The Start of the Rollercoaster

I previously stated that I was going to have everything ready to go as soon as the priest gave us the go-ahead. I wasn't lying. Here's what we have gotten done in the last week.

Invites ordered, printed, and shipped to us (not received yet)

Deposit paid on church, signed up for the classes needed for getting married

Questionnaires done and sent, waiting on sponsor couple info (rec'd on 2/25)

Free Play booked, deposit paid

Photographer chosen, deposit paid

Talked to hairdresser, booked makeup trial

Booked rooms for wedding party

Wedding website live

Gift registry live 

Brides stuff was already done, rings are bought, we need to still purchase some favors for our guests

Really, I guess that is a lot. I'm trying to not focus on the things I can't control (one class and the sponsor couple (update, we have had contact with the sponsor couple, so down to 1)). The things I can control have been done... and the stuff I can't are things I have to be patient about. Darn it all. 

We did go look at apartments on Saturday and of the 3 we looked at, one is starting to pull ahead as the winner. They are all too darn expensive and with far too many fees, but this one had the best floor plan, room for a dining table, and tons of storage. Every one we looked at had washers and dryers included in every unit, which was new. No more laundromat for these peoples! Hehehe. Now to make the final decision and start that process, too. Burleson has plenty of city benefits, and each apt complex is within walking distance of a grocery store, which is nice. I'm excited to live near an HEB! Best grocery store, ever!

After chatting with J, I'm feeling better about us being able to get all our paperwork in and get married on 4/26. We've got this! I've got to get rid of a lot of my crap that we won't need in the new place. All is good... we can do this.

in other news, I got a seester visit on National Margarita day! 

Complete with A and both of them brought their dogs! 

I finished jewel painting #2 and started on #3.

Fun with jewels. 

We need to drop some stuff off at thrift stores... I have too much stuff!! Also, aldi sells some knock off girl scout cookies which are AMAZING and taste 100% the same. Soooo yummy.

Moving Forward

The meeting with the priest went well. Now all we gotta do is take 2 classes, meet with a sponsor couple 4 times, get some other stuff to that proves we are in our right minds, not related, and not being coerced, and we are grrrrreat! Lol. It's nice to have a date and a plan. Invites are ordered, the website is up, we are registered for both classes, we are doing what we need to do in order to get hitched! Hehe.

So I've also taken to jewel painting as a stress reliever. It's basically paint by #s but with tiny jewels. Here's my first one:

So the blogger still isn't being kind, but you can tell it's been rotated. My hand is on the left side. Moon reflects on the water and I think there's an island with a tree. I dunno, this one was the most ambiguous of the bunch. All of them have a moon and this one looked like it would be fun to start with.

We are full speed ahead. We are looking for apartments to move into (together, eep! Imma live with a MAN), I'm already starring to pack. I'm starting the fridge purge so we aren't brining too much into our new place. I'm exhausted from all the emotions. I'm nervous and excited and worried and in love and it's a constant roller coaster. I'm feeling all the things and it's exhausting. 

So thats the quick update. We are getting married on 4/26/24. There's a lot to do before then, too.

Inch by inch

In one week we will have a date for the wedding. This isn't so much about that. It's more about how SLOW workout progress can be. It's been MONTHS and I know I'm making progress because I've got the spreadsheet to prove it, but by any other measure... bubkus. The weight isn't moving, I think I look the same as ever, and it's ANNOYING AF!!! I think I'm seeing some progress in the arms, but could be I'm fooling myself. Sigh. 

Anyway, enough about that. Friday J had to work, so I decided to make it a "me" date day. I went to a coffee shop not too far away for some journaling, then went for a massage, took myself to lunch at Bjs, and then came home to watch movies and start on my jewel painting project.

Super cute

Coffee shop

getting my thoughts down

hand and stone massage. Introductory price is ok, but membership is pricy.

happy hour!

great white mini pizza and honey siracha brussles sprouts with a Jeremiah red 😋

I also went to 5 below and got myself a face mask... but that pic won't cooperate, so I'll save you the nightmare. Hehe. 

jewel painting. Basically paint by #s but with tiiiiiiny plastic "jewels."

Saturday we got some stuffs for a super bowl party at js sisters house, and we are looking forward to that. I've decided to give up ordering on Amazon for Lent, and am trying to figure out how to fast on Ash Wed and still get a workout in. Especially since my friend from Chicago will be here on Tues, which means no workout in favor of a visit and anamias! 

Getting Closer

All the papers have gone thru and we are good to meet with the priest when he gets back from his vacation (grr, snarl) on Feb 16. I'm gonna have everything ready so as soon as we have the date set, we can order the invites, get them sent out, and book the reception venue... not necessarily in that order. We ordered our rings, so that's exciting. My sis told me we are weird cuz we didn't get shopping for the rings, but honestly the thought of going to a store gives me the heebie jeebies. I like how we did it, and the rings will be quite beautiful. So still we wait, but at least we got the green light. 

I've started boxing up some stuff since I'll be moving before J does. Some of it, I feel like I should really just get rid of, but it represents something to me. Will I ever NEED the notes from my classes I took for my master's? Probably not. Do I want to throw them away? Noooooo. They represent a LOT of work, and I'm still paying off the loans! Lol. On that note, thanks to the interest on those loans, I got a refund from the gov. Otherwise I was gonna owe them $14. Hehe. I've got boxes of "give away" ready to go, and we have about 5 apt complexes to go look at. We decided on an apt over a house cuz houses are more $ and this way we can save to buy our own house! Or whatever, you know... go on epic trips. 😁

Things have settled down for now, it seems. We were able to have a lazy day together, which is one of my favorite things, and we are making plans for stuff. We made our invites (waiting till the 16th to order then, in case changes need to be made), and I may mess around with the wedding website today.

One thing I'm struggling with is feeling guilty about the changes he is having to make. When we move, his commute will probably double. He already doesn't have as much time with his people (thats part me, part his work), and when he is free, he chooses to be with me. As a recovering people pleaser, every time he tells me something like this, it's like a little cut to my heart. I don't want him to have to drive farther, but I also don't want to saddle myself with a 1.5 hr commute. I'm sorry he doesn't get to spend as much time with his people, and I selfishly want to spend our time off together. It's tough. I suppose I need to remember that he is his own person and makes his own decisions, and me feeling guilty doesn't accomplish anything. We talked about this some last night, which was also new and strange to me. We also touched on the big scary, which is the whole: giving someone my love also gives them the ability to destroy me, while trusting that they won't, thing. I've never been in this situation, I've never trusted someone this much. It's terrifying. However, the fact that he allowed me to be vulnerable and didn't mock me for it or make a joke about it, or just brush me off like it was nothing... that was incredible. I haven't gotten that kind of support often, and it helped me to know this is a man I can grow old with (in hoverchairs since wheelchairs will be old tech by then 🤣). A man who validates my feelings and helps to process my fears, WHAAAT??? This exists??? 

Anyway, we did go to the compromise place this weekend to check out the "old town" part of it. We had some disappointing beers and foods at a place, geeked out at the GeekOut store, walked around a bit, then were stuck in some of traffic on i-20, 303, AND downtown Arlington on our way to division brewery for an actual GOOD beer before we dropped back by his place and I went home to mine.

They had 2 trolley cars we could go thru. I'd show you more pix of that, but for some reason every time I try to add one, they go the wrong way (landscape, not portrait) and its pissing me off. As you can see, it was a beautiful day, I've even had my windows open most of the weekend. 😁

So, since the pix are being annoying, you'll just have to come visit when we are in our new place. I'm moving in at the end of March, then J will follow sometime after the wedding. We also decided on a place to go for our honeymoon, so really as soon as we have the date set we can book the reception venue, our photographer, and then really start looking for somewhere to do hair and makeup for 4 ladies on the day of. The big things are easy, the small details are a pain in the butt. MUAH! Love to all, please pray for us if you are a praying person, send good vibes thru the universe, or whatever you do to send good juju for us. This is all new and scary for me. I need to find that disturbed song where he's saying something about protecting yourself for too long... I feel like it's an apt description for me right now. Hugs, friends.