What I Covet.

Clothes. Seriously. There are no maternity clothes within 120 miles of where I live. I'm not kidding. There are size L and XL I could purchase, but I'm sorry, it then looks like I'm wearing a tent (or something). I ordered Bella Bands that should be arriving VERY soon to help me out, but I need to get into the city. I like some stuff I've seen online, but I'm so hesitant to order anything until I have idea of what things should fit like. So far I'm liking Maternity.com and Old Navy.

And in actuality, there aren't that many things that seem to be out there for pregnant women. Everything is geared towards the baby. That's all good and whatnot, but this little bugger isn't going to be around for many months yet, and in the meantime I want things for me (what a selfish pain I am eh?)

I've been researching. I'm in love with a few choice items that are either 1) geared towards my complete comfort or 2) my stylish self (and occasionally 3) both).

Item #1 - The Leachco Snoogle Loop Pillow

I love pillows and already sleep cuddled up with a billion of them...but Nate fights me for them and I want my own. I also am a tummy sleeper, and this is getting more and more uncomfortable all the time. I'm finding putting a pillow between my legs at night is way comfortable amd I can still lay in a position that is almost on my tummy, but not quite. What else I love about this pillow is it can be folded in half and used to lean up against with arm rest.

Item #2 (and #3) - Kimono Style Robe. Knee Length with Matching Lounge Pants. Sold at plumprettysugar's shop on etsy.com

Not only do these look soooooo comfortable, but also look like something I would love to bring with me to use as a receiving gown in the hospital....and lounge around in after the baby is born at home....and lounge around in before the baby is born at home...the list goes on. I also really like the materials this woman uses to make her clothes. They are so light and airy, and the patterns are really beautiful.

Item #4 - Vera Bradley Baby Bag

I love Vera Bradley. The new baby bag rocks. They have a ton of pockets, is lined for easy cleaning, has clips for pacifiers, keys, etc and also include a terry cloth changing pad. I'm a huge fan of all the different patterns and colors used, and once the season changes and new patterns are introduced; sale items ensue!

Crazy Gene

I think a crazy gene runs in my husband's family. Really, really, for reals... Let's look at the stats before we got 'hitched': I'm 31, never been married, have no children and have a career. That was a problem for my MIL. I obviously was praying on her poor son. Let me clarify: He never knew what hit 'em!

Now his family (many of whom go to the school I teach at) is spreading the rumor the only reason he married me was because he, "knocked me up." Hmmmmm....interesting. I have three responses to that...but I'm going to give edited, realistic responses instead (there also are three):

1) My custom wedding dress was bought over the summer. If it had been a tighter fit; somebody would have had to sewn me into it. I tried it on in the summer and never put it on again until the day of the wedding.

2) I drank the night before the wedding, before the wedding, after the wedding, at the reception, and after the reception. Wouldn't do that to my baby. I also drank at my reception here in in Colorado. I had conceived by then (a day?) but was completely unaware.

3) I waited 31 years to test my fertility. I, of course, had natural concerns about it seeing as that my mother had trouble conceiving. I wasn't about to test it before the wedding in case there was heartache ensuing, and also...see #1. Duh.

Obviously #3 wasn't an issue as getting pregnant took no effort what so ever. I think Nate looked at me sideways or something.

But seriously? What is their problem? At times it makes me feel ashamed I'm pregnant. What!? Are we in High School still. Oh wait - yes we are. That's what happens when you have no life and married right out of school.

You're brain occasionally gets stuck there. Permanently.

Thanks to all the great ideas last week. Some of those things I'm doing, some I'm planning on, and the rest I'm seriously considering. Erika - I DO need a therapist. Someone needs to take me out of the twilight zone...

I am still wearing my 'normal' cloths, but many with the buttons rubberbanded together. Bella Bands were ordered this morning - along with preggers pops....the nausea is still killing me. Before I go order online, I'm attempting to talk my husband into a trip into Pueblo to at least see, in person, some maternity cloths. I hate sending back online orders.

I'm making list of what I want to get myself in the next 6 months or so. I'm going to be selfish and needy since I don't expect anyone will be throwing a baby shower for me. Afterall, I stole my husband from his mother and entrapped him into marrying me. Shame on me.

I'm Allowed....

...to rant a little like I did last week. I feel like I've been put into the washer on the high spin cycle. Not only do we have little 'peepers' running all over right now:

But this little chica also has a fat preggers belly :

And this guy has two girlfriends expecting:

But wait...that's not all that has me in a tizzy. This gal also is starting to bust out of her cloths...oh wait, that's me starting to look like a milk cow (with short hair because I cut it all off - but ignore that. It IS growing back):Lots and lots of mixed feeling concerning this. If you happen to glance at the timer at the top of how long I've been married, you will realize why I left that up there...so y'all can get an idea on the timing of this one. Namely I've been married about 11 weeks. Guess what? I've been pregnant just shy of 11 weeks. Nice eh? So this is me at 13 weeks.

I've also been sick, frustrated with the lack of support I have here, and all those feeling concerning my step-daughter? Now compound them with the normal fears of a first pregnancy - namely if I'm having such a hard time getting it together with her, what in the world is going to happen when another little one comes along?

I know, the advice I'm going to get is just wait - it will all work itself out. I hate to say it though - but that doesn't help right now. I'm terrified of this whole thing.

Yes, we are excited. Don't get me wrong. I don't look at this as a curse or anything, it's just that I wasn't prepared mentally for this and it really didn't seem real until I heard the heartbeat at 8 weeks, and even then it wasn't until I had an ultrasound, and my cloths stopped fitting that reality dawned on me.

Yes - it took awhile to wrap my mind around it. But what I really want right now is to stop being sick. That is what is overwhelming my life and coloring my interpretations of all that is going on around me. It isn't letting up and I would like a little bit of my life back so I can deal with everything else.

What were the best things you had while pregnant? For nausea, insomnia, clothing, etc...

A Valentine's Day Love Story

It's that time of year again around here - when the animals start having little animals. There's a lot going on around here and I'll tell it all in 'doses' (since that's my new theme), and this is the story of the week:

Meet Ned the Pygmy Billy Goat:

He's in love with Shirley his lady and they are going to have a baby, or two, or three or maybe even four (depending...since goats are notorious for this):

Unfortunately for Ned, this guy is also in love with Shirley and won't let Ned near her anymore:

Poor Lucy the Gander lost his lady this winter after she was attacked by The Turkey (who will be making his way to a dinner table in the near future). As spring is fast approaching, Lucy has some misplaced sexual frustrations. Obviously.

See him making sure Ned keeps his distance? Poor Ned. The good thing is that I have these in the brooder right now for Lucy:

Two beautiful, swan-necked white Chinese females (right now they're just cute and fuzzy). He can start his own harem as soon as they grow some feathers and are big enough to be put outside without freezing.

So that was the Valentine's day love story on my place since I was left home alone and didn't even get a card. I bought myself a box of truffles. They were good.

The Second Dose

I still feel like I've got a millions things circulating in my brain that I'm not sure what to do about. Being indecisive and frustrated could be due to:

1) My 'witching' hour is between 3 and 3:30 am EVERY MORNING! Then I can't get back to sleep, and by the time I do actually get drowsy and drift off - the alarm goes off. Then I feel like I'm a dream state for the rest of the morning. That makes it hard to cope with things because I just don't due to my mental capacity being pretty much null and void. I then hit my second wind about 7pm and coincidentally can't fall asleep until 11pm or so. That isn't translating into much sleep.

2) Nate's ex-wife may be the stupidest person I've ever spoken with. A week after our wedding she filed a court order against him - under the pretext he was in violation of the divorce decree. Basically I think it was because she had called us around 40+ times during the time we were in MI (16 times the morning of the wedding alone) and we never took any of her calls - and because she had the number blocked. However, not only is he not in violation of anything - she actually is. Of course she decided she wanted to drop the whole thing after perhaps figuring this out, but Nate figured she brought this on herself and was going through with it. She called into court in lieu of showing up and now has been ordered to be present for the new date. It also was explained to her all the things she would be responsible for if she was wrong with her 'math' - and charges against Nate. Namely court costs, lawyer costs and money she owes - besides the travel expenses to get here she will incure. However, she also is SOOOO insistent now on being the 'good mom', she has been court ordered to call my step-daughter every night (so maybe she should start paying child support too hmmmm?). This is a way bad move on behalf of the judge because she is totally manipulative and abusive, asking questions like, 'what is Danielle doing with you?" - insisting that I'm not called 'mom' - asking her 3 and 4 times in a row if she loves her real mom and baby sister...it goes on. Even our child psychologist is in disagreement over this and feels it will set us back even more with her. But what to do but weather the storm?

3) I haven't spoken with my mother since the wedding, nor my father since right before Christmas. There is some history there. Namely Nate and I moved our stuff into a house in September when our leases on our separate places were up. Nate lived over an hour from where we had his daughter enrolled, and he was planning on being gone most of September and October for work. Since there has been some issues with his daughter we felt that uprooting her part way through a school year was something we didn't want to do, and establishing a schedule for her, (something she'd never had) was important. It was a tough decision to come to, especially since I would be taking on the responsibility of main caretaker during this time and that was new to me, but one we felt was best for her. I had explained this to my father and thought everything was understood. In a nutshell - from a moral stand point the b*tchfest my inlaws and parent's had on the night of our wedding made clear to my parent's we were, 'living in sin' and were, 'shacked-up'.

I would like to note that in relation to many of my cousins and other family members I think I've been a model daughter. Someone they could be proud of. I never got into things I shouldn't have in High School and was very responsible and goal oriented. In college my studies always came first and made sure that I carried a 3.5 or higher GPA at all times to keep my scholarships. I also always had a job and asked for very little money to help me through those years. After college I immediately got a job, and whereas my parent's were always very helpful, I never had to depend on them financially. I didn't settle into a meaningless marriage (and I had more than one opportunity), and I also didn't go have any children that I would have passed off to them to raise as a single mother - I instead deciding to focus on my career and hobbies and let those things come at the right time for me. At the very least you would think that my parent's would be on 'my side' (if there even are sides to be had...).

Could I please establish here that I can appreciate my parent's worries and concerns. I can respect if they were confused or disappointed in any way. I also am totally willing to see their side of the issue. BUT...

Can I also establish that I am a 31 year old women who is self-sufficient and responsible as well? That I feel they raised a great person who puts others first and am very respectable...perhaps they think of me as a failure? Their failure? Why in the world did they not talk to me about their concerns, worries, opinions, etc? Why was this all behind my back, without getting a full story, or even be willing to ask or listen to me? My father was very open in talking with me AFTER it all, but my mom hasn't said a peep. He suggested I write her a letter - I did - and received no response. I don't know what to do at this point because what I need is positive things - and I'm scared I won't get them.

And right now what I really need is my mom.

Bringing It to You in Doses...

I'm not kidding that it's been overwhelming. I thought I'd give it to y'all in doses leading up to what exactly has my world flipped upside down right now.

1) The MIL is on the rampage. Nate and I let his daughter spend some time over there at Christmas. We figured it was a good move to on our part to show our sincerity in wanting to all get along, and maybe we could have some time alone. All it caused was discourse. We fought...and not just over break, but well into the two weeks following it. When his daughter came back, the sweet little helpful girl that was making strides in our relationship as mother/daughter had turned into a monster as well. Swearing in school, lying, stealing, talking back to teachers, telling Nate and I her chores were, "our job, not hers", telling me she, " didn't have to listen to me"...etc, etc... It makes me have mixed feelings. Those along the lines of: I'm not good enough, screw it she's not my kid, what can I do to make it better, am I doomed to be a lousy mother, I can't stand her...etc... In a nutshell - it sucks.

Turns out there may have been some comments in the MIL's household to her (ya think?). There also was most definitely to both myself and Nate concerning our relationship. I was told that I was being lied to to make me happy. That she tried to warn me. That it never was going to work. Nate was told he never was around anymore. That I was making him a different person. That he should leave me... Nice huh? What was funny is that our response to her was exactly the same: "that's my husband/wife you're talking about! You are supposed to support us as a family!" Does she think we don't communicate with one another or something? Needless to say we have cut her out for awhile to concentrate on us as a family. Things are slowly getting better.

2) A close friend of mine who is privy to personal information, and whom I trust for advice concerning career and life, backstabbed me by disclosing MAJORLY personal information to my boss. It's not that big of a deal (turns out), but she's still mad at me and I don't know what to do to make it better. Yes, I know I should be totally mad at her, and I am to a certain degree, but what I truly am is deeply hurt and saddened that it happened and that she had to have known what position she was putting me in by opening her mouth when she did. It makes me depressed.

3) Because of above situation, I'm having to take on a little more work as a class sponsor. I'm exhausted and my body literally aches. I've had late nights for the last three weeks running and it doesn't help that the snow is finally arriving here which makes things twice as difficult to complete at home.

I know. Whine, whine, whine...

I promise the next post will be a bit happier and exciting. I just needed to get it off my chest.

Wouldn't You Want to be Him?

So the Saint's won. Was there that much doubt when about every game they played this year was seriously fun to watch? I mean we're talking interceptions, great passes, fantastic defensive plays, quarterback sacks....need I go on? My point is they were an exciting team all season and even if they hadn't won - it still would have been a good game to watch.

And despite the fact that he probably won't remember it - wouldn't you love to be Drew Brees' son last night?

Sorry I've been MIA for the two weeks or so. There's a lot going on right now and I'm just trying to keep up. I promise to have a HUGE life update very soon.

Oh When the Saints...

I predicted the Saints were heading to the Superbowl 'way back when...' and lucky for me the prediction came true or I would have lost a pretty decent size bet. I've always been a Saint's fan ever since my dad's family moved to Louisiana. There's something about New Orleans that I fell in love with as a kid - and never being much of fan of the team I hail from (Detroit...I wonder why...) the Saint's seemed a good team to follow.

It was obvious from the start of the season that New Orleans had something a lot of other teams didn't. For starters - an absolute drive to win the title. Rarely did you see them fumble a ball, and Drew Brees always seemed to know exactly where his line men were. Simply: They have been a fun team to watch this season.

I've been teased a lot from my student's at school, but there are a few Saint's fans and we've held strong through the season. I never wanted them to go undefeated. Admit it - an undefeated team is not very probable - and isn't the whole point to get to the Superbowl? I'd rather see them get some losing games out of the way when it doesn't count - rather than when it does.

I've always been a fan of Brett Farve - even when he played for the Packer's (booooo!), and I rooted for him to have a good game, but let's face it - if the Vikings had won, would the game against the Colt's be any good? I think we're looking at a fast paced, high scoring Superbowl game now that it's Saint's vs. Colts. A game that could go down in history.

My predictions on the winner? That depends on a few variables. I'm going to be realistic here: I think the Colt's are the better team - HOWEVER, I also though the Vikings were the better team - and felt it was fate that Saint's should win. Surprisingly enough that was said pretty much verbatim by the commenters before the start of the game. I also predicted that if the Vikings lost it was going to be because they couldn't hold on to the ball - And they dropped it 6 times. Go figure.

So therefore - if THIS happens, (namely heavy pressure put on the quarterback -Payton Manning - during the game), I think the Saint's will be the Superbowl champs. No way Manning can hold up to all those hits like Farve did. He just isn't, nor ever will be, the player Farve is.

Yeah for Frost!

However, we need moisture REALLY bad here in the valley, so snow actually would have been appreciated. I did get a chance to snap some pictures while I waited for the truck to defrost yesterday morning. Some of the pictures may be usable, (but need some editing) as it was hard to see well with the sun coming up and reflecting off everything. These two are of the same area, but at different times of the rising of the sun.

I like them both but can't decide which is better. The first has a little more depth and color as it was taken a little earlier. However, the second seems more 'cheery' and bright as the sun was starting to peak over the ditch. Which one do you like?

Picture Tag!

Thanks Kara for tagging me! This was fun and I had to open a folder I haven't seen in awhile!

The Rules:

1) Open your first photo folder

2) Scroll down to the 10th picture in your folder (if you don't have 10 pictures, go to the next folder that does)

3) Post that photo and tell your story behind the photo

4) Tag 5 friends to do the same


This picture was taken by my sister-in-laws photographer on her wedding day. This is shortly after we all arrived from the hairdressers and were having a 'brunch' in her parent's dining nook. That's her father in the kitchen. The house has since been sold due to the economic situation and her parent's have moved to Columbus, OH to follow work.

At about this time I was debating whether to stop speaking to the chick on the far left or kill her. She made some comments about my age and how 'old' I was - and asked, "how, exactly, do you feel about your younger brother getting married before you?" on the car ride home from the salon. I told her not all of us were willing to sleep around and have children out of wedlock as a teenager, so I was willing to wait for the right person. It may have been a low blow since I really could care less about other people's choices - but she really rubbed me the wrong way. She kinda left me alone after that.

Now I think it's a bit funny.

Ok - Tag, you're it!
Andrea @ Swamp Suburbia
Carrol Farm
Browneyed Cowgirls
Randi (because we never hear from you!)
and...
Heather (Rae Rae) - since I KNOW you have a ton of pics!!!

Frosty!

I wish I hadn't 'slept in' a bit last Friday morning as temps dropped to -16 during the night, and since the ground temp the day before had been above freezing I woke to a frosty winter wonderland. It truly was beautiful, but since I was running late I really didn't get to enjoy it for all it was worth.

I did get a few pics of the ponies as they were looking for their food. They were frosted head to toe.

C'mon mom! Quit messing around!

I DID NOT take this picture, but it represents a bit what the western side of the valley looked like before the sun came up:

It was an eventful weekend despite not feeling well at all. I basically stayed in and slept unless I had to get up to be a good animal mom.

Maggie caught her front pastern (ankle) up in barb wire and cut herself up pretty good. Her bottom hooves (front and back) were covered in blood that was evidently spraying for part of the night. She was limping slightly and once I had it cleaned out I could see there were no tendons cut (thank GOD!) and her joint seems to be out of harms way as well. The only thing I'm concerned about is proud flesh (nasty, horny scar tissue that can grow up around a wound and cause movement issues). Right now I'm using Underwood's Horse Medicine, that is supposed to help keep proud flesh from growing up. I used it when Rumba put a gate through her leg a few years back and she healed up just fine! She's moving very well but needs to have the wound tended to at least twice a day, and I'm keeping a loose wrap around it since it's so dusty here and thus prone to getting dirty easy.

Also little Brees fell into the water hole - an opening in the ice over the ditch to allow the horses access to drink. She took it in stride and I had her out pretty fast, but once she quite moving around the chill set in. So she got to come inside and wrap up in a towel by the fire. I wish I'd taken a picture, but like I said, I wasn't feeling too good so I just hung out with her until she quit shivering. I guess Boomer fell in a few mornings ago while Nate was breaking ice, so maybe they both will steer clear from here on out!

Ridiculously Long

I cannot believe I haven't posted since before I went on school break! And it isn't as if I was super busy either...I'm sorry!!!

In my own defense I will state that there has been many changes - a few which will be posted now, a few later.

For starters we 'saved' two puppies before Christmas. Nate's uncle had brought home an emancipated German Shepherd cross that had been hanging out at his job site. He had been feeding her at work for weeks and was a very sweet dog, so he decided to take her home since it was obvious she didn't have one. A few weeks later she disappeared and he thought she had run off. Nope - she had dug a den under his spare building supplies and had seven puppies! They were sucking her dry and at four weeks we had to do something. Since they were fat and happy we started finding them homes. She was left with three and two weeks later looks A LOT better. We brought two home. The runt and her sister. They hung out in the house for a few days to make sure they were eating well (and they have had NO problems being off mom at all!) and have now moved out to the kennel with the other dogs.

Meet Boomer and Brees:

We planned on finding them homes, but we may keep them. At least one...but WHICH one? Hmmmmmm.....

Nate has been talking about adding another 'barnyard' animal to the gang for a few months. I did a little research and didn't see much of an issue with it. This bugger ran off with in the first 16 hours of being with us, was searched for with dogs for 7 hours, was given up as a lost cause, and then was found curled up in the straw around the pumphouse and made a beeline for her pen when she saw me. Guess it's true what they say...these little buggers are pretty smart.

Say Hello to Betsy:

Nate has decided she IS NOT going to be Sunday dinner one day, but rather a mommy (because she likes her back and head scratched) and she can earn her keep by procreating for a cause.

Also - Wrigley is going to meet his girlfriend tonight. So in a few months there should be little Wrigleys. There's a thought...I get pick of litter, but I think we have enough dogs for now...though you never know....

Christmas was okay. New Year's sucked. Other things happening - one major thing unplanned - that I will go into at a later date.

We DID NOT go to Michigan. Another sore point, but I sometimes get the feeling that my parent's have 'married me off'. Not a happy subject with me.

Sorry this is quick. I promise to be better!

Guess What?

My door won. We got 3 dozen donuts to share with the classes that helped. So my freshman classes are sugared up!

Weeeeeee!!!!

The Weather Outside is...

Well, to be honest it's really quite nice. Although there was a freak snowstorm that rolled through yesterday afternoon that deposited about 3 inches of snow on the ground. But since it was about 35 degrees out it was alright...except for the gale force winds. That sucked. I decided as tradition calls I must get Christmas cards in order (Thank you cards too, but those might have to wait). I spent a bit of time on Saturday getting pics of the barnyard (never mind that there is no barn). Basically all the pics were bloopers.

But first....a new pic of Smack! I think I forgot to mention his name is Smack because his full name is Skippers Smokin Chex and somehow Smack just fit the little bugger. He was sunning himself when I went out and refused to stand up so I just managed to get a pic of him laying on the ground with Momma. No, I haven't weaned yet. At first I decided to wait a little longer due to the leg and vitamin issues surrounding his growth - then I didn't have a place to separate them when I moved - and now with this sporadic weather I'm nervous to stress him out without any true shelters. I'm going to do it as soon as I can be around a little more (i.e. Christmas Break). As it is he's very independent and only nurses as a comfort every now and then.

Rumba wasn't having any of the reindeer antler thing, but Maggie sure wanted to see what was up. Smack's hair is about as long as my hand. He's like a little teddy bear and all he wants to do is cuddle too.

Then I decided Shirley and Ned needed to get in on the fun. All they really wanted to do was butt heads and try out their new supersized horns. First Ned sized up Shirley...

Then Shirley eyeballed Ned...headbutting did ensue...

Onto the dogs...I think you can see not one animal, perhaps excepting Maggie and Smack, were amused at anything I was doing with them. Dixie kept rolling her eyes at me (literally. She's the only dog I've ever known to roll eyes). And Maverick kept trying to crawl into my lap and hide his face. I think he was humiliated.

Wrigley wasn't having any of it. After eating one pair of antlers while my back was turned, he decided the Santa hat was 'the bomb' and tried to climb into it.

Notice he doesn't have hold of it, but it running away with it over his head since I was coming after him.

And....*drumroll*....my Christmas gift came early! A round pen! My very own for working horses! Yeah! I've been looking like crazy for a light-weight pen that I can haul around and use for training . I didn't need a heavy duty pen because if I have a horse that wants to go through it; I don't want that horse anyway. I found this used, but barely used and mostly just stored outside. It only want about a 40 foot diameter for working horses in, but it came with enough panels to make a 70 foot diameter pen. So now I have an extra pen along with my round pen, and in a pinch can break this down into three good size holding pens. Very versatile!!! I'm excited!

The Compromise of the Christmas Tree

After much debate, I decided we were putting up a Christmas Tree. It's been crazy with everything, and we'll be in Michigan over much of the holidays, but I don't care. It's not Christmas without a tree. Nate didn't see the point (seriously, where IS his holiday spirit?) As it is we passed on outside lights.

I grew up with a live tree my whole life. We used to go out and cut our own. I wanted to do that, but as we are very busy, and since Nate is working weekends until Christmas, we really don't have time to go up to the mountains and cut one as a family. He also wanted a fake tree.

That is completely out of the question. I can give up on the outside lights. I can forgo the mountain excursion. But a fake tree? I think not.

So off to Wally-World we went last weekend and for $30 brought home this beauty. I'm not a big fan of firs as they are very dense and the branches are not very strong, but we had no choice. It's a very full tree and even though I can't really hang ornaments deep into the branches, I think I like it! Plus firs have very soft needles and my hands didn't get all raw and itchy from hanging ornaments.

The only downfall of the tree is the small stump (firs are notorious for this). I have an old fashioned stand and we couldn't get that sucker to do much more than balance there.

Not so good.

But after trying a variety of things for over an hour, the power tools came out.

Out came the stand screws and Nate literally screwed the tree into place with huge frame building screws.

He now thinks it's pretty.

So the compromise of the Christmas tree went well.

With a Flash: What's a western decor with out the Buffalo Skull hanging in the background? Luna was a bit of a worry when she tried to climb the tree, but after her second time and half a squirt bottle of water later, she's decided it's not worth messing with. Now she just lays in front of it and stares nostalgically.

Without a flash. I really don't like that star. It changes color and just seems so...retro. Like I should have little disco balls, and blinking lights on the tree. I'd love to find a pretty angel, but I can't find anything around here and I'm probably going to be anal about it when I do. I need some craft shows or something...

Since I was in the mood after all this, I decided to enter my school's annual door decorating contest. It's 3D. As my students say, "I'm in it to win".

Nice that I teach in a PUBLIC school that still allows the word 'CHRISTMAS' to be uttered. And that decorations are allowed:

I Like Winter Weddings

I almost called off the wedding. Seriously. There was a bit of a discrepancy that occurred shortly after arriving in Michigan that I didn't know about. I kept my mouth shut and managed to stay relatively calm about it for close to 30 hours, (I wanted to make sure I wasn't over-reacting) before throwing my fit. The fit happened. Unfortunately it happened on Thanksgiving and I ended up skipping dinner at my brother's in-laws to drive to Chelsea (near Ann Arbor) to get some things for the wedding (which was another sore point in my books). So I missed the Turkey.

However, the drive was good for me and by the time I made it back to my parent's house I had thought things through and a truce had been made via text messaging (amazing how that works isn't it?).

Getting married is stressful. I hate to imagine what would have happened if we'd had more than 5 months to plan for the wedding. It didn't help that the stress was compounded by the fact that my mom wished we'd had more time...that made me feel I was somehow doing things wrong.

Oh well.

By the time I was standing in the church waiting to walk down the aisle, wondering if Nate was going to faint (he looked a little pale), nothing mattered anymore because I was laughing too hard. Surprisingly I was totally calm about everything (the Mimosa that morning may have helped).

The wedding was beautiful and our Priest did a great job with everything. I loved our piano player, the harpist at the reception rocked, and the food was awesome! We held the reception at Bistro Bourdeau in Auburn Hills. I highly recommend them for not just parties, but for an elegant, affordable, delicious night out as well.

We stopped at only one spot for pictures, and in hindsite I wish I'd pushed for another. I was feeling a little rushed because the reception followed immediately after the ceremony and my mom had made a few comments about the time spent on pictures at the church, and then my brother kept commenting on time when we stopped (probably under orders from mom). I did put my foot down and say that this was our wedding and we were only stopping in one place so I was going to take my time there...but I really am a bit disappointed they couldn't have left me alone concerning it all. It wasn't like anyone was waiting for us to eat - food was served before we arrived. That attitude sort of went along with the whole theme that I rushed things so now we didn't have time for anything extra - which was Bull. I just wish a few people could have been a bit more excited about my marriage. They love Nate, so it's not like that even became an issue, and it's not like I'm some youngster running headlong into God knows what.

On the note of unhappy people: Nate's parent's were supposed to be in town Friday for dinner at my parent's. They said they'd be there, but made excuses. They were at the wedding and didn't look happy. I, of course, gave them big grins and hugs. My family talked their ears off. They stayed the whole time at the reception and went to my parent's afterwards and then met them for breakfast the following morning.

My MIL took me aside and told me I had the nicest family she'd ever met. Well duh. They're Italian and will either talk your ear off, feed you, or somehow manage to combine the two to where you don't know what hit you. I've always been friendly and gracious and usually the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree. My avoiding her has to do with anxiety and fear from her past behavior, but never have I been anything but polite. I'm glad they were there and saw what I come from. She also hopes we can put the past behind us. I'd like nothing more, but her very volatile behavior in the past does have me wary. I'll just keep being polite. So all in all, well received.

I created our wedding album (the photographer was my neighbor growing up. It was her first wedding and she was all nervous! She did a beautiful job! However, she's scared of the computer so editing and albums were up to me). I usually use Snapfish, but I got to 'lookin' and found this: Smilebooks. It has an awesome free downloadable template for book building. It is now my new favorite album maker.

On Monday we met up with Matt and Erica who stood for us, and their son Gavin who was our ring-bearer, to explore the Detroit Zoo (all decorated for Christmas). I haven't been there in about 10 years and a lot has changed! We couldn't cover the whole zoo with two youngsters, but we saw all the exciting things that involved indoor buildings (it was a bit chilly). I was bummed we didn't get to see the Polar Bears swimming, but the seals were out!

The Sloth was awake and trying to figure out what the heck we were.

Preview

I survived. It was interesting, but once I was down the aisle nothing mattered anymore.

Getting to the church. Dad surprised us with a Navigator Limo. It rocked!I think my dad was more nervous. The salon that did my hair and makeup said I was the calmest bride they'd ever seen. I think it was the Mimosa that did it.

The bestman (my bro) and groomsmen tux's didn't match. Nate's was wrong also. The only major issue of the day - which I didn't notice until afterwards anyway. However, I think the place should give money back to my brother and Nate for screwing it up. I checked the info that was given to them, what they wrote down and what they received. They aren't the same. My fur. LOL