blessed to be in love with a man who genuinely cares about our wedding day (though that did put an end to my plans to elope). I do, however, adore the fact that he has opinions on this subject. The wedding will be Our Day not The Bride's Day - as it should be, and often isn't. Later today (or maybe this weekend) I'll talk dresses. I'm wearing my Mom's, and it's going to be fabulous.

Clearly...

...this blog does not see a lot of use.

I am hereby vowing to do better. So, a few quick updates about myself:

1 - I am getting married. This year. In October. We haven't officially announced it yet, so don't spill the beans.

2 - I have a happy-go-lucky one year old puppy. He is a doberman, but he'd never believe you if you told him that.

3 - I'm still addicted to sudoku and coffee. This might be pathetic. I posted that well over 2 years ago. Then again, isn't that the definition of addiction?