Emotional Roller-coasters and Thankful-ness

So the past couple of days have been a bit of an emotional roller-coaster. A couple of weeks ago I got a call from my temp agency asking if I wanted to work the Jazz festival doing a job that a monkey could do. Those are my words not theirs. Since work has been spotty and I enjoy having the ability to buy I food I jumped at the chance.

Fast forward to Saturday, I am outfitted in the TD logo (I think I was donning 6 different logos...) and I was instructed to walk with my partner (Jordan) and hand out the free sunscreen/hand sanitizer that filled my backpack. TD had made it very clear that we were representing them and we were to look professional at all times, thus leave our personal belongings in the volunteer tent.

19,000 steps later my feet hurt and I had a burnt nose. I came home and put my feet up kicking myself for taking this placement, $14.00/hr was not enough for that work. The next day we went back to the meeting place, suited up and headed out. 23,000 steps later my feet were sore and I had a blister. Since I had 1.5 hours to go yet I wanted a decent band-aid (the ones from the first-aid tent SUCKED). So I went to grab my wallet to buy band-aids and... POOF my wallet and Ipod were both missing from my bag.

After a little of investigative work the team realized that more then my things were missing. The supposedly "secure" volunteer tent was not so secure and some weirdo had made off with our things. Needless to say, I was pissed. I felt violated and a shift that was making me less then $100.00 was going to cost me over $500.00 in replacement costs.

I immediately got on the phone with Visa and the Police and Equifax (fun fact - if your wallet is stolen/lost call Equifax because they can put a fraud alert on your account to avoid identity theft) and got the ball rolling on protecting myself.

I got home and made a list of everything that went missing and what it was going to cost to replace it because I was not paying to replace my things. Someone else needed to pay, I was simply doing what I was told.

That night feeling really low I watched "endless" hours of wedding SOS and Rich Bride Poor Bride, two of my new favourite shows. While watching these I became very thankful not only for my own fantastic family but the wonderful family I'm marrying into. The most offensive thing I saw was a Mother-in-law-to-be tried on a brides wedding dress. Are you KIDDING ME?!?! Can I just say, "THANK YOU" to the Paterson clan for being so supportive and welcoming and... normal!!!

So today, I was at work (a placement with BC Ambulance Services) and feeling kind of low, I had no identity (ie, no ID) and it felt very strange. At lunch I ran around getting my bank account back and phoning people to get replacement cards. And after lunch as I was learning a new task I hear my phone buzzing. I thought it was a text so I ignored it at first but after it buzzed one to many times to be a text I went to answer it. I missed the call but was very pleased to hear a message from a Victoria Police Officer that told me the arrested a man with a wallet that had my name in it. I am still missing my Ipod but I have my wallet back which is SUCH a huge relief. Not only was the wallet still in-tact, most of the contents were still in it including my drivers license and the $50.00 worth of gift cards to The Bay.

So I learned my lesson, NEVER trust anybody with your personal belongings and I consider myself lucky that I got to learn the lesson with very few repercussions.

Venus, Caterers and Dates

Ian and I originally wanted to get married on July 9, 2011. There were a number of reasons for this - we wanted to do it post graduation for me, but didn't want to wait until the fall of 2011. Ian might go to school or we may take off and travel. So the summer of 2011 seemed to fit the bill nicely. We understood that prices would be higher but... oh well.

The other thing we had to take into account is softball season. I knew that there would be a couple of very important tournaments at the end of July so being me, I didn't want to miss those (yes even for my wedding). So we thought July 9 would be perfect.

So as I have mentioned before we have had a very difficult time finding just the right venue. But recently we found the Serbian Cultural Center (thanks to my wonderful friend Fi... Thanks Fi!!!!) and fell in love with it's beauty and open airy feel. We did a bit of fudging and eyelash batting at those funding our wedding and sorted out a way that we could make it work. Cue the next hiccup - they were booked on the 9th. This was the moment that Ian and I were very glad that nothing else was booked because it was very easy to say - no problem the 16th works great.

So this past weekend I went to the Serbian to sign the contract and hand over the cheque. It was slightly nerve racking to pay that much money at once but also very exciting to have something booked! So for those keeping track - July 16 will be the wedding day!

Next step is the caterer. I found a guy that came recommended for those who are food intolerant like Ian and I are. The first quote that came back was... 2x our budget. Oh dear... this isn't looking good. So Ian and sent back with a few changes and the one that came back again was still over our budget... hmmm. So we've done a bit of finagling and Ian plans on doing some negotiating (which he is fantastic at) and hopefully we can fit the food budget into the main budget. We'll keep you updated, think affordable thoughts for us!!!

First Wedding Gone Wrong Dream

So last night was another first. My first dream that the wedding was a disaster. Well I wouldn't go as far as to say disaster but... it wasn't great. I can't remember all the details but what I can recall is that I was missing 1/2 my accessories (i.e. no veil or tiara, no something old, new, borrowed or blue...) and absolutely none of the DIY stuff was ready. I am going to take a stab in the dark and say this is a not what is to come but lets just say when I woke up I was glad that I still about a year to get my wedding organized.

Invites

Ian and I were and still are adamant that we are not going to have tacky cookie cutter invitations. We also thought with my experience creating stationary for other people that I might be able to do the invitations myself.

A few months ago I ordered a few free invitation catalogues and started looking through them for ideas. Very quickly Ian and I realized that our taste in invitations was not cheap, surprise surprise! Ian and I's taste is never cheap.

One of the catalogues offered free samples so I ordered one and a few weeks later it arrived. A trip to Michaels later, armed with craft supplies I attempted to re-create it. Attempted and failed. My "re-creation" was so ugly I still don't want to think about it. I quickly gave up on the idea of DIY.

Fast-forward a month-ish and Ian returns home with an invite that my fantastic sister in-law to be found.

Pretty hey?

Since this was pretty perfect I asked where she found it. It was one that sent to her Aunt, and was printed by a printer in Vancouver and cost... yup you guessed it, "a pretty penny", hmmmm.

Fast-forward another month to today, during a trip to Michaels I decided to try again on the DIY. I bought a few supplies and went to work attempting to construct a copy. This time it is my opinion that I succeeded but I"ll let you be the judge.

Jen's Version

Not to "toot my own horn" but I think I did a pretty good job.

Officiants

I thought finding an officiant who would be willing to work with Ian and I on our wedding would be difficult, given that we are wanting Heather to marry us.

So yesterday during a particularly boring placement I started doing some googling and came across a website for marriage commissioners in the Vancouver area.

I sent a blanket email to about 7 of them in the surrey area outlining what I wanted and within an hour I already had one response. So far I have short listed 2 that have responded which makes me very happy because I thought it would be battle to find someone who would be willing to marry us without actually marrying us.

Now if the rest of the planning is this seamless I will be a VERY happy bride. (What do you think the odd are on that one???)

The Search is Over!!! Almost...

This past weekend was very successful for Ian and I. I found my dress as well as a bridesmaid dress that I love, (I'll post a pic as soon as I can figure out how...). My big sister turned 30!!! My mouth has healed nicely, well it's getting there. AND Ian and I have found the elusive venue!

We went to the Scottish Cultural Center and while the staff there was exceptionally accommodating Ian told me that there is no way we could make it work. As we left there and I was feeling exceptionally disheartened. We saw another venue which was ugly and NOT good at all. After that I was ready to call off the big wedding and do it at city hall.

Ian asked if I wanted to drive by the Serbian Cultural Center, it was on the way home. I knew it was a bad idea because I would inevitably fall in love with it.

As we passed I saw the bell tower and the gorgeous lobby and burst into tears. I looked at Ian and said, "it's perfect isn't it?" He said no, but wasn't very convincing. So we went home and had another look at the budget to see if there was ANY way to make it work. There wasn't. We needed an extra... well we needed extra.

Ian and I hummed and hawed and we figured it we split the extra needed with those involved, and cut back on a few other things we MIGHT be able to make it work. At that point Ian put in an email to the guy at the Serbian and had made an appointment for Sunday night at 8:45pm for me to see it and fall in love again.

I did.

We didn't book anything because we wanted to check the date with those involved (especially important people coming from Montreal), but hopefully by the weekend hopefully we will have a contract signed and a deposit paid for a venue!!! Ian is just checking into some insurance stuff before sending off the "send the contract" email.

On a totally unrelated note - tonight Storm beat the top team in the league, it was freakin fantastic!

*Insert Girly Squeal Here

It's official.

I have chosen my dress!!!! It came down to 2 yesterday and I hummed and hawed and collected as many opinions as possible. This morning as I was sorting through my mom's rather large collection of pictures, it hit me. So I called my mom and told her, then immediately called the salon to order it.

I am so happy with my choice and now that I have made it I know I made the right one.

I already have pics of me in the dress if you would like to see please feel free to drop me an email. The only person I will deny a look at the dress is my lovely groom Ian.

Updates

I apologize for the lack of postings in the past few weeks but there hasn't been much to post on.

Update on "Operation Not Fat Bride"

I am actually doing not bad with this. I have lost over 1 1/2 inches off my hips which makes me happy. However it has been put on hold for a couple reasons. Last weekend I was playing in ball Nanaimo and it was going great. We were winning, I was pitching well, hitting badly but that's not really here nor there. In the last game on Saturday we were playing a team called Ralphie's Raiders. It was the 7th and I was digging out a tie for the team. I was in determined mode, I even scared my fearless third baseman. Then with 2 out a line drive comes straight off the bat, misses my shin guards and pounds me straight in the knee. At first I thought it had hit the guard and tried the make the play. Then I went down, hard. The damn runner got to first too, that pissed me off more than anything. Suddenly I was surrounded by my team who was telling me to breathe. Somehow (I think it was mostly adrenaline, that stuff is wonderful) I got up and finished the game. We got the third out the next play and secured the tie, but my knee was pretty banged up. So, while I was able to pitch I didn't think that running on a treadmill would be such a good idea.

So, the only thing I did this week was play a couple of lack-luster games.

Then yesterday, I got my wisdom teeth pulled. Ian was wonderful - he took me in, held my hand while they put the IV in (after some begging and boasting about his emr training to the hesitant nurses), bought me ice cream and other gooey foods for me to eat and made sure I had the right drugs at all the right times. Since then he has literally been at my beck and call. However, when one needs a man to wait on them hand and foot they probably aren't going to the gym. So hopefully next week by body will have healed and I can resume operation not fat bride.

Update: Venue

This coming week Ian and I are going to have a look at the Scottish Cultural Center to see if it may work as a venue for the wedding. Mom and I went a couple weeks ago and were very impressed by the service we received and the flexibility of the space. So hopefully Ian will be able to take the space and turn it into the vision he has in his head. Otherwise the search may continue.

Update: Dress

I have it down to 4 that I am in love with. This next weekend I play on returning to the stores and re-trying the dresses to see if they give me that same "sparkly" feeling when I put them on. Hopefully by the end of June I will have my dress booked. EEEEEEE!!!!!! (Sorry, the silly girl inside escaped for a moment).