How Does It Feel...

"How does it feel now that you're Mrs. B?"

I cannot emphasize enough how annoyed I am with this question.

Why is it that all of the sudden that my last name has changed that people seem to think I'm a different person? Just because my last name has shortened by 7 letters doesn't mean that I've changed, or that my interests have changed, or that my personality has changed. There's no difference (except jaws don't drop when I say my last name :p). It frustrates me that everyone seems to think that I'm a completely different person, and therefore, I need to be treated as such.

On another note...what if I hadn't changed my last name? Can you imagine how inconsiderate that would be?

I am Amanda.
Me.
Regardless of my last name, I am still the same person.

To anyone who has friends that are going to be getting married soon, do them a favor - quit talking about their last name, and how their last names are affecting who they are.

Snippets

-My manager is making me apply for a promotion at work...but I don't meet the qualifications and I'm not even sure I want the promotion. Yes, it means better pay (it would be the highest paid hourly position in the company). But it also means I can't have 2 days off in a row. I'm going for it though, and need to do a resume tonight.

-Sometimes, I seriously miss living with my girlfriends. Like now. Sean's out with law buddies tonight though, so I'm soaking in my me time. I didn't think I'd ever say it, but I kinda miss the independence of the LDR.

-Speaking of, I'm starting date nights with myself. Probably Bread Co. or B&N dates, but it shall be lovely. Thursday is my first one (then margaritas with Colleen after!)

-I'm starting knitting again. This is my newest project. It's going to be super challenging - I've never used DPNs, circular needles, OR done colorwork. I'm knitting them in purple and gray.

-I really need to work on thank you cards. Like, seriously. I bought some today though!

-I have house fever. We got enough from the wedding for a down payment on a house, and house prices here are super cheap - we could easily afford it. But we really want to go back to StP after Sean's done with school...and don't want to be stuck trying to sell a house.

That's about it. I'm gonna go scrounge up an amazingly unhealthy dinner and work on my resume with a glass of wine...what a terrible life! :p

#13. Send a future email - for me to get on my wedding day.

I did this one folks. I sent the email around the 4 month mark, and I'm really glad I did. I ended up getting my future email at around 9 am - right when the day was getting hectic. I knew it was coming - I don't forget things like that. What I had forgotten, however, was what was in the email. The 4 months ago me was smart though - she knew exactly what I needed to hear.

Basically, it was short and sweet, but it told me to relax. And while everyone and their (and my!) mother was telling me to relax, nothing does it as well as my own self. Only I can talk myself through things like that.

If you have a stressful event coming up, I totally recommend this. Seriously.

My Car's Back!!

Remember when my car got slaughered on Christmas Eve?

It looked like this:

 

A little over 3 weeks later, I finally got my car back. I needed pretty much everything in the back of the car replaced, including brake hoses. Incredible. There was almost $7,000 worth of damaged, and they were using used parts for the quarter panel and taillights. Thank god for insurance. It's quite wonderful. 

We were supposed to pick it up this past weekend, though shop was closed (miscommunication on EVERY possible level). It actually ended up working out though, cause our bridal party bought us a huge tv and it wouldn't fit in my car anyway. We borrowed my dad's truck to take it and the rest of our gifts home (much to his dismay lol), and my dad brought my car to me today. Yea, he'll have driven over 7 hours today. I'm really grateful for it. We had to return the rental on Thursday, when my car was finished, and well, Sean and I have to have 2 cars with our schedules (unless Sean wants to be at school at a quarter to six...). 

So we're back to our normal selves, a two car family. It might not be required for everyone, but for us, it is. And I'm so relieved.

Homemade Recipe Book

For the longest time, I never really understood why people wanted their own recipe books. I mean, it always seemed to be that the red and white checkered book had every possible recipe, and clearly that's what everyone made. I mean, my grandparents still made all of our food back then, and for some reason I thought that it was inherent that my parents knew the recipes too. I mean, clearly, I was only fifteen with these beliefs, but they seemed pretty sane to me.

And then grandma died. And with my grandma, went the McCormick Coleslaw. I do not like coleslaw myself, but every time my mom cooks, she talks about this slaw. It was a recipe that was never written down. My grandma's heart stopped beating in her sleep, and she never intended to go as early as she did. She had thankfully written down her baked beans recipe (which is the best recipe ever), but the slaw recipe has now been lost forever. 

Because of this, I'm determined to make a recipe book. Mary's, my grandmothers', my mom's, my mother-in-law's, everyone's recipes. I want it to be a catch-all of our families, a blending of the soul food we all love so dearly. I want it to be an open binder though, not a scrapbook - I want it to be a book that can be added to over time. The start of heirlooms you might say. I think it'll be perfect.

Anyway. If anyone has famous family recipes they'd like to share...I'm all for taking them. This is going to be the world's greatest creation ever.

Coming Back.

The last couple of weeks months, my life has been a hectic mess. I've been training at work, I've been unpacking, there's been the holidays, and I've been planning the wedding. Now that most of those are done (we still haven't unpacked fully - whoops!), I'm coming back to the blog, in full swing. I have a ton of 101 in 1001 updates, I'd like to start on the 50 questions to free your mind (maybe), and I really want to work on the 30 day blog challenge that several of my blog-friends (and real friends!) did too. Oh, and create a new blog header - though I'd like to wait for our professional wedding photos for that one.

I also have non-internet related things I'm dying to do. I'm making a cookbook for myself and my sisters-in-law with all of our families' recipes (plus things like measurement conversions and ingredient substitutions), I need to unpack things and clean up the random wedding crafts that are covering the apartment, I need to work on changing my name on everything, and I'd like to start reading again. I haven't read hardly at all since my first year at school, and I really miss it. With my new nook, I'm sure I can pick reading back up again, I just need to get into the flow. 

I took this week as one of decompression. Nothing is unpacked, but my brain is. I'm much calmer, I can tell. It was definitely hard to go back to work after a 4 day weekend, but I found out I'm getting another bonus at the end of this month, and that's always good. I'm going to try to always put my bonuseo;lppppp;k,s in our savings (along with half of our loan money each semester, and half of our wedding money). Hopefully, by the time we're ready to move back to the StP area, we'll have a hefty down payment saved up. I'm loving how everything is finally working out.

Oh Hey! I iz married!

As of Saturday, I'm officially a married lady. I'm rockin a brand new shiney, I've got bruises on my ribs from my dress (hehe corset fail!), and 3 food processors (so people aren't the best at registries...).

All of that crafty work I did? It totally paid off. The wedding turned out perfect. Yes, it was freezing - but I had a super awesome coat, and super awesome friends who were willing to smile in 19 degree weather. Everyone was so helpful and supportive with getting everything together, and I had the time of my life. I'm pretty sure Sean did too hehe.

While it'll still be quite a while before we get pro pics, here are some of the awesome photos our friends and family took! (warning: lots of ridiculously happy pictures ahead)

 

 

 

 

Summary of the weekend? 

Like, awesome.

Tomorrow.

Tomorrow, I'm getting married.

Married.

You know, that event I've been excited about for the past 2 years? The past 750 days? Yea. Happening. In 15 hours.

The rehearsal was tonight, and it went super well. I hope everything falls into place tomorrow, but it seems like it will. I don't want to jinx it though XD I'm surprisingly calm. I know that everything will work out on its own, and everything will fall into place.

Here's to hoping tomorrow is an AMAZING day.

The Ending of an Era

This New Year's Day doesn't just mark the end of a year for me - it marks the ending of an era. So much has changed in my life this past year.

I've moved out of the party duplex I shared with great friends, and moved to kc. Sean and I moved in together (and then moved again). We got our adorable kitten, Ella. Sean started law school, and while we through a ton of stress getting used to it, we've finally fallen into a pattern that works. I started my new job - the first one I that I was ever hired as full time for. It's been a busy year.

It's also my last year of being single. In one week, I will be married. This marriage has been 5 years and 7 months in the making, so I don't have any sort of feelings of cold feet or anything like that. I'm excited, that's for sure.

I've changed a lot in the last year, and I don't regret any of it. It's been a crazy, busy 2010. Hopefully, 2011 turns out to be just as good :)