Changing My Name

Tradition says that once you are married you then go to change your name. While I am participating in this lovely tradition it is not exactly the best experience. First it is an odd feeling to no longer have the name you grew up with. It takes getting used to I suppose. Plus there are way too many things to think of when you change your name. Last week I officially changed my name with the social security administration. Now that I finally got my new card in the mail, this week was the time to start the rest of the "fun".

I attempted to get a new driver's license today. That was not so successful. I thought I just needed my new social security card but apparently you need your marriage license also. It is not enjoyable to wait outside in 90 degree weather for 45 minutes to realize you wasted your time! Then again this is fairly classic for me. Once I get that fixed (I suppose I will wait in line again tomorrow) then I have to think of all the bills in my name and change them.

Plus we still haven't figured out what bills to combine and what to keep separate. Confusing decisions! On a brighter note though the biggest bill- rent- may be working out. I went to see the possible townhouse today:

 Isn't it cute? I think we have a pretty good chance of getting it and we should know for sure by tomorrow. It is really cute inside and I could already image all our stuff inside. Including the first really nice thing we ever bought together. All of my husband's friends gave him Best Buy gift cards for our wedding. We took advantage of Memorial Day sales and, for once, bought something nice. A HUGE 60-inch TV. We are big movie and TV people so we splurged. This was a big spend for us because normally we are pretty frugal.

I am trying to learn that every once and awhile it's OK to do something for yourself. So although it is against my nature to spend a lot of money this was a fun thing to buy for us. Hopefully this TV lasts a long time though because my sensibility will need a long time to recharge before I could spend that much money again!!

The Week Before the Wedding

So I basically disappeared off the face of the earth starting the week before the wedding. I am going to blame that on my many do-it-yourself things I had to get done. Now that family and friends have posted pictures of all these things I wanted to show them off.

First off was the insane seating chart idea. I made it through my wedding without becoming a Bridezilla. I was pretty much stress free the whole time. I refused to let things get to me- but the seating chart was the one and only time that I got annoyed. It was a tedious project but I ended up liking the end result.

I made each person their own luggage tag with their table number inside. Each person could take their tag off the board to find their table. I used vintage looking fabrics (the boards were different but it's hard to see). Here is a close up of one of the boards.

 It takes a long time to make almost 90 tags! My other special touch was actually my mom's idea. My dad's mom has antiqued as a hobby for years. She mostly sells china and has insane amounts of china in her basement. We decided to borrow her china and use a different place setting at each table. This was a big project but it was a special personal touch when it was done.

 This was my table and it was the only table with purple plates. Most of the other tables had blue and red variations. My grandmother has since offered to give me this set for a graduation gift! Oh and you can see all my little M&M party favors on the tables also!

The biggest project of all though was the flowers. We didn't use a florist but I have some lovely ladies in my life: mainly my mom, maid of honor, and cousins- who helped make all the bouquets, boutonnieres, and filled the vases with flowers at each table.

The week of the wedding we had over 400 Gerber daises delivered to my house in bulk from Sam's Club. Somehow they turned into this:

 This is my bouquet. The lace is from my mom's wedding dress. It was once her sleeve! I loved that little touch.

 Daisies on the chapel door? Of course!

And then when you see my huge mafia wedding party you realize how many flowers they had to arrange! My family and friends are amazing. I couldn't ask for better people considering I am not girly enough to able to pull this off without them. Now they need to just help me move and make my next place look this good!

Back to the real world

Well the wedding is now over. It was a fantastic time and I will always remember it. The whole weekend was just what I wanted. Simple, elegant, relaxed and filled with family and friends. Thank goodness I wasn't naked and my wedding dress was able to zip!

The honeymoon was greatly enjoyed. This is our boat- we went to Key West, Cayman Islands, and Jamica. I could go on a cruise every year I think. They are so relaxing and you can have ice cream 24 hours a day! I feel like I have been off the grid for weeks though.

The wedding week was great not only due to the wedding festivities but also because I was offered a job! It starts in the middle of June which is nice because I have had a little break. Of course I have been using that break to do all the paper work of changing my name- very confusing! I also have been applying for my therapy license which is very exciting!

Now that we are back we are trying to find our first place, just the two of us. It is a little stressful due to the fact that we have giant dogs and it feels like every apartment complex we look at deems them dangerous. I wish apartments would conduct doggy interviews because I can guarentee my dogs are more well behaved than some little dogs! It's big dog prejudice I say!

We have found one town home that looks very hopeful but apparently a lot of people are interested so we are not sure what our chances are. Prayers please!! We need a home for us and our dogs!