Wedding Updates

After a couple of months of some procrastination, I've finally started to put my wedding planning into high gear. I'll admit, I did a lot right away; however I felt like there were a couple of months where I did nothing.  Part of it was that I didn't know where to start so I felt paralyzed. While I'm not a procrastinator by nature, I can be when I have to do something that I've never done before. So while I love to organize and plan, planning a wedding is a whole new ball game. One that, while exciting and amazing, is also daunting and overwhelming. There are so many choices. So many costs. How does one decide? Well having your girlfriends over for food and wine helps.  My friends were great and indulged me in brainstorming and note taking.  Thanks to them, I've gotten a lot done in the past few weeks and have some good plans on the horizon.  This past weekend I went out to the land with Carl and worked on a craft project for the wedding that involved using an electric saw and cutting some of the trees that Carl removed from the land where our reception will be. I don't want to give away all the cute secrets of our wedding but I promise this was a labor of love.

Spring Swap

Jess and I hosted our fifth clothing swap (is that right?) this past weekend. We hosted it at my work, again, b/c it was such a success hosting there last time.  Trying to capture a picture of all the clothes we had was hard but suffice it to say we had a lot.  As always, I walked away with some 'new' things including some adorable large mason jars that I'll use for the wedding.  I always enjoy hosting our swaps and look forward to our next one, which won't be until the new year....when I'll be a married woman!

Veggies

Our Spring and Summer garden is doing so much better than our Winter garden did.  So far, we've had tons of tomatoes, squash, chard, acorn squash, cucumber and jalapenos. Along with our usual herbs, we're also still waiting on beets.  I think both Carl and I are pretty pleased when we eat something from our garden and I swear it tastes better!

Also, the chickens are doing quite well. They are in their coop full time (and over 2 months old now) and have really adapted well.  We still have at least 2 more months until they lay eggs but I have no doubt that will go by quickly.

Wedding BBQ

After we purchased our new car, we took it on a spin to Lockhart, Texas, to eat some BBQ.  We've known since we got engaged that we wanted to have BBQ at our wedding and that we wanted to choose a place in Lockhart.  Finally, after many delays, we made it to Lockhart to make the big decision. 

There are 3 famous and 1 less famous BBQ places in Lockhart.  After calling them on Friday, we learned that only two of them actually cater so that made our choice even easier.  We went to Black's and Chisholm Trail and picked up enough brisket, sausage and sides for Carl and myself as well as some friends who live in Lockhart.  We went over to their place to eat and get their feedback. 

And boy was it good. And gluttonous. 

Growing up in Virginia, BBQ only meant pulled pork. When I moved to Texas I learned it means any meat that has been cooked in a pit.  At first, I didn't like it because I felt like, on principal, it wasn't BBQ. But I've gotten over that and as my tastes have evolved so has my love for BBQ.  We decided not to try ribs because while I want the wedding to be casual, I think eating meat off a bone takes it to a totally new level.

After much debate, we've decided on Black's!  I think I'm still full from yesterday and we still need to decide on pies (although Royer's is the clear winner to me so far) and which Freebird's burrito bar.  Tough decisions.

Subaru Take 2

I bought my Subaru Forester almost 3 years ago.  It was after much debate that I decided to go with the Forester instead of the Outback. I wasn't sure I felt like a 'wagon' person like the Outback is.  Most importantly the new Outback model that was just coming out in 2009 I loved but couldn't afford at the time. So I went with the Forester and while it served a great purpose and I never worried about it being dirty I never really loved it.  I also felt like it was cursed from the beginning.  It was broken into, got multiple flat tires, rear-ended twice, cracked windshield and regular check engine light occurrences.

Looking back, I thought for sure I bought it during a Mercury Retrograde (a time when the world is a bit haywire and you shouldn't enter into any contracts or agreements) but I didn't.  A few weeks ago when I got stranded in a parking lot because the car wouldn't shift gears I decided enough was enough. I was ready to move on and get the Outback this time. 

So after selling my car to Carmax (thanks, Carl!) and reviewing my finances and options online I bought one yesterday!  I'll admit that it was nice not to have a car payment for a few weeks but I missed having my own car. I'm sure Carl wished I'd gone longer to save more money but I think we're both pleased with the new car.  So welcome home 2011 Subaru Outback!

Cookie Tasting!

This past weekend my mom was in town. While she was certainly here to spend time with her two adorable granddaughters, she also wanted to help me with some wedding activities. Jess decided to host a cookie and white wine tasting at her house on Saturday afternoon. She went to 6 different bakeries in town and got cookie samples and I brought over some white wine.

We tasted the cookies blindly, and then rated them and drank some wine and rated those as well. The cookies were all tasty but I think we walked away with a winner. Then, again, when Carl tried them the next night he had a different opinion so we may need to start all over (tough job).

The wine tasting was fun, too, although we only got chardonnays, since that's what my mom drinks. I should have done my research ahead of time, though and realized that chardonnay doesn't go with BBQ. So more wine tasting needs to occur as well.

Jess was so sweet to host this for my mom and me and, as always, I'm grateful to have such great friends.

This coming weekend Carl and I are going bbq tasting to decide who will cater are wedding. Wish us luck!

Easter Camping

This year for Easter, Carl and I camped on his land with Jess and Ken. Thinking back to last Easter I think we camped then, too. But just the two of us.

This time, Jess, Ken and their two dogs - Annie and Moses - joined us. We got out there on Saturday afternoon to perfect, sunny weather. We walked around a bit and showed them the work Carl had done on the land to prep it for the wedding and then hiked to the swimming hole where the dogs and the humans enjoyed a lazy afternoon. It was really a pretty great day. We grilled out that night, sat by the camp fire and drank adult beverages and ate cookies. The next morning we did more of the same - sitting and eating and talking. I am so glad that I got to spend the weekend with some of my favorite people and four legged creatures.

The rest of Easter was spent doing things around the house - tending to Buster's mangy hair and the chickens, who are now 4 weeks old.

I took today off of work to get caught up on some wedding related things. Sadly I spent most of the day just getting caught up on life - laundry, chores, errands - but it was much needed and I'm feeling pretty accomplished today.

I've also been meaning to give an update that my follow up yeast test after my detox came back with no signs of yeast! I am very proud of myself that I got rid of it all simply by changing my diet. It's amazing what you can do when you just adjust what you're putting in your system. It was a good reminder to me that you don't always have to rely on western medicine. There is certainly a time and a place for it but I'm glad I took the more natural route and now know what to do if it happens again.