236 Days - Are we there yet?

Ok, so we are less then nine months away from the big day.  I still feel like that is beyond a long time.  To be honest, the court house gets more and more appealing the more tiresome the planning process gets.  Of course, there are still some things that need to be taken care of:

1. Transportation
2. Menu
3. Flowers
4. Invitations
5. Attendant gifts
6. Rings
7. Programs

What I find most annoying about this list is that I have had a lot of offers from friends to help, but I am unsure how to delegate with what is left.  "Hey, friend.  Would you mind meeting with florists so I don't have to?  Thanks!"  Somehow I don't think life works like that.

Since I have approximately nine months, I am going to just take it one task at a time.  During the month of February, I am going to tackle the flowers.  I have thought about going the DIY route, but I am reaching the stage where I want someone else to have to worry about it and if I can get a good deal, then why not? 

C'est tout pour ce soir.

237 Days - The Honeymoon

The big announcement. . . we're going to Paris!!

Two weeks ago, Sam asked me to go to Paris for our honeymoon.  I am absolutely thrilled!  I have dreamed of going to Paris since I was in middle school.  I studied French in high school and college only to change majors and not have enough money or credit hours to go to Paris for a semester.  I can't express how excited I am to have this opportunity now.

Sam has offered to plan the entire honeymoon.  We are going to visit the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, Versailles, Notre Dame, and Montmartre.  We'll eat in bistrots and cafes and picnic on the Seine.  We'll drink wine and eat baguettes, fromage, and pains au chocolat! Sam is also looking into taking a train to Belgium for a day to drink delicious beer and eat waffles and moules frites!

Right now we are listening to Edith Piaf and brainstorming our trip.  Tomorrow we will go to a bookstore and buy some guides to help with the planning.  We also plan on taking out our French textbooks to study and I am on the waitlist for Rosetta Stone access at work.  Oooh, I can't wait!!

We had initially discussed going to Starkville, MS for the last day of our honeymoon to see the UGA Bulldogs play the Mississippi State Bulldogs.  We looked into ticket prices to Mississippi and the surrounding airports from Paris via DC and unfortunately they were prohibitively expensive.  I know Sam was looking forward to the game, so for our first anniversary, my gift of paper will be tickets to a UGA Bulldogs game.  Maybe by then I will have an AJ Green jersey!

238 Days - Where Have We Been?! (The Update)

Ok. So its been a while. The holidays kept us really busy. We were in Atlanta with limited internet access for Christmas and New Years, so the blog took a back seat to life.  As an update I created an outline to summarize:

• Christmas 
• We had a lovely holiday season in Cold-Lanta with Sam's family. 
•  It was my first Christmas away from the North Country, which meant new traditions and some variations of old ones. 

•  We went to Christmas eve service, which was much more of a production then a mass. During "Oh Holy Night" Mary, Joseph, and a four month old baby Jesus walked down the aisle! It was a Christmas miracle with microphones. 
• We had Chinese food after Christmas Eve mass, which I thought only happened in the movies! 
• We celebrated Christmas with brunch and playing with Sam's young cousins and their family. As a highlight, I scored 98 percent on vocals for Beatles Rock Band. 
• Sam's mom made a great turkey dinner complete with Nennie's (Sam's grandmother)famous broccoli casserole, sweet potato casserole, and carrot casserole. There was a significant amount of casserole, if you hadn't noticed. 
•  We spent Boxing Day with Sam's dad, his wife, Robin, and her family. We played Wii, hiked up Arabia Mountain, and ate turduckin and red velvet cake. (See above.)
• New Years
• We spent New Years Eve with Sam's best man, Tyler and his girlfriend, Bethany.
• Sam and Tyler cooked
• Moule Frites
• Homemade spinach fetticini with a cajun cream sauce
• Cayenne alfredo sauce, andouille sausage, crab meat, shrimp (awesome!)
• Bethany and I provided moral support and glued our eyes to the Next Food Network Star Marathon.
• We felt bad for Dick Clark.
• We toasted champagne.
• We gave New Years kisses.
• We passed out an hour later.
• We were bad vegetarians during the holidays.

• Wedding update - (because the most common question I get these days is how wedding planning is going.)

• Save the dates are being printed and should be in the mail at the end of the month.
• Our guest list is completed and is longer then the Washington Monument.
• We made a decision about our honeymoon! (That will be a post on its own later.)
• We booked our first room block for the night before the wedding and the night of the wedding. (Find info here.)
• Another room block is still in the works.
• I bought my wedding shoes!