A Rock Hugger Dress

No, not THAT dress!  For those of you that have not heard yet, I am wearing Momma Rocks wedding dress on the big day.  It is the in the process of being altered to fit my 3” taller frame, and to convert it to s strapless dress…BUT, the alterations are almost done!  (I am so excited – it looks awesome!!)

But enough about that dress.  I am talking about my “Sunday Brunch” dress!  Mr. Rock's mom (i.e. “Chicago Rockette”)  was kind enough to buy me not one, but several very nice dresses in January.   One of those dresses I wore to the Chicago Shower (and received many compliments on it!!).  I am planning on wearing another new dress to the “morning after brunch”:

(Again, sorry for the yellow tint of the photo!)

I call this the “Sexy in the City” dress, because I look like an actual, for-reazy grown-up in this dress.  So, when you stumble downstairs and out the back door of the hotel for breakfast on Sunday morning (Mr. Rocks and I will be there from 9AM – 1PM), we will be waiting for you in a pretty spiffy dress!

(Oh – and the real bonus here – the dress fit me in January, but now it is TOO BIG!!  I will have to get it taken in on the top so it can fit me properly!  These are the kinda wardrobe issues I like!!)   

The Family Tree

So, one item I worked on (annnd completed) over the past few days was the "family tree" for the wedding reception.

(Sorry for the yellow tone of the photo!)

This involved finding a nice "y-shaped" tree branch, which I coated with, like, 1 million coats of clear spray paint.  Then I stained the base (using the leftover golden oak stain we had in the garage).  Then I found 7 little picture frames from Michaels (yay coupons!).  All that was left was finding (and scanning) pics of our parents and grandparents.  I don't want to post the pics I am using in the tree (you need to come to the wedding to see those!!), but here are a few pics that I really liked, but did not make it into the final cut:

 This is Mr. Rock's mom's parents: "Big D and Ciro."  I really liked this pic, but it was oriented the wrong way for the tree.

These are my parents.  I really like this one - for the color in the window and the way my parents are looking at each other.  I really hope that Mr. Rocks and I can take a pic like this on our wedding day.  However, it did not make the cut since the photo is a little off center (Papa Rocks is a bit cut off).

Our "Guestbook"

So, Mr. Rocks and I did not want a "traditional" guestbook at the wedding - we would rather have something that our guests "sign" for us to display.  So, we are having a "fingerprint tree" instead!  Our guests will "leaf" their fingerprint on our tree and sign their name, and then we can display the tree at home.

This was relatively easy to make.  I found a blank template here, which I downloaded and personalized with our names and our wedding colors (blue and orange birds).  Then we just had to print it out, get a nifty frame, some inkpads, and some nice pens.

We also made a "sign" for our wedding tree, so that our guests know why there is a bare tree at the wedding:

All I need to get is some baby wipes (so our guests don't have green fingers!) and a small trash basket for said baby wipes, and I will be done with this project.  I can't wait to see it filled with leaves!!
(All photos are by me.)

Dressing the dudes.....

So, the "2-month to go" mark passed a few days ago (yaayyy!  Oh....wait...holy-crap-I-still-have-so-much-else-to-do!!!)  I am in the middle of several projects, and once they are done, hopefully I WILL post about them!

But for now, let us take a gander at what the men of the wedding party will be wearing.  First - some background.  Mr. Rocks is not a tux guy. At. All.  He is most comfortable in jeans and a t-shirt.  While I think a t-shirt is just a bit too casual, I definitely wanted my man to be comfortable as he is standing in front of ~ 100 people telling the world he is going to marry me.  So he and I talked about it, and went through some of our options.....
Option 1:  Obnoxious hawaiian shirt

(Image from Collectorsweekly.com)

Hmmm....could work.

Option 2: Pirate costume

(Image from Go4costumes.com)

This one goes against Rule #1 - no pirates at my wedding!  (No plundering of booty!)

Option 3: Cuban shirts!  Winner!

(Image from Pennersinc.com)

Since there is a strong Cuban presence in Miami and the Keys, we though the shirts were appropriate.  They look nice, are a bit unique, and will be comfortable in the FL heat.  We will pair Mr. Rock's shirt with a pair of light khakis.

For the grooms:

(Image from Pennersinc.com)

We will pair this with a blue pocket square that matches the BM dresses (they will also be carrying orange and yellow bouquets).  And khakis.

And for the dads:

(Image from Pennersinc.com)

We will be giving our dads a boutonniere to match the Mom's dresses (I hope).

And to top it all off, all the guys will be wearing a panama hat (cuz we need to keep those shiny domes covered!!)

"Terror 1 and Terror 2" (aka the Ring Boyz - which, by the way, sounds so much more legit than Ring Bearers) will be in white linen shirts with khankis. (sorry - no pic!)  I am hoping that they can withstand running in the water for just a few minutes so we can get pics of them before they get wet.  (Which they will....and I'll probably encourage it - sorry MOH Momma!!)

So, what do you think?

The centerpieces

So, one of the things that I finished over spring break was the centerpieces!  When looking for centerpieces, I knew I did not want a tall centerpiece.  I also did not want fresh flowers.  I was looking for something organic and low profile that complemented our wedding colors.  Something that I could make would be a bonus, too.

Luckily, Dad Rocks cut down part of a tree in our backyard (yay for crazy wind storms!).  When he cut down the tree (and I helped!!), there was a large branch on the tree.  He cut the branch into discs, which are now the base of my centerpieces.   Also, luckily, both my mom and Mr. Rocks mom like to make red sauce which requires lots and lots of tiny cans of tomato paste.

(Image from meijer.com)

So, after cleaning, punching, and painting the tomato paste cans, I sanded and epoxied the tree discs.  Add a cute tiny vase (thanks Momma Rocks!) and a pretty purple flower (thanks for helping me get these MOH Momma and "RB2" (ring bearer 2 - aka "The TERROR")) and a few candles, and voila!  Our centerpieces:

Whats in a name?

This is a tricky post for me to write - mainly because I am unsure of what to do....its about my (our) last name(s) after June 2.

(Image from slickdeals.net)

Way back in the day (I think it was a Tuesday), Mr. Rocks and I talked about changing my/our name after the wedding.  We came to the agreement that we would both legally change our last names by combining them (so we would both have a last name of "JonesSmith").  This seemed like a really good idea to me - it truly represented the joining of two people, and we could both continue to use our "pre-marriage" names in our professional lives.  (i.e. if I went to a conference as "Dr. Jones" but my drivers license said "Dr. JonesSmith," I should not have any problems.)  I thought this was settled and we were both happy with the plan.

I was wrong.  :(  Late one night in January, Mr. Rocks said to me, rather sleepily, "Ya know, there is a part of me that just wants you to be "Dr/Mrs Smith" after the wedding.  It was late, we were both tired, so I just made some kind of non-committal sound and we went to sleep.  He did not mention it again, and a few weeks went by.  This whole, time, his comment was weighing on my mind.  I finally brought it up to him (during daylight hours, when we could actually talk about it).

Now, this is why Mr. Rocks is so amazing.  He basically said he wanted me to be happy with whatever name changes we did.  Bottom line - that was what was important to him.  After some more prodding, he did say that yes - he always imagined when he got married his wife would take his last name.  And honestly, I want to make him happy.  I want this to be a decision that we are both happy with.

But I don't know what to do.  The way I see it, I have a few options:
1) I alone could hyphenate my last name and be "Dr. Jones" professionally and "Mrs. Smith" in my personal life.  I really, really, really dislike this idea.  I want my last name to be the same as Mr. Rocks last name.
2) I could just take "Smith" as my last name - personally and professionally.  Really, I am just starting out in my career....I'm would not be the only woman who changed her last name in academia....so it would not be so terrible.  However - I am the only one in my family with a PhD.  I am very proud to be the only "Dr. Jones" and I am not sure I am ready to give that up. 
3) We could go back to "plan A." But then again, I want to make sure Mr. Rocks is happy with the plan too.
4)  We could just totally combine out last names into a whole new last name: "Slymer"  Honestly, there is a part of me that really likes this idea.  But then again, my last name would be "Slymer"

Any suggestions from the peanut gallery?  I am still very unsure of what to do!

Guess what came in the mail today?

I'll give you a hint - its small and circular and rhymes with "bing"!  Yep - Mr. Rocks ring arrived today!

(Image from JVL Jewelry)

Yay - now we both have our rings! 

If you remember, I found my ring (i.e. the most awesomest ring in the world) a few months ago.  However, my ring was waaaay out of our budget range.  So, with the help of layaway and some finagling of our monthly budget, I was able to pay it off, bit by bit.  I made the last payment over spring break (in early March) and now we own it :).  (And check this - when I put my first payment on the ring, it was a bit too tight for me.  "No worries" the jewelry folk told me - it would be easy to resize.  However, since that time, I have lost a little bit of weight, and when I stopped in to pick it up, it fit perfectly!  Yay!) 

But we still did not have Mr. Rocks' ring.  And that was proving to be a bit tricky.  See, Mr. Rocks does not wear any jewelry, and he was not sure he was into wearing a wedding ring.  I understand that, and I certainly don't want my future hubs to be wearing something every day that makes him uncomfortable.  But I always imagined my husband wearing a wedding ring.  So I asked him it he would try wearing his wedding band for at least a few months...and if it felt too weird, then at least he gave it the "ole Harvard try".  But, because Mr. Rocks wedding ring might end up sitting in my jewelry box most of the time (I hope not, but who knows?), we really did not want to bust the budget again on his ring.   But we wanted something that looked good and was not cheap (I offered to give him a ring pop, but for some reason, he said no :).

Luckily, we found a really nice tungsten ring! (The tungsten rings are the ones that will break rather than bend in case Mr. Rocks gets his hand stuck somewhere - this is better than the other rings, which could bend and cut off circulation to his finger.  And if you know Mr. Rocks, you understand why we are concerned about this!)

So we ordered it, it fit :) ......and now....for your viewing pleasure...your only shot to see these two beauties together before June 2:

(Photo by me)

And now they go back in the box till the wedding :).

I'm Back, baby!

Two days ago we sent out our invites.  A few weekends ago I had my "Chicago Shower."  Contracts have been signed, money has changed hands, and in 3 months and 2 days, Mr. Rocks and I will be getting married!

Work stuff has started to calm down from the insanity it has been over the past few months, and it is time I get back to bloggin, folks!  I have many stories to tell...most of the good, some of them great, and a few about some a$$holes :)

So stay tuned for more updates!

The Rock Huggers at the Hancock Building in Chi-town.

Photo by my wonderful aunt!

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!  

One Ring to Rule Them All....

OK....maybe not this ring.....

(Source: Wikipedia)

...but we have selected and put down a deposit for a wedding ring!  Finding a wedding ring has been an...interesting....process for us...and I can honestly say it is all Mr. Rocks fault :).  When Mr. Rocks decided to buy me an engagement ring, he wanted my ring to be unique.  So, he waited till that special time of year (I think it was in November) and went to Kay Jewelers to design a ring for me.  And, in all honestly, he designed the perfect ring.  Granted, I may be a bit biased, but the ring is perfect for me.  It is not too small to be bleh and not to big to get in the way when I am working with (a) fossils (b) crazy acids to digest said fossils (c) insanely intricate machines to analyze said fossils.  In case you have not seen it yet, check out my awesome ring!

Picture of my ring right after we got engaged.  Mr. Rocks is in the background opening up the Champagne. (Personal photo)

However, the problem with having a custom-designed ring is that *most* of the "typical" wedding bands would not fit properly around my ring.  The straight circle rings don't fit snugly around the band, and the rings that are curved usually have too small of a curve to fit properly around the band.  We had been perusing jewelry stores in Christiansburg and Chicago and had yet to find anything suitable.

So we decided to check out Brent L. Millers in Lancaster.  Momma and Pops Rocks have shopped at BLM's for as long as I can remember, so, if we were going to have to drop a good chunk of money on a ring, I would have preferred to do so at a business that has always "done right" by my parents.  Its the whole "reward the businesses with good customer service" thing.  So, the first time we went to BLM's, we could not find a band that fit me, and it was looking like we would need to get a ring designed around my e-ring.  But the jeweler (who would be designing my ring) was not in the store whenever we stopped by.  This ended up being a good thing!

When we stopped by the store last week, the sales girl remembered us from the last time we were in the store (months ago) - a big plus- aaaand the first thing she said was "Hey! I am so glad you guys stopped in!  We recently got a new batch of wedding rings, and I think there might be one that will fit your ring!"  So, Mr. Rocks and I sat down and started looking at rings.  And we found several that could fit the bill, but weren't all that super-awesome-great.  THEN, I tried this double-banded wedding ring that looked like it was made for my ring!  The style, shape...everything about it just meshed so nicely with my ring!  Here - take a look!

Sorry for the crap-tastic photo quality....this one is from Mr. Rock's cell phone!

Its a bit weird, since I never pictured myself with a double-banded wedding ring, but there it is!  And, for most of the ring-searching process, Mr. Rocks was kinda like "meh...whatever you want."  But we he saw The Ring, his comment was "I really like this one - it totally works with your ring.  I think this is the one."  Coming from someone so previously ambivalent, this means a lot!!

The one hitch...it is waaay over our ring budget!  (And this is after our sales lady gave us a really nice discount on the ring!!!  Thank god we aren't paying full price!) But, Mr. Rocks and I spent the weekend thinking about it, and discussing how we will be able to come up with the extra money, and at the end of the day, we decided it was worth it - we are kinda going on the idea that this is a once-in-a-lifetime-purchase, and it is OK to splurge a little.  Or splurge a lot!

Now we just need to find Mr. Rocks a ring.  Hmmmm....maybe I should go back to NZ and climb Mt. Doom (again) and look for a special ring :)

(Personal Photo)

Ok - before I get yelled at...we did not really climb Mt. Doom.  It was cold/rainy and we were lazy, so we only climbed part of the mountain.  Who knows, maybe if I climb the whole thing, there will be a yellow ring at the top?!

We have a Photographer!

So, another big thing we can check off the "Wedding To-Do List" is that we now officially have a photographer!  Scott Sheppard of Dream Wedding Photography is going to be our photographer for the day (and he will have a second photographer too).  Yay!!!!!  Especially since looking for a wedding photographer has so far been the single most frustrating part of wedding planning!  Even more frustrating than the Save the Dates.  But we are D.O.N.E. with that crap!  Yay!!

So, why was it so frustrating, you ask?  Well, maybe you don't ask, but if you are bored at work and still reading, then you'll find out anyways!  It all pretty much comes down to money.  Or rather, having champagne tastes with a beer budget.  And I'm not talking about good beer---more like Natty Ice.

I know that the photos we get of the wedding really are one of the few 'tangible' things that come out of the wedding.  (Ya know, other than Mr. Rocks and I actually getting married!)  And I know that when asked what they should have spent more money on, most brides, more often than not, will say that they wished they had spent more money and gotten a better photographer.  I know all this.  I really do.

Mr. Rocks and I at the Jimmy Buffet Concert.  

I am hoping our pro-photographer will take better pictures than this.  

(personal photo)

But we are on a budget.  And when push comes to shove, Mr. Rocks and I would rather spend the money on booze and food for everyone to have a good time.  But, see the paragraph above - I knew that we had to have at least some type of professional photographer there.  And I wanted 2 photographers....one to take pics of Mr. Rocks getting ready, and one for me getting ready.  And I wanted them there all day - getting ready, ceremony, formal pics after, and reception.

So, knowing what I wanted, I jumped headfirst into searching for photographer last February. (Yes, 5 months ago.  It has taken me 5 months to find a photographer. Like I said, annoying!)  And the first problem I ran into was that my venue could not recommend a photographer.  A DJ?  Cake?  Yep - they had lots of recommendations, but they would not recommend a single photographer from alllll of the weddings that had come and gone through the Key Colony Inn.  Which sucks.  So, I searched and searched and searched....and what I came up with was split into 3 categories....

(1) The photographers cost anywhere from 1/3 to 1/2 of our ENTIRE wedding budget.  WTF?  SERIOUSLY?
(2) I could get 1 photographer for only 1/2 of the day
(3) I could get 1 really sketchy photographer for the whole day, but his pictures were really pretty bad (and considering my lack of artistic talent, they would have to be really bad if I thought so!)      

Which led me to just flat-out ignoring the problem for a while (cuz that always works out, right?)  But after I got back from New Zealand, I started attacking the problem with a renewed sense of purpose.  Luckily, I found a photographer in Key Largo.  After sending emails back and forth a few times, this guys quickly moved up to my #1 photographer spot on my imaginary list.  He has (1) shot a lot of weddings and knows his stuff, (2) we like his photos (check out his website), (3) he is (mostly) within our budget, and will include a second photographer!

So, I can rest easy now, we have a photographer - the deposit has been paid and the date is set in his book.  Yay!!!  Now, onto the 8 million other things on the list.

The demonic Save the Dates

Pre-Blog Warning to BM NZ - if you have not received your STD in the mail yet, don't read any further!!


So, by now, hopefully our guests have received our Save the Date in the mail.  Yay!  One more thing I can cross off my "To Do" list!  We mailed these guys out on Wednesday, ~ 1 year before our wedding.  Most of the wedding books suggest mailing off Save the Dates 6-8 months before the wedding, but with a destination wedding, sending them out a year in advance is a good idea if you want to give your guests plenty of time to plan for travel.

So, without further adieu, lets take a look at what our guests got in the mail!  The front of the envelope is rather plain, but once they flip it over to the back, they will see this:

(Photo by RockHugger)

Once they open the envelope, they will see our "very hard to create" magnets.  I am kinda bummed, because Mr. Rocks put a lot of time into creating the image for the magnets, and I was not very impressed with the final product.  But, meh, it is what it is, so....

(Photo by RockHugger)

Finally, the magnet is attached to another sheet of paper with a bit more information....

(Photo by RockHugger)

And there you have it folks - our "Save the Dates!"

Wedding Fitness

So, both of the Rock Hugger 'rents have called to say they got our Save the Date in the mail - yay for the post office!  So, our guests should be getting the STD's in the mail soon, and in a few days, I will post what we did.  Just keep in mind....even though it looks like we just threw these Save the Dates together, we really worked on them for quite a long time!


But today's post is not about the STD's, it is about fitness!  Both Mr. Rocks and I Need. To. Lose. Weight.  Granted, we are both generally healthy and we tend to do a lot of "active" activities, but we can both stand to drop a few LBS.  (Ok, maybe more than a few.)  And our wedding is a great goal to work towards!  


So, my goal is to get back to the weight I was 5 years ago, plus a few lbs.  See, in the summer of 2006, BM NZ and I went on a 2-week backpacking trip to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons.  Earlier that summer, I joined weight watchers and started going to the gym like a fiend. And it worked!  I was pretty happy with what I looked like on that trip....see?

(Photo by RockHugger)

Now fast forward 5 years.  In that time, I met the Most Wonderful Man in the World...which meant I gained weight....eating out all the time plus having a wonderful person constantly telling you how wonderful you look means I would go for the ice cream rather than fruit for dessert!  And then I met Mr. Rock's mom (MIL Rocks), who is an amazing cook (can we say ravioli's?!?), so there went a few more pounds.  Not to mention every time we went to visit my family with Momma Rock's amazing cooking.  Add to that finishing a Ph.D. (which involves a lot of sitting and stressing and writing), so there went a few more pounds.  Mix into that the cooking abilities of both Mr. Rocks and myself (hey?  what would you expect?  We both had good teachers in the cooking arena!) and you have a bunch of well-fed Rockhuggers!


But, enough is enough, and it is time to lose da' wieght.  So, Mr. Rocks and I are counting our points a' la Weight Watchers, and we have started P90X.  For those who don't know, P90X is a 90-day workout routine.  Each day's routine is a little different, with the idea that you never "plateau".  We finished the first week's workout last week - only 83 more days to go!  We are both rather sore, but I have noticed a small difference (so far).  Aaannnd, Mr. Rocks has already lost 8 Lbs. and I have lost 6 Lbs.  So here's to getting healthy!  Bring it!

(Image from FitnessBodyOnline.com)

Door Hangers

So, Mr. Rocks and I have just finished and mailed out the Save the Dates.  And it did Not. Go. Well.  We had a lot of trouble with the Xyron, a machine that I am convinced was created by the devil.  So, when you do receive one in mail, please just lie to me and tell me they are nice :).  OK, you don't really need to lie to me - my ego is not that fragile, but just know that, even though it looks like we just threw these Save the Dates together, we really worked on them for quite a long time!

But in the meantime, I can share another project that is almost finished - our personalized door hangers!

(Photo by RockHugger)

Aren't they neat!  I am really pleased with how they came out!  And they were easy to make (not like the stoopid STDs!)  We plan on including these in our Out of Town Bags.  We have 5 different colors - yes, I know these colors are bright and obnoxious, but hey, it is the Keys - if there is anywhere in the world where you can get away with bright and obnoxious colors, it is in the Keys!  (Yes, I also realize that I am only showing 4 colors in the photo - the fifth color is a mystery!)

(Photo by RockHugger)

So now everyone will have personalized door hangers in the hotel :)