Chair Cover Dilemma, Continued...

POSSIBLE SOLUTION!!

I checked craigslist today and found a couple, getting married, in the same dilemma B and I are in with chair covers. I emailed...

... and they responded! They are interested in B and I purchasing the covers, and then they would rent the covers from us for their August wedding. We're still sorting out details, but this seems a win-win situation... We'd both save money AND have nice covers.

Fingers crossed.

Wedding assistants...

Eeeek. I just put a posting on craigslist for wedding assistants (set up food, keep food warm and replenished, clear plates, etc). I think I'll either get a FLOOD of responses or NO responses.

We already have one person hired-- someone we know and someone dependable. That makes us a lot more relieved. But we need a couple more...

This could be interesting.

Why I love B

He whispered in my ear last week "end of the year, 2009"... as to when we'd get a dog. Personally, I think he has a tad lofty of expectations (we said we'd get a dog when we get a house...), but I love that he can be a dreamer. We both cannot wait to get a dog. A big, burly, sheddy, fantastic golden retriever, probably.

I have been thinking about that comment ALL week long. I knew he wanted one (we've talked about it a LOT), but to have him indicate a goal was just so sweet.

If it's a girl, I think the name "Sunny" is cute. :) Especially ironic in Oregon!

PS: The dog on the blog at the top is our friends' dog, Sadie. She was very excited about a WALK and snow, as you may be able to tell. B lavished attention on her, but also taught her to sit at before crossing a street with him. And, in the process, won over our friends ("love me, love my dog" should be their motto.

Chair cover dilemma II

So, a wise friend of mine (thanks eireann!) suggested I look into renting chair covers. As much as I thought "no! I have the material!", I realized it was a possibly good solution to the problem of time management to make versus the cost of buying.

Uh huh. Not so.

Would you believe that to RENT chair covers it's $4-$5 a piece? No joke! So really BUYING them online is cheaper. OMG. What a ripoff! I thought for sure that the rental woudl be cheaper.

Now, granted, I'm limiting my search to this area; I don't want to have my friends go to TONS of hassle to return various things to various places that we've rented from. But still, I don't live on a desert island. There were a few places! And no success.

So, we're back to buying versus making. I think I'll wait a couple of weeks for somethign to get sorted out at work, and THEN make the decision. :) We could always use the material to instead make the walls in the ugly knotty pine section look better... or/and put swaths over the windows... hmmm...

Church

So finally, here are church photos!

St. Mary's from the outside, front view. LOVE the red doors, huh?
St. Mary's inside view. You can sort of see the wood beams, but not well. They have these fabulous heavy wood beams on the ceiling that just gives it this wonderful feel.

Side view, not as good...

Ha, ignore the dress shot (I stole this photo from a wedding photographer website). But I love the steeple shot. I hope bells get rung!

Inside of reception hall

So, here's the inside of the hall. The tables and chairs we will set up-- they were only up and about because there was an event the night before.The eating area is a big U-shape around the dance floor. Lower ceilings in the eating area, and then the dance floor has high ceilings. The walls are all white... except for one stupid section that has knotty pine walls (yuck). The dance floor actually has the pine too, but that actually works there b/c of the fireplace. We may do something with that, but we have to see about time...

So here's the dance floor looking towards one portion of the eating area. You can't tell, but the ceiling above the photographer here is tall. That's why we can get away hanging the BIG lanterns here (there's space).

The fireplace in the dance floor area. No, we won't use it, but it looks rustic. I like. Everywhere in the eating area has carpet, but on the dance floor it's wood. I like that too. Oh, and theyjust replaced the carpet to a red color-- wonderful. Now we don't have to worry about spilling red wine as much!

Outside photos of hall

Last weekend, we visited the reception hall. Things aren't quite in bloom yet, so you'll have to imagine this all in fine summer form. Trees green, etc.

Here's the outside, as you approach from the parking lot:

There's a bit of a bridge (I love it) to get inside. We may put poles on this and string lanterns over the walkway, but that's sort of an "if things get done" project!

Here's the view to the east:

And here's the view to the south/westish. You can see Spencer's Butte, which makes me happy.

So, yes, it's a golf course, But it's not a snooty golfcourse, and there is a lot of forested area around it, so it's not like it's all grass and only fake, purposely-put-there trees. Both would be pretty, but I'm happy with our choice.

Good tea

I usually am more of a fan of loose-leaf tea (less gross stuff in it), but I recently bought this tea just for kicks. It is delicious. I am a sucker for coconut, and I usually only feel like tea in the afternoons. I have been trying to cut back on the caffeine intake. This is yummy. Not too "in your face" chai, and very sweet smelling due to the coconut. Seriously-- I could smell this all day. Just remember to take the teabag out (I waited a bit too long), otherwise the chai taste overwhelms the coconut.

But yum!

Why I love B

When I personify the cats, he loves it. And he does the same thing when he's home.

Expectations

This wedding is really a massive test in expectations. What to expect, who to expect it from, whom to have no expectations of, squashing previous notions of how people should behave, etc.

I was never the girl to dream about the perfect wedding. For me, it was (and is) all about WHOM I'm marrying, not about the party. Even now, as B and I find ourselves knee-deep in work... it's STILL all about each other and the vows and the commitment and the love, NOT about the party.

But, I did have expectations on how certain people should act. This has really been a lesson in moving past what you thought would happen and accepting the situation.

People are naturally very stubborn, I think. And if someone's decided they will behave that way, well, then that's what you have to accept. What you want or hoped for doesn't matter. Sure, you can get upset and say "but... it's a wedding", but that doesn't mean they'll change their minds.

I'm normally pretty good at accepting reality. Something bad happens and I can accept it, tackle it head on, and move on. But I have been having a struggle accepting how some people are behaving and how they are treating me. Hurtful, negative, and unsupportive. They have said mean things.

But what I realize now is I just need to treat this situation the same as any other. The fact that it is a person doesn't matter-- it's reality and I need to accept it. I also need to learn to keep an open mind. I need to not have pre-set in stone beliefs of how people will act. Believe me, so far mine have been dashed and it's taught me to not have pre-set beliefs of how people will act.

So I'm letting go. I can't control people (obviously), and letting go really does make me feel released. Load off my back. If people promise to help or do something, I will have their created expectations... but not mine.

I feel free.