Alright, Clare had this on her blog. i thought it'd be fun :) Here's what i got.

Step One: - Go to Wikipedia. Hit "random."-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random-The first random article you get is the name of your band.

Step Two:*Go to Quoations Page and select "random quotations."*http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3*The last four or five words of the very last quote on the page is the title of your first album

Step Three:-Go to Flickr and click on "explore the last seven days."-http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days-The third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

Step Four:*Use Photoshop or the like to put it all together

Wedding Venues

Hey folks, sorry it's been so long!

So far Ryan and I have only physically looked at a few places. First we looked in Cedar Falls, IA and decided we'd rather do it here in the cities since, well, it's where we're living right now so it's convenient.

We physically visited the Outing Lodge in Stillwater, and Camrose Hills in Stillwater. We definately want to have the actual ceremony outside. Both venues offer that.

The Outing Lodge is an old mansion that they restored and is now a bed and breakfast. It has a beautiful patio and outdoor garden and the mansion has so much character and warmth, it would truly be a beautiful place for a wedding. They include catering and alcohol service and a wedding planner. We could bring in our own cake which is cool because I'd like to ask a friend/relative to help make one and then I want to decorate it myself doing henna designs in the frosting.
http://www.outinglodge.com/

The other venue we looked at was Camrose Hills. This is literally someone's backyard out in rural Stillwater. The owner is a florist and has an extensive garden. She also had a pavillion built with a cement floor and property also has a little cottage (that the bride and bridesmaid's can dress in). It's really beautiful. Small and contained. Has a fire pit and the pavillion is decorated beautifully with a chandelier and vines.
http://camrosehillflowers.com/farm.html

Both venues offer something unique. However, I would like for freedom of movement; options. Right now, we are leaning towards Camrose Hills. With Camrose Hills we have an intimate setting with alot of natural outdoor character. We can bring in our own caterer, do our own thing for alcohol, basically do what we want.

The down sides however is that there are no bathrooms, so we would have to rent upscale satellite bathrooms. Also, there is no where "indoor" except for the pavillion. We also expect to have somewhere around 150 guests RSVP (we have a guest list of just over 200) so we will need to expand the pavillion area by renting a tent to set up adjoining the pavillion. So if it rains we will be in a bit of a fix. We would also need to rent tables, chairs, linens and china. Although, being the green that I am, if Ryan's dad sets up the catering, I'd rather not rent just china because I think that would be a mess to clean up after, so I'm considering buying biodegradeable dishes, flatware and 100% recycleable stemware. Additionally, there are not kitchen facilities, so either we would have to hire a caterer who would prepare the food ahead of time, bring in hotboxes and serve, or Ryan's dad Scott offered to coordinate the catering since he knows some people in the business.

There's so much to think about. Another thought I had is, I could rent my church hall for free. Which includes all the tables, linens and placesettings I'd need and has a full kitchen. This would make things so much easier. Then we could have the ceremony outdoors somewhere here in the cities. As beautiful as it would be to have our wedding and reception at Camrose, I'm not sure I'm that much of a risk taker and I would probably be very anxious coordinating the dinner.

Right now, the most cost-efficient option would be to have the reception at my church hall since it is the least expensive. And I'm strongly considering it. It's the option that I feel most comfortable with so far. And mostly because I'm already familiar with the venue and I know what the capabilities are, it would be the easiest.

Sigh. It's hard because I know I need to start making decisions and planning, but at the same time, I feel that because it's not until September 2010, that I have plenty of time and don't need to make these decisions yet if I dont' feel like I'm quite sure yet.

Any suggestions? Thoughts? Comments?

We're getting Married!

Ryan proposed and everyone has questions: When? Where? What colors? What if it rains?

And of course don't forget me! I have questions too: Anyone know good venues? Ideas for decorations? Resources? Who wants to help?

To answer these questions and collaborate with friends and family, I've decided to convert my previously useless and unused blog, into a wedding blog where I can share my (and Ryan's) latest and greatest thoughts on the wedding and receive comments, feedback and maybe even volunteers? :) from you - my lovely friends and fam - to help me through the decision making process.

Before we start though, I would like to share my and Ryan's values concerning the wedding so as to frame up our ideas and considerations:

thriftiness - though not sacrificing elegance...I'm known for my ability to find good deals, and high end materials - even second hand - and you'd better believe it is my goal to employ this value for our wedding.

resourcefulness - thinking outside the box for anything from the dress to the decorations. Additionally, it is important to me to stay small and local. I'd rather give a big job to a small business to help them grow, than go conglomerate.

simplicity - I mean this in two ways. First, I want things to be simple and easily executable, nothing too complicated - it's not worth it. And secondly, I like simply beauty.

uniqueness - You probably know that I'm not one to follow the mold, in fact, my idea of a perfect wedding is a very different from the typical wedding format (which will probably end up happening for us anyway), but I have to be realistic given our circumstances, so I will hopefully insert uniqueness where I can.


As we venture through the planning and preparing process, I hope to keep these values first and foremost. That being said - if I get off track - please call me out! No, Bonnie - you cannot have that $3000 dress! Shame on you! Likewise, if you suggest something that doesn't quite align with these values, please do not be hurt if I seem uninterested. Now onto the fun stuff...

So, without further ado, here is a brief synopsis of where we stand:

GUEST LIST

Our guest list is probably around 220. This is way bigger than I imagined. And I know that many will probably decline, but that doesn't help me in planning because I have to book a venue before I send out invitations right? If it were up to me, we'd have a small ceremony and a GREAT BIG reception, but Ryan and I are both some of the first to get married in our families, so of course everyone must be invited and the most important part is seeing us exchange our vows - there goes an intimate ceremony in the woods....

FOOTWEAR

Ryan has drawn the line. The most important thing to him about the wedding is that he gets to be barefoot during the ceremony and that we are wed outside. Both are fine with me. But if we're going to have alot of attendees at the ceremony, this will make for a difficult wedding outside and I say that because when Ryan and I think outside, we're not thinking perfectly manicured golf course lawn with white chairs and trellis, we're thinking beautiful woodsy, by a stream...which is why the number of guests presents a problem.

VENUE

The only decisions we've made here are that we will be having our wedding and reception here in the Twin Cities. But even that is probably still up for debate. I.E. if we decide to have our wedding at the camp Ryan worked at throughout his youth.


That's about all for now. I have plenty ideas on decorations, flowers, photography, dresses...but I will save those for another blog. Juli got me a wedding planning binder/book and if it's taught me one thing, it's this: one thing at a time. There's a time for each thing, in fact, the book has a timeline (awesome :)). So I will get to those in time.

For now, I value everyone's input on where, when and how to cope with a larger than you expected wedding. What are my options? I am so not motivated to look at sites during a season that I know I will not be having my wedding. Oh well.

Now I think I'll go toast the first entry of my new blog with some toast for breakfast, this is early for a Saturday :)

I hope you're all as excited as I am about this blog! Love you all!





Guest List.

Don't worry, chances are if you're reading this blog you're invited.

Stealing laundry? What kind of stupid are you?!

So Saturday night I was in North Minneapolis at the Boys and Girls Club on Irving volunteering through YouthCare at a lock-in for inner city kids. The kids were wonderful and everything was going great. In fact, the night was alot of fun, until I got a call from my Dad who had stepped out for a cigarette. Now he's been trying to quit, so when he called and his first words were "I just stepped outside to have a cigarette..." I was immediately upset, but the words that followed soon made me glad that he had.

At about 1:30 Sunday morning when Dad stepped out for a cigarette my car sitting in the fenced in Boys & Girls club parking lot was broken into. Mine among 2 others, and who knows how many more if the guys hadn't run off when my Dad came outside.

They smashed in my back window, and not just smashed it but jimmied it so they bent the metal frame too.

They stole the only thing in my car. You'll never guess. My big ol' bag of laundry.

WTF??? why?!

I mean, there was a good 3 loads of clothes in there - and practically all dress clothes, for work. I've tallied it up and it was about $400 worth.

Now of course insurance won't cover this. So now I have to go shopping for all new stuff and foot the bill. Talk about a pain!

And you know that those rats probably just opened it up, saw it was a bunch of women's clothes, worth nothing to them and just tossed it in the dumpster.

Thanks guys. Way to use your brain. Real worth it to run with a huge sack of clothes that you got nothing out of. What? - you think I line the pockets with dollar bills?

I'm feeling quite conflicted. Not only am I sad for myself and angry at them, I'm sad for them and angry at the social system that has created such people. Why are there people like this? It's so sad!

It just goes to show how our social system and government continue to fail alot of people, and it really makes me sad.

It also makes me think just how privileged I am. If the most I have to complain about is gas prices and family tiffs...

I mean these people don't have stable homes, jobs, the have their own social issues, don't feel loved, outcast from society and feel they have to resort to stealing to get by in life. These people vibrate at a very low level and once you're there, it's hard to get out.

I know that it's just a bunch of clothes and I should be thankful that it wasn't something like my purse or electronics. But honestly, I might be happier if it had been. Because those are so easily replaceable, but clothes are like a collection, a representation of you, a source of expression. Not only that, but they are time consuming to find. You have to find something you like and it has to look good on you, and you have to see the value of it to decide whether or not you're willing to pay that price. etc. Electronics can just be replaced. No biggie. They're all the same.

I feel so very bad for these people but at the same time I feel so very violated. It's not even what was stolen, it's just that it was mine.

The worst part of it is that insurance is such a scam. I still have to take the car to a garage and they have to get me a loaner, which I may end up paying for and who knows if I will have to pay out of pocket for any of the repairs - it seems like there's always hidden costs, and the whole thing is just one great big hassle. Not to mention the hours of shopping I'll be doing for new clothes - of my own money!

Ridiculous. All because someone wasn't even thinking, just taking. It's sad when you've gotten that low. Not even thinking.

I'm on the bandwagon

So really I'm just following Ryan's lead and starting a new blog.

I agree, Diaryland has become for me, well, it's kindof like hearing a song that you used to listen to alot and really loved and although you still really like the song, it reminds you of high school or an ex or something and it just leaves a bad or stale taste in your mouth. So with that, I suppose I'm saying that there's nothing wrong with Diaryland, I've just grown out of it. I'll probably still check it from time to time, although hardly anyone posts real often anymore. I wonder though if there is a way I can save or preserve all my old entries though...hm....

So here I start a new chapter in my life. A beautiful new chapter in which I am the happiest I've ever been. I've decided that this year has been the best of my life so far. I feel like things are really finally falling into place.

By the way, before I start getting into the gorey details of my life...beware that while the rest of you seem to be using this outlet for academic or more intelligent conversation, I am a woman, and women tend to like to talk about relational or emotional things - I am no exception. That being said, I won't be without the occassional post on something I'm passionate about or just a story about something that happened. Perhaps though I will need to get accustomed to this Blog trend and see if maybe I can write on a regular basis rather than simply use this as a tool to vent or share when I feel the need.

Then again, I don't expect that very many people will care to read this so I guess I'm not too worried. It's funny though, when I write, even if it's in a personal paper diary I always write as if there is a reader on the other end, talking to them, explaining.

Enough of that. Here's my new blog. I'm excited to have something fresh. We'll see how it goes.