Sileo/Stewart/Sherman Family Christmas

This year, for Christmas, Carl and I traveled to my hometown for an 8 day Sileo/Stewart/Sherman family adventure.  The decision to travel to DC was a joint one with Chris, Missy, Lucie and Audrey.  The only downside is that we can't all stay with my dad so we decided to rent a house for the first part of our trip.

We arrived to DC on a Friday evening, got settled into the house and made some dinner. The wine drinking began as did a few of us getting sick.  I had a cold before I left town and it just got way worse.   It didn't stop us from trying to make the most of our time, though.  For the 4 days we were in DC, we went to Natural History Museum, both Air & Space Museums, the Zoo, had friends over for drinks one night and went out to dinner, just Carl and I, one night.  In between all of this, we cooked some pretty great meals, watched a lot of Disney and holiday movies and even managed to go for a chilly run one morning.

From there we drove to my mom's, about 2 hours away, for the next part of our trip.  Lucie and Audrey were champs during this entire trip, quickly getting accustomed to things they don't normally have to deal with - like sharing rooms, stairs and snow.

While my mom doesn't have museums we made the most of being indoors at the local library, bowling (which I've quickly discovered I'd like to do more often), painting nails and watching more movies.

My parents were both good sports for having us with them over the holidays and we had a lot of fun.  I'm glad we go to see snow and Carl got to spend more time with my family and friends.  I know it's his obligation as my husband to spend time with my family but he really went above and beyond spending 8 days with them.  I love them but I know that it's not easy to spend 8 days with family that isn't yours.

I'm really happy to be home and to have a few days off before going back to work though and, of course, snuggling with Buster, who I missed terribly.

In the pictures of Lucie and Audrey below you'll notice they are often wearing their matching princess nightgowns that I got them for Christmas. They were clearly a big hit!

And, yes, I know that I'm still behind on blog posts - particularly our honeymoon and my trip to Australia.  I'm really hoping that 2013 is a bit less hectic than 2012 felt and I can enjoy more downtime.

Always a Bridesmaid....

Finally a bride! This is a direct quote from my friend, Leslie, who officiated our wedding.  And she was right. I had been a bridesmaid 12 times before getting married. This is one of the many reasons I decided not to have bridesmaids.  But I digress.....

The day had arrived.  Our wedding day.  And I'm pretty sure I've thought about it every day, multiple times each day, since then.  It wasn't just that I was finally getting married (yes, even my loving brother's speech had undertones of relief) it was that I was marrying Carl.

As much as I've thought about the wedding, I've thought about this post.  This feels like the most important blog post of my life for some reason. And the pressure I've been putting on myself to make it amazing has caused me to freeze up and not know where to start.

So I'll do my best.

I've always heard married women say that their wedding day was the best day of their life.  I secretly thought, 'really? the best day?" How can one day be that great? What about all the other things one accomplishes in their lifetime? Was marriage really better than graduation or getting your first job? It was just really hard for me to imagine how this one day could be so great.

Turns out, they were right.  In fact many of my married friends were right about a lot of things, including:

1. You really and truly don't feel nervous when you're walking down that aisle.
2. No one will ever know the things that went wrong. Even if you're obsessing about them.
3. The day goes by way too fast.
4. You won't eat.

And other things....

But most of all, they were right, it was the best day of my life.  How could it not be when I think about it now? Almost everyone I love gathered in one place to support Carl and me in taking the next step in our lives together.

Sure, some things weren't ideal. A cold front moved in - so we got heaters.  One of our buses was at the wrong hotel and picked up guests 45 minutes late - so we got a delayed start.  Carl's grandmother fell.  This was perhaps the worst part of our wedding.  But she's recovered from her hip replacement surgery and doing well.

But so much went right.  Even though I'm a huge fan of lists (see above) I don't think a list can hold up to this day.  A day that truly was the best day of my life.  But I'll try anyway.  Some of my favorite things from our wedding:



1. Our ceremony - more perfect than I could have ever imagined
2. Carl's vows - he totally upstaged me
3. Buster and his ring bearing duties
4. Peeing, half naked outside the airstream
5. Peeing, with friends holding up my dress, in the port-o-potty (clearly peeing makes me giggle)
6. The Hora dance
7. Carl's back flip

See, the list just doesn't do it any justice.  But it was worth a shot.

So for all of you who warned me about how fast the day would go and how I'd hardly talk to anyone but the night would fly by - I get it now.

I'm still awaiting our final wedding pictures from Natalie and most of you have seen the ones on Facebook so I thought I'd share some behind the scenes ones from getting ready that day.  The first Devon took of me on our morning stroll before the day got started.  The second is of Jess and me awaiting hair and makeup and the last one really captures the ceremony to me - silly and loving. This was us trying to get Buster to bring the rings to us.  He thought it was a game and went running up and down the aisle.

And, finally, because I truly feel like the wedding wouldn't have been as special to me without all the love and support I felt, I want to thank my friends and family. Those of you who stepped up (repeatedly) to help me brainstorm, plan, order, research, shop, organize, review, rationalize, indulge and celebrate with and for me, thank you. I was already pretty lucky before I met Carl. Now I feel even luckier.

What's In A Name?

Well, today it become official (at least to the U.S. Government). I am legally Melissa Sileo Stewart (not hyphenated - Sileo is just my middle name now). Goodbye Ann. Hello Sileo. And Stewart.

I know that I have so much to blog about and I think I need to pace myself but I wanted to post a link to a sneak peak of photos from the wedding that Natalie sent to me.

Suffice it to say our wedding day (and the entire weekend) was amazing. I can't think of how it could have been better. I keep reflecting on it, trying to hold onto all of the memories.

So take a look at the pictures and I'll be back....

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Musings

There's a lot happening in the world right now. Some things that impact all of us like the presidential election. Some things that impact many of us like Lance and his latest news. Some things that impact my closest friends and family like our wedding.

It's hard to balance all that's going on right now and still focus on trying to get through the day to day to-dos. Some days feel really hectic and tense.   I have done what I can to influence the presidential outcome (yay for early voting in Texas) and will continue to do what I can do to ensure that LIVESTRONG is seen as a separate entity from Lance.  Now I must focus on my wedding.  This is the only wedding I'm planning to have and it's such an exciting and memorable time.

I have heard many times that the wedding day will fly by. That I will hardly remember anything.  I'm sure this will happen to me (because why wouldn't it if it does to everyone else) so I really want to make the most of the time I have leading up to the wedding.

I'm officially off work for 3 weeks now. This is the longest I have ever taken off work and the timing is good and bad. Currently my days are filled with errands and self care and beginning to welcome visitors into town.

Katie and Rob arrived from England on Saturday night and we spent most of Sunday with them. It was so special to me. Not only because it was great to see Katie but I loved getting to spend more time with Rob and for them to get to know Carl.

So I apologize if I'm not the greatest blogger in the coming weeks as family arrives and our free time is taken up with last minute errands. And as we head off to Spain (without my computer!) and enjoy our much needed honeymoon.  But I will have some great stories to share in a couple of weeks!

This Weekend's Projects

I had my last work trip (before the wedding) this past week. While it was in one of my favorite cities (NYC) at my favorite time of year, I was happy to come home on Friday night and put in a full weekend of wedding related prep and errands. With officially less than 2 weeks left every second counts (yes, that was a purposeful reference to Lance's book).

Carl's dad came in town to help with some land related projects. The final things to complete are the following:

1. The step up onto the deck
2. The dance floor
3. Final land prep and clean up

Carl and his dad got some of the step completed on Saturday but it was pouring down rain (even hailing) a lot of the day, which delayed some of their progress. I went out to the land and brought them lunch and worked on my signage plan.  I now have the wood selected and the list of signs I need to make. This is a project for next week, once I'm off work.

The dance floor supplies are all bought and should be completed next weekend, along with a big group clean up.  It really does feel like it's all finally coming together.

The big project today was beer bottling!  Carl brewed 20 gallons of beer a couple of weeks ago and today began the assembly line to prep for distribution.

Carl and I have worked on many projects together but I think this may have been our most successful. It really highlighted both our strengths - Carl and his physical strength and inventive strategies and my efficiency and process expertise.  We were unstoppable.

First, there was bottle soaking.  We had to clean the over 200 beer bottles in a large tub.

Then we had to rinse. We had to ensure the soap and residue was all gone.

Then we moved inside to begin the bottling process.

Carl had to do something to get each jug flowing to then pour into the individual (freshly cleaned) bottles.

Then I got to cap them!

All in all it took us about 6 hours. But I felt a huge accomplishment that we have almost 200 beers for our friends and family to enjoy during our ceremony.  It was well worth the mess that was our kitchen for a few hours.

Now only one more (albeit hectic) week of work before the final prep, wedding and honeymoon are finally here!

Licenses and Brews

This week, Carl and I went to get our marriage license.  I did a lot of research ahead of time to confirm that we could get it in Travis County even though we're getting married in Blanco County. I couldn't find a clear answer so we just went to the County Clerk's office and asked. The only thing they seem to care about in Texas is if you are related. Turns out, you can't get married if that's the case.

So, it's official, we have our marriage license! And in 22 short days we'll be married.

In other news, Carl took on another project for our wedding this past week and home brewed our ceremony beer.  While we'll have kegs for the reception, Carl made beer for our guests to enjoy when they arrive and during the ceremony. I love how many personal touches we're going to have at the wedding. It makes all of this so worth it.

Where In The World Is Mellie?

I've been a bit of a slacker lately on writing blog posts. But it's certainly not because I don't have plenty to write about.  I've just hardly been home.

In the past 10 days I've been the following places.  Austin to Los Angeles to Santa Barbara back to Los Angeles to Austin.  Then Austin to Baltimore to Norfolk to Chicago and back to Austin.  Finally Austin to Chicago and back to Austin.

In between all this travel I've had to try to keep up with work and plan our wedding, which is less than 4 weeks away now. Carl wasn't traveling during this time so while it was sad we weren't both in Austin together I was happy to know he was home with Buster and the chickens.

Oh, the chickens. Sadly I have a Barley update. After a few days of not returning home (again), Carl confirmed his suspicion that she was nesting under the shed and found her little body and over a dozen eggs.  Sadly the eggs were no good and Barley was no longer for this world.  So then there were 4 chickens, 2 of which are now laying eggs.

While a lot of these trips have been work related I did enjoy a long weekend in Santa Barbara with Chris, Missy, Lucie and Audrey.  It was beautiful and we enjoyed lots of great sunsets and time in the pool.

So now I'm home (and so is Carl for some of the time!) until October 10, which will be my last work travel before the wedding.  So the countdown to the wedding and the much awaited honeymoon continues.

Dogs

When Max was still alive, part of my daily (actually twice daily) routine was taking him on walks.  I did this before and after work. Every day.  And I loved it.  It was so much a part of my routine.

For some reason I never got into this habit with Buster. I'm not sure if it's because when I first got Buster he had leg surgery and had activity limitations for 6 weeks. Or maybe I didn't feel ready to share that experience with Buster so soon after Max. Or maybe I just got lazy?

I certainly know I got busier.  I never had to walk Max in the dark before work because I got to work later. I'm often leaving my house before it's light out now so I'm not sure when I would do this.

But every so often I do walk Buster.  And he loves it! It makes him so happy.  Instead of walking him every day he gets to do different things than Max ever did. He goes to doggy daycare once/week and goes out with Carl on adventures in Dripping Springs (and really all over). He's even been camping all over Texas.

Sometimes I can't believe that I've actually  had Buster longer than Max.  Max will always hold a special place in my heart (and on our bookshelf where his ashes are). He'll always be my first dog.  But I love Buster very much and he's such a happy dog. Especially when I walk him, which I did yesterday.

We went for a 45 minute walk after work because the weather has been so amazing lately.  He loved it (let's be honest, he loves going in the car regardless of where we end up) and I loved it afterwards when he slept for hours.

Runaway Chicken

So I'm pretty pleased that we're still getting about one egg/day. It's impossible to tell which chicken is laying them (although we suspect Patricia).  We can tell you one thing for sure - it's not Barley.

How would I know you might ask?

Well, because Barley seems to have found another home. Some days. Most nights.

It's unclear what she is doing but let me tell you how this was all discovered.

Last week both Carl and I were out of town for a night and our neighbors put the chickens away one night. When they put them in their coup, they noticed there were only 4 and Barley was missing. After some searching and coming back the next morning, she was nowhere to be found.

Carl got home the next day and looked for her more (in the rain) and another night passed without her coming home.

I feared the worst and felt very emotional about it.

Then the next day, Carl texted me a picture that she had returned home! I was surprised and relieved and curious - what had she done for 2 nights?

Well, shortly after her return (literally just a few hours), she was gone, again. And was gone all weekend.

And, you guessed it, she showed back up today (she is the all black one below). Just in time to eat it seems. 

So now I'm just annoyed.  I have no idea what she is doing.  Carl is now suspicious that she's actually created a nest for herself under the shed because he saw her go under there one day.  I tried to look and see if there were any eggs (which would of course be annoying if there is a pile of eggs under there) and couldn't see anything.

Long story short.  Barley is a trouble maker but I still want her to come home.

Breakfast Anyone?

I have been waiting to say (or type) these words for months....We have eggs!

Finally, some of the chickens started laying eggs and I am ecstatic (I almost typed eggstatic on purpose but then thought it was cheesy but I sort of couldn't resist anyway).

Our five chickens turn 6 months old next week but since they turned 4 months old (which is typically the earliest chickens will lay eggs) I have been anxiously awaiting this day.  Due to the heat and the fact that they are less likely to lay eggs during extreme temperatures, I was trying to be patient.

So today when I went to let them out in the morning and saw two brown, perfect looking eggs I screamed.  I literally was jumping up and down in our yard like I'd just won a game show.  I even scared Buster a little bit.

So while it's hard to tell if one or two of them have finally started taking some action, I'm hoping that they will soon all follow suit since they all seem to do the same thing all the time already.

We've been collecting empty egg cartons for months and finally got to use one of them today to put the two little eggs in.  I'll wait to eat them with Carl when he gets home this weekend and hopefully we'll be able to share other eggs with our friends and neighbors who have part of the chicken stock.

Luckily for these chickens this happened.  Carl was threatening them with chicken soup and rotisserie chicken warnings.  Whatever works! I just hope the 104 degree day we had today won't put a stop to their production.

Happy Birthday Mellie

As someone who typically loves my birthday it certainly didn't feel like as big a deal this year.  It may be because the entire month leading up to it I spent celebrating with friends. It could also just mean that I'm getting older and 36 isn't nearly as fun as 26. But it sure does feel better than I thought it would.

I'm not sure what I thought my life would be like now but I really have no complaints (accept the occasional headache after too much wine).  Overall I have a great fiance, great friends, wonderful family, a job I love (which is also part of some of the headaches noted above) and a lot to be happy about.

So after a relaxing day off of work including a facial and pedicure, I went to dinner with Carl, Jess and Ken.  I didn't even have cake or blow out any candles and we were in bed by 10:30.

But the big celebration was going to San Antonio for the weekend with Carl. While it was certainly my birthday weekend (and Carl pretty willingly let me milk that all weekend) it was mostly an excuse to relax and spend 3 full days with Carl, which hasn't happened in months.

And relaxing we did! From the moment we go there, we did a lot of sitting around - sitting on the bed (as you can see here), drinking wine, sitting by the pool drinking cocktails, sitting in inner tubes enjoying the lazy river.  I also squeezed in a massage and we slept 9-10 hours each night.  I'd say we enjoyed the down time for sure.

We did manage to write our wedding ceremony and go for a run one morning so we weren't completely lazy the entire time.


It was so important to me to have that time with Carl and, as we joked, when going to sleep back at home, that won't happen again until our honeymoon. Which is just 8 weeks away!

My Happy Place....

Many of my friends know how much I love Anthropologie. While I may not always love the price tags I love the clothes and enjoy the Anthropologie shopping experience so much.  In a recent dinner with some girlfriends we listed things that make us happy. Sure enough, Anthropologie was on mine.  So, when Jen, Devon, Sue, Haley, Kelsey, Missy and Nicole got together to begin to plan my Austin shower it quickly rose to the top of the list as the perfect choice.

And perfect it was!  Every little detail came together so well and I loved the entire experience.  Of course once I knew it was going to be at Anthropologie I had to get a dress from there. Little did I know how much shopping would happen that day, too.

In top of all the usual shower things - games, mimosas, delicious food and gifts - there were some extra special details as well.  The water bottles had labels that matched the shower invitations, there were cookies as party favors, also with matching labels and I got a personal shopper! While the store supplied a personal shopper for me, many of my friends took on this role as well and there were lots of clothes tried on and purchased. And not just for me!

I've never been to a bridal shower where I've been naked so much but the mimosas and having such great friends helped!  It was extra special to me that my mom, nieces and future sister-in-laws got to be there, too.

As I've already described - I feel like such a lucky girl and this is just one more reason I feel so grateful for all my friends have done for me - this year and always.   The monogrammed caftans (hooded robes featured above) were only a small way that I could think to thank my giflfriends.

After a month of celebrations it's time for a bit of a quiet month, though.  Carl and I are starting a 2 week detox and I'd like to get my exercise and eating routine back on track.  While there is plenty to do for the wedding this month I'm so happy to be able to look back on all the exciting things that have already happened to celebrate Carl and me.

Wedding Updates

It's been a busy few weeks around the Sileo/Stewart household. I've had two bridal showers - one in Austin and one in DC - and celebrated my 36th birthday. Yikes!  I also took a few days off of work to both relax and get some wedding stuff done. Sadly I'm not sure that I've done much of either - yet. I had some car issues to deal with (yep, the bad luck continues...) and found out that my wedding coordinator can no longer work with me for the weekend of my wedding. I also had my second dress fitting yesterday and almost fainted b/c I couldn't breathe. I'd like to believe it has nothing to do with the dress being too tight but she's making some adjustments and I'll try, again, in a few weeks.  Sigh.

But it will all work out, right? I'm going to make lemonade out of lemons - or whatever they say (incidentally I just had some delicious lemonade at lunch - boy, I miss sugar sometimes). 

So regardless of these hiccups, I will persevere.  I'm already working on finding a new wedding coordinator (with just 8 weeks to go...). My car is in the shop for round 1 of 2 repairs (round 1 is mechanical, round 2 is cosmetic) and I'm off to San Antonio tomorrow for the weekend with Carl. Where I believe the real relaxing will begin.  We are going the swanky JW Marriot hotel and spa for 3 days where I plan to do lots of lounging by the pool, get a massage and just overall be waited on.  Additionally, Carl is practically done with the deck we'll get married on (picture below) and I had some amazing bridal showers. I don't have many pictures yet but wanted to pass along this one below from my DC shower.

My mom and Aunt Kate threw me a lovely shower in DC and I got to see many of my high school and college friends - some that I hadn't seen in years.  It was like a mini reunion for many of us and the gifts, wine and amazing carrot cake were a bonus.  Pictured below are two of my best friends from high school (Shannon, who I met in 7th grade and Stephanie who I met in 1st grade) and one of my best friends (and later post-grad school roommate in DC) from college, Kristy.  We all went to college together and hadn't all seen each other maybe since graduation which was in (gulp) 1998.

I stayed the night after the shower with Pam in Arlington and Leslie came in from Massachusetts to help celebrate.  Pam, Leslie, Kim and I went out to dinner, which turned into drinks, which turned into more drinks, which turned into dancing, which turned into late night pizza, which turned into 3am.  I felt so old the next day but a little proud that I could still do it. That being said, I'm happy to have my lame, early to bed life back and after a lovely birthday dinner last night we went to sleep by 10pm.  I love my life.

I'll post more pictures soon of my Austin shower and all the splendor that was Anthropologie!

One Lucky Girl....

I feel incredibly lucky for so many reasons. This past weekend my Austin girlfriends threw me a bridal shower.  I'll post more on that once I have some pictures to share.  All you need to know for now is that it was at Anthropologie.  Awesome, huh?

In other lucky girl news, I came home from work on Monday to find the house full of Topo Chico bottles with single stemmed daisies.  This was Carl's sweet gesture after he heard my idea to collect empty Topo Chico bottles for the next few months to use as decoration at our rehearsal dinner.  He thought it would be sweet to see how it looked and there are 6 different bottles with flowers in them around the house.  Not only do I love how it looks (and it confirms to me that I want to do it) I love that Carl thought to do that.

So if I haven't already asked you, please send me any empty Topo Chico bottles in preparation for the wedding weekend.

Gracias!

Bachelorette Mellie

There are very few blog posts that I feel anxious about writing.  If there is something in my life that I don't want to share, I just don't write about it.  But the things in my life that I do want to share; the things that are so special and important, I don't know that I can adequately write about how much they mean to me.  One of those experiences (and I envision several others happening in the near future) is my bachelorette party.

My anxiety is not rooted in nervousness. It's more that I just don't know that I can give the full experience the words it deserves. 

Two weekends ago Haley, Devon, Jen, Jess, Nicole, Sue and Jen H. went to Marble Falls and stayed at Nicole's parent's house on the lake to celebrate me.  Weird to even write that.  This whole wedding experience has felt a bit surreal and having a bachelorette party added to that surrealness.  I've planned for and been to countless bachelorette parties for my friends.  And now it was my turn.  Wow.

In summary (don't worry, I'll go into some details) the weekend was all I could have hoped for. And more.  I'm so lucky to have such great girlfriends who know me so well and could anticipate all my needs and wants. 

The day started with a walk and tacos with Jess. She and I then picked up Jen Long and headed to our rendezvous point at Haley's new house.  Sue met us there and the 5 of us were off toward Marble Falls with a stop along the way for manis, pedis and bubbles.  It was the first of many drinks on the trip and the first of many times I was waited on.

When we arrived in Marble Falls, Nicole and Devon were already there and had been doing lots of prep work.  Snacks and more bubbles (French 75s this time) were ready for the sharing.  After a tour of the magnificent home we'd stay in for the next few days, the lounging began.  Some of us put our bathing suits on and headed down to the lake for some lounging with noodles.

The night continued with a tasty dinner out at a local Mexican restaurant where we got awkward back rubs from the owner. But that didn't ruin our time or impact the massive amount of food we ate.  We proceeded home to watch the Olympics, drink more and get to bed at a reasonable hour (this is exactly what I wanted).

The morning started with, you guessed it, more lounging.  This time it was on the back porch with coffee (yep, I was allowed to have it on this trip), fruit, frittata (thank you, again, Devon and Nicole) and magazine reading.  Once the bathing suit went on, the drinks began again.  Starting with delicious bloody marys.  The day was spent doing whatever you wanted around the house. I spent most of my time in the lake, sipping cocktails and laughing with my friends. 

The lunch was a spread of grazing type foods (my faves!) and more drinks and an afternoon movie break to watch The Hangover.  Then it was time to get ready for the night!  This time there were gifts to be opened (details will be kept private for this portion of the evening) and a long distance video toast from many of my friends who couldn't make it for the weekend.  Once I changed into my evening outfit (there were many wardrobe changes) a dance party began until our dinner was ready.  Dinner turned into games and games turned into more drinks and the Olympics.  Again, I was in bed at a decent time and up early the next morning (with only a minor headache). 

While some ladies had to leave early on Sunday, I hung around for a few hours - spent some more time in the lake and lounging.

It's hard to imagine how the weekend could have been better. I think the only thing missing was Kelsey (and, of course, my friends from afar) who had a change of plans at the last minute. And, of course, I could have stayed longer. 

I am so lucky to have such good friends and will remember this weekend for the rest of my life.

Girls Night Out

Every so often (note: a few times a year) I go out with my girlfriends for a night 'on the town' (even typing that makes me feel old).  I'm a pretty social person and have dinners out with friends, go to movies and am constantly making plans. But most things have me home by 9pm, which I'm just fine with.

But a few times a year we'll go out past midnight. The key to this is going to a late dinner (I like to think this is prepping me for our honeymoon to Spain where eating dinner at 9 or 10pm is commonplace), not eating too much and pacing myself.  Yep, I'm old. 

The other night, Devon invited us out to Fader Uncapped hosted by Fader magazine, which her cousin is in charge of.  It was a Tuesday. But we did it. We went out. Granted, we were home by 11:15 but it was a Tuesday!  The band ended up being DJ A-Track, who I have never heard of but he recently played at Lollapalooza so that seems like a big deal.  We danced a little bit, people watched and all in all had a good time.  I'm always happy when I go out and do something different from my normal routine but certainly have no idea how people do it all the time.  How even I used to do it all the time.  As my 36th birthday approaches I am reminded why you go to college when you are young.

Until next time....

Wedding Platform

Upon getting engaged, Carl and I quickly divided up duties and tasks. I am much more suited for things like organizing, check lists, spreadsheets and overall planning. Carl is much more suited for things like lighting, beer selecting and building.  We both agree that neither of us would be very good at the other's skill sets. That being said, there are times when we have to enlist each other for help. Carl graciously listens to me explain options and choices and reviews pictures of things.  I'm not always as gracious helping him with his projects, though. Mostly because I'm not very good at manual labor (at least not since my Americorps days) and it's hot out and all of his work occurs outside.  The last time I did anything land prep related was way back when in the spring (I am wearing a jacket in the picture I took that day) and I helped chip cedar trees.  So this past weekend I decided to help Carl with his biggest project of all - the deck we'll get married on.

From the beginning, Carl envisioned the platform we'd get married on - centered around the beautiful view over the ridge.  He enlisted several of his contractor friends and has planned every detail and already spent a lot of time working on building it.  This weekend his brothers and dad are coming into town to help him to put the roof and floor on and to run wire for the lighting.   Again, things I'm not very good at. But I do know how to paint and that's just what I helped him with this past weekend.  I didn't get a picture of it after we painted (we painted the steel beams a slate silver) but the other pictures show the progression of his construction.

Carl continues to impress me as he has put so much time and energy into this deck.  While he may not be good with checklists and planning, I know that his language of love is sometimes through construction.  In just a few short months we'll get married on this platform and all this time and energy will be worth it.

Florida Wedding

Two weekends ago, Carl and I went to Florida to go to Kathy's wedding. It was the first wedding I've been to since we got engaged and, as always, we had tons of fun. I love that Carl likes (is willing?) to dance with me and is a good sport (kind of) about getting dressed up. I have no idea how many weddings I've been to. I would guess around 40 or 50? But I still enjoy going to them. I love seeing what people do, getting dressed up, free drinks and having a little fun on the dance floor.  My DC girlfriends were there, too, and it was great to see them.  Carl has met them all before but I'm glad he got a chance to get to know them even more. 

It was also the first time I've ever been to a wedding on the beach. I've been to weddings that are in beach towns but they have always been at the hotel. This was literally on the beach. Surprisingly it cooled off and was pretty tolerable to be outside for a Florida evening (although I was still happy the reception was inside).  While I am very excited to get married outside, I am glad that we are not doing it on the beach. First, Carl would never stand for it. Second, there are so many strangers who just witness your wedding and take pictures. So strange - I would never take pictures of people I didn't know getting married.  All in all it was a fun, relaxing weekend.  We have one more wedding to attend before we get married!

Smoked Meats

We're still deciding on which Austin BBQ place will cater our wedding. As part of this decision making process we've had to try a lot of different kinds.  Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. This is probably every Texas man's dream. But it does get a bit cumbersome.  I can certainly tell right away when I eat one that I don't like but it is getting harder to tell what I do like.

I think we've narrowed it down to the final few and I'm determined to make a decision by the end of this week.

In the meantime, as Kelsey has coined, my signature smell of 2012 is smoked meats. I feel like I smell like smoked meat all of the time.  Again, things could be worse. When I lived in Boston during grad school and we had a large skunk living outside my bedroom window, I'm pretty sure I smelled like him all the time.

So, in the grand scheme of smells, I'll take smoked meats any day over skunk.

The Hungry Little Caterpillar

Recently, Carl found a few of these very large caterpillars in our tomato plants. I'm pretty sure, just like in the children's book (which I just read to Audrey last weekend), it was enjoying many tasty things in our garden.  There was a much larger one that I didn't get a picture of.

Our lucky little chickens then got to feast on the caterpillar. Thus is the circle of life....