Trust me...

When it comes to explaining disappointments...sometimes the finer details are left unsaid. In at least this case, it is certainly better for all involved.

On a brighter note, it's almost time!!!! SOOOOOO excited!!!!

218.75

Hours until the wedding from the time of this post. Sorry, I know it's SO much wedding stuff on here...but guess what? That's about all that's new right now. I could tell you that the honeymoon cruise starts in 45 or 46 days...but that wouldn't leave me much to talk about in the month in between! So...the picture you see here is something from/for the wedding that we are doing differently than most people. I think I can share it here as it isn't intended to be a surprise to anyone.




And the following are the instructions that go with this picture:

BROWNLEE WEDDING AUTOGRAPH QUILT

Please sign our wedding quilt!We are very happy that you’ve chosen to spend this special day with us and we would like to remember your kind thoughts forever.……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Use the fabric marker to sign a piece of fabric and they will be sewn into a quilt wall hanging.

Please, share with us! We will need to put multiple names on each square!

Sign within the center areas. If you sign within the ¼” edges, your words may be hidden when the quilt is pieced together.

THANK YOU!

(Cool, right!!!?!!!...the only trick is that the woman helping us with this has had a death in the family...so I'm desperatly hoping she is still able to get us the quilt squares that are ready for signing before I leave school for the wedding...otherwise, standard guestbook, here we come...)

I know, I know

I know it's been a while...I'm sorry. What I haven't told you is that I picked up another job and have been training at JCPenney (yeah, that's right, and extra e...it belongs). So yeah. I've been up to school, followed by training, followed by sleeping. I've committed to about 25 hours a week until after the holidays. The wedding is all in line (but we already knew that) so I needed something new. Yeah, ok, not true...but I do like it and the extra cash is a bonus...so is the employee discount. Really, I'm looking at my student loans saying "I gotta get this paid down"...and so, I work. I like to work, it fine. After the holidays I'll stay on if needed (as I was hired as seasonal) but cut back on hours. Life is still good. The wedding is close and now that the election is past it is the next thing to count down to.

I realize this is rather rambling and may not be entirely coherent...but hey, I'm tired. More next week...I have Friday night off to fill you in.

All that remains

I have a friend who is a fan of lists...and lists have worked VERY well for me during the course of wedding planning. We are now about 24 days away and I thought I'd share the "list" of what's left as Duane and I prepare to start down our new path.

1. Get Marriage License (scheduled)

2. Final Dress Fitting (scheduled)

3. Hair Trial appointment (scheduled)

4. Print programs (designed and ready)

5. Make signs (memory table, quilt info., gift opening invite)

6. Drop off cake topper

7. Pick up centerpieces

8. Quilt info.

9. Buy Candles and Candy

10. Get students to make the card box (done, and in process)

11. Finalize decorating time

12. Verify rehearsal dinner time

13. Verify picture time on the big day

14. Get married and celebrate with loved ones

Ok, so the list is a little longer than I thought, but it's all easy stuff...so now the waiting game begins! (Ok, who am I kidding...it continues) Hope to see you all there!

I knew I was excited but...

It's really quite funny how many students have countdowns in their lockers, seriously, no joke. It's also quite funny that apparently our Superintendent is counting down too...he stuck his head in my band room yesterday to say "your wedding is only 1 month and 1 day away, ma'am" I was just plain giggly after that.

Anyway, that's it for now...but exciting updates coming soon (as soon as I process them mentally myself first!)

A Brandi-Dandy Day

What a day, a Brandi-Dandy day. I managed to get the house picked up over the last couple of days off so I promised the girl that if the weather held, we'd go for a walk this morning before kick off. She held me to it, and we had a wonderful time. Let me start with the last couple of days. After the last wedding shower Duane and I have been staring at boxes of gifts that are both useful and beautiful. We have been looking forward to tearing into some of them and redecorating our house, so this weekend, that's just what I did. Duane had already found a place for the fountain where Brandi can't drink it dry and I took to trying to create shelf space in the living room. After stealing the bookshelf from Duane (and then discovering it really doesn't fit out here after all) we did settle on a new furniture arrangement. We do lose a little floor space but I like it anyway. It may be hard to tell but now instead of the couch being flat against the wall it is at an angle. Duane's massive collection of DVD's now has a home on shelves in the closet and we found lots of space for photos and such.

Yes, that's Brandi sitting in the chair. She had previously been watching out the window for Pa to get home.

Anyway, with this out of the way and the house looking respectable again, Brandi and I decided to go for a long walk Sunday morning. I loaded her in the car and we went to the River Trails in downtown La Crosse. Once you hit the trail (starting by Riverside Park) you follow the river through wooded area and out into the wetlands. The trail is well maintained and has several little offshoots down to the river tributaries where people like to fish. There weren't many people out there today and I had one very tired dog on the walk back to the car. I led her down one of the side trails to get a drink of water and apparently she wasn't listening when I told Duane that I wasn't going to let her go swimming. It all happened so fast. Uck...wet dog. But a VERY happy dog. I wasn't as happy. She shook out all her wetness on me, and was still soaked after the last 1/4 mile back to the car. She needed help getting in the car so I had to lift her and found myself almost as wet and covered in as much mud as her. For her part, Brandi was not ready to get home. When we got there, she did NOT want to get out of the car.

Once I finally got her conned out of the car (for treats) we finished our Brandi-Dandy day with her snoozing on my lap while I wrote out thank-you notes and watched football. The Vikes, not so great...but that doesn't matter...cuz our Pack kicked some Colt rumps up and down the field. We're going to celebrate with ice cream. She likes it when she gets to lick out the empty tub.

So that's about it. Duane came home sometime during the Packer game but kindly left us to cheer (loudly) by ourselves while he went and played his computer games. Since then, supper was made (and delicious!) and a couple loads of laundry done. Now that the Brandi-dandy day is coming to an end, it's time for the three of us to curl up and watch a movie.

Hey Brandi, thanks for hanging with me while Pa worked, now it's his turn for some attention from his girls.

And for the rest of you...thanks for reading. More to come soon, I'm sure!

So Close

The big day is approaching quickly and we are both really excited. There was a beautiful wedding shower held in Rochester this weekend hosted by Duane's relatives and it was followed by terrific conversation with my mom and my soon to be mom-in-law. Little details were worked out, i's dotted and t's crossed...and we couldn't be happier. We are loving getting the response cards, the songs are finalized, the toast times are set, Duane and have spent time talking about what excursions to go on for our cruise, and how to best spend the tax return. I've found it's the simple conversations, or at least the every day ones that makes me love him and more and more every day. He's got that sly smile that comes out when you call him on trying to hide it and a contagious laugh. Life is beautiful for us and though I'm sure we'll face challenges as everyone does...every day I am more and more excited that this is the man i get to solve them with. Seriously, it's funny...but I just want to SCREAM and GIGGLE with excitement. It's like the Chipmunk Christmas song..."I can hardly stand the wait, please (wedding) don't be late".

Anyway, thought I'd share a couple pics of the ceremony and reception location because after looking through older blogs I realize that the shorter ones with the pictures are the best. Enjoy!