Our trip to Chi-town....

So, right now I am recovering from our trip to Chicago to visit with Mr. Rocks family.  We had a great trip, worked a lot, and maybe even learned a little about ourselves.....

Some of the things we learned on this trip.......

We can definitely tell Mr. Rocks was not adopted.....(ok, maybe we already knew this - I just wanted an excuse to post this photo!)

(This is Mr. Rocks, his dad, and "GM Auto")

(Photo by me)

We also learned that there are NO picture of Mr. Rocks and myself in nice clothing......what can I say - clearly we are not "dress up" people!

(Case in point - we are sweaty from walking around Lincoln Park Zoo!)

(Photo by me)

I even learned how to make the bestest taco meat in the world, thanks to Mr. Rock's Ecuadorian Aunt (thank you!!).

(Mmmm....Taco....photo by holytaco.com)

And we learned that when you take Mr. Rock's family, add in my family, then add in booze and music, ridiculous fun will ensue!  (Sadly, I have not photos of this - I was having too much fun myself!)

What was the setting for all of this new (or not so new) self-knoweldge?  Graduation!!!!! (no, not ours)  Mr. Rock's little brother (and one of his GM) graduated from college this year, so we made the trek up to Chicago to celebrate.  And celebrate we did!  We are all proud of "GM Auto" (he works in automotive engineering) for doing so well in school (seriously - he had something like 15 awards when he graduated!), AND he is gainfully employed (hoorray for gainful employment!).

So, I will leave you with an actual photo of Mr. Rocks (rockin' the "ring of fire"), Mr. Rock's dad (also rockin' the ring of fire) and GM Auto......the newest graduated member of the Chicago Rock Clan!

(Photo by me)

Iiiiiii want Caaaaandy!!!!

So, is that song stuck in your head now?  Tee-hee!

I was also thinking about titling this post "If you give a mouse a crumb."  Do you remember the saying? ...If you give a mouse a crumb, he will ask for a cookie.  If you give the mouse the cookie, he will ask for a glass of milk, etc, etc.  

(Mr. Rocks with our mouse catchers!)

Well, the cake/cookie/candy table idea started because I gave a "mouse" (my mind) a crumb....and it just got worse from there.  And by "worse,"  I mean it got freakin' awesome!  Especially for the wedding guests!  

See, it all started with the cake/cupcake tower idea.  Well, the cupcake tower recently got scratched, so now we are going with a cake.  Except our cake will be a bit on the small side (more on the cake after we sign the contract!).  And I like sweets!  We must have more chocolate!!!!  So, I decided early on that we will also have italian wedding cookies.

(Photo from Jerlinewilson.com)

But we won't have just one type of cookie....Nope! (Here is where that pesky mouse starts to rear its tiny little head......) We will have SEVERAL types of cookies.  Like 4 different types.  Because I like cookies.  We will have the traditional "butterball" cookie.  I also want some sort of flourless chocolate chip cookie.  And maybe a shortbread-type cookie.  And who knows for the fourth type....have any suggestions?

(Photo from Modernbridewithabudget.com)

BUT, cookies are NOT enough!  (And here is where the mouse asks for a glass of milk.  Or maybe the whole cow.)  We have to have candy too!  I mean, it just makes sense!  BM Lil' Dudette works for a chocolate company.  And better yet, she can get *free* candy!  So, in addition to the cake and the four different types of cookies, we will also have Wilbur Buds, Malted Milk Balls, Cocoa Almonds, Jordan Almonds, Chocolate Covered Raisons, and anything else BM Lil' Dudette can get her grubby little paws on.  

(Photo from Caseofcandy.com)

So, now all I need to do if figure out how to display everything...I'm guess just throwing everything on the table in one big pile o' cookie and candy is not the best plan!

(Photo from Springsoralhealth.com)

Getting......sucked....back....in.....to...wedding.....stuff.....

So, it seems that simply writing that last post about not wanting to deal with wedding stuff got me back on track.  I have been making my brooch bouquet......it was a good way to keep my hands too busy to notice the lack of cigarettes in them......

First, I gathered all of my supplies...brooches, rusty needle-nose pliers, wire-cutters, super glue, and water (hydration is essential!).

I started out by supergluing all of the pins together (cuz no one likes to get pricked!).  Then, I wrapped a thin wire around both ends of the brooch pin.  This wire-wrapping was VERY time consuming - so it was a good way for me to catch up on several seasons of SG-1!  For the SG-1 fans out there, I was re-watching seasons 1 and 2 (the ones before Richard Dean Anderson and Michael Shanks started fighting).

In some cases, I ended up yanking the pin off the brooch as I was wrapping it with wire....FUN!!  In these cases, I had to re-superglue the pin to the brooch.....

After adding a thicker-wire "stem" to each brooch, I created a bunch of "brooch flowers"....

(All the above photos are from me)

But I need ~20 more "stems" to finish all the brooches I have.  After I get those flower stems, I can put it all together.  Or should I say someone else with more artistic talent than me (anyone?  anyone?) can put it all together......But so far, I am impressed!

So impressed that I am re-thinking about having some brooches in my bridesmaids bouquets!  What do you think?

(Something like this, but the flowers would all be one color (orange), and probably some sort of daisy.  So, really, nothing like this.  But you get the general idea!)

(Photo from Weddingbycolor.com)

By the way, if you are interested in making your own brooch bouquet, I followed the instructions from this website - I found her instructions very helpful!

Getting sick of wedding planning

So, Mr. Rocks and I just got back from the Keys.  After a 24-hour drive.  Well, actually, we dove on Saturday morning,

(The Rocks Huggers underwater!)

(Photo by me)

then rinsed the saltwater off, drove up to Orlando to have dinner with some friends who were doing Disney and Universal that weekend

(Haha- we did not tell them that they would get wet on this ride!)

(Photo by Starline Tours)

then drove up to Columbia to visit yet another friend for breakfast

(Mmmmm....best meal of the day!)

(Photo by prog.org)

and finally arrived home 24 hours after starting the drive.  And since then, I have no motivation to do wedding stuff.  And I need to do wedding stuff.  Deposits to be paid to the Key Colony Inn, the DJ, the cake baker.  Emails to be sent to various individuals. My brooch bouquet to start.  BM gifts to finish.  And I have no motivation.  Seriously..... I have been cleaning the house like a madwoman to avoid doing wedding stuff.  So, the kitchen floor is scrubbed, the fridge is clean, the rugs vacuumed, the car cleaned out, and the laundry done.  Seems like I need another wedding nightmare to jump-start the wedding stuff again!

There is no reason to hurricane season....

So, we are in the Keys (yay!) this week, but we ran into something unexpected...something weird......something that is feared by every bride-to-be who is getting married outside......RAIN.

(Photo by me)

We are getting married on the pedestrian bridge.  No tent, just the wide-open blue sky above us.  Now, if it rains, the nice folks at the Key Colony Inn have said that we can our ceremony there (they can do a quick switch-a-roo with the tables and chairs in the big hall) as "Plan B."  And I am hoping that, even if it does rain, it will be a "typical" Florida rain and only last 5 minutes....

BUT, in keeping with the "Zen Bride" motif, I have to accept that it might pour down all day long.  Hell, there could even be a tropical storm or weak hurricane that weekend.  BUT it won't matter and no one will hate me if it rains (I hope!)

Here is to hoping this is NOT what the Keys look like on June 1!!

(Picture from Weather.com)

PS - Mr. Rocks is dragging me around looking at boats...I may have had a few drinks last night and said we could take our honeymoon money and instead buy a boat and sail the Caribbean for our honeymoon.    So now we are looking at boats.  If you are reading this and actually know Mr. Rocks IRL, you might want to text him and remind him that we live in the mountains - and not near any large body of water!!

Being a Zen Bride-to-be

Ok, so you have to know that the first time I wrote this post, the title of the post was Effing Reserve America but I figured it would be more appropriate to turn this into a positive, rather than negative experience.

So, it all started last night around 11:30PM - exactly 11 months and 30 min before we wanted to rent a cabin at Bahia Honda State park.  See - we were told (repeatedly) that we could not reserve a cabin more than 11 months in advance, so imagine our surprise at 11:30PM when we logged onto the Reserve America site only to find ALL of the cabins already reserved.

(Image from flickr.com)

We were pissed.  There were shouts of dismay.  An angry cigarette.  An angry phone call.  An angry email sent off.  But in the end, there was nothing we could do.  There was no way we would get a cabin at Bahia Honda for Mr. Rocks and his dudes to sleep in the night before the wedding.  Bummer.  And I was pissed.  Ohhh, was I pissed!  So pissed, in fact, that I wrote a really pissy blog last night - if you were online between 4:30 - 5AM earlier today, you could have read it.

But then I thought about it, and realized that I was looking at the situation the wrong way.  See, in 11 months, it will be the day before our wedding.  And in 11 months and 1 day, I will be marrying the man of my dreams.  And really, that is all that matters.  Everything else is just fluff.  We'll figure it out - the guys certainly won't be sleeping on the street the night before (although I bet some of them would like to spend the entire night down on Duval Street!).

(Image from webwarriortools.com)

So here's hoping I can keep that attitude for the next few months!  Oh, and PS - tomorrow is the last day I am going to smoke, so I will be quitting soon.  Please pray for Mr. Rocks!