It's really hard to believe that almost a year and a half has gone by since APL and I got engaged. And yesterday marked the one month countdown to the wedding!!
Last week was an absolute whirlwind of pre-wedding celebration and planning! It started with APL and I flying together to Los Angeles so that I could go to my bridal shower and he could go to his bachelor party.
Last week was an absolute whirlwind of pre-wedding celebration and planning! It started with APL and I flying together to Los Angeles so that I could go to my bridal shower and he could go to his bachelor party.
Those of you who read this blog on a regular basis know that I usually only put one picture with each post. But, because the pictures from last week are so damn happy, I'm going to put a couple more in this post. ~;o) Also, fair warning, this is probably going to be a loooooong post because it has been a very busy and wonderful week. And it's fun to share happy news for once!!
My best friend, LK, and her mom and sister organized my bridal shower. LK and I have been best friends since kindergarten and I spent nearly half my childhood at her mom's house, so it was really fun to be able to have my bridal shower there. The theme of the shower was "travel" to help me prepare for my honeymoon to Spain. LK did a truly amazing job decorating - gorgeous flowers, balloons, flags, maps, old suitcases, and little wooden airplanes. She even got luggage tags for everyone as a party favor. Lunch and drinks were equally delicious. The shower was so pretty it was like something out of a wedding magazine. Though let's not forget my shower cake, selected by LK's mother. LK was scandalized. But it didn't phase the little girls at the party - they just wanted to eat cake!
I got to see and spent a little bit of time with so many wonderful ladies!! High school friends, family friends, my family, Austin's family, my childhood babysitter and her adorable daughter, and my three truly precious flower girls. I had special turquoise necklaces made for my bridesmaids and the flower brigade, and I got to present them at the shower. And my lovely ladies brought me amazing presents for my honeymoon: big floppy hats and gorgeous dresses to wear in Spain, picnic supplies (I think that cheese knife will be key!!), travel games, comfy but cute walking shoes (to deal with foot pain and still look pretty), luggage tags that say "Mr." and "Mrs.," and even pair of underwear that can be washed so easily and dries so the fast that the tag claims you can travel for 6 weeks with only one pair!! Plus I got enough REI gift cards to buy anything else I might need. Perhaps best of all now I can pretty much put all these gifts in a suitcase and not have to worry about packing for my honeymoon!
After the shower my sister and I were super happy to be in town for a benefit punk show for Mitchell. Punk is really not my kind of music, but the show was full of such passion and emotion that I really enjoyed it anyhow. And my sister even went into the mosh pit and loved it even though she got kicked in the head by a crowd surfer!
APL also had an amazing time at his bachelor party. The theme was the movie The Big Lebowski. (The story behind that is that APL and I sometimes call ourselves the "Leachowski Family," which is his last name and mine smashed together.) They dressed APL up like The Dude, and his friends dressed up as Walter, Donny, the Nihilist, and even The Jesus. Activities were also inspired by the movie. They ate breakfast at a diner, went bowling (obviously), made APL purchase a carton of milk with his checkbook, drank plenty of white Russians, went indoor skydiving (there are a couple of dream sequences in the movie where The Dude is flying), and generally ran around freaking people out with their costumes. I'm super happy that the boys had so much fun (and no one got pregnant or had a heart attack, because those things happen in the movie too).
Just before APL caught his flight back to Colorado, we had time to go to a Dodger game with my dad, my siblings, and some friends. We even wore "Bride" and "Groom" baseball caps that APL's aunt sent us. Then APL flew home and I spent most of the week working on wedding stuff. My mom helped me go makeup shopping (because apparently I am makeup impaired). She also helped me think about and deal with a hundred other little details. I also got to spend some time with my dad. It was nice to have a chance to talk with both of my parents, in person, about the wedding - especially since I'm the first kid in the family to get married, so it's weird for all of us! The week wasn't all work - I also got to have lunch at the beach, jump in the ocean, and go to a second Dodger game with my mom, her boyfriend, my brother, and two friends who drove all the way down from Bakersfield just to hang out for a few hours (thanks guys!!)
Considering the subject matter of this blog, I'm sure most of you are curious to hear how I'm doing physically with all this excitement. So, as is my promise, I'll be honest: I'm achy. Extremely achy. And dealing with a quite a bit more fatigue than usual. For example, I just tried to run a bunch of errands, but I didn't even make it two hours until my knees were so angry that I had to come home and lay down.
But you know what? I am feeling so damn happy that the way my body feels just isn't bothering me right now. I'm just getting done what I can get done within my limits, and then I'm trying to rest as much as possible and enjoy it. In a weird way all this wedding excitement is kind of liberating, because somehow I feel like the wedding gives me more "permission" to rest than usual. I know I want to be in decent shape for the wedding, so I am having a much easier time talking myself into resting and recognizing when I need it, if that makes any sense. Hopefully I'll develop some better resting habits now that I can use again after the big day!!
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