So...

Well, I don't really have that much to say about the pre-marital weekend. I went in with an open mind and though the people were wonderful and the place was beautiful, it was difficult to sit through 2.5 days of it.

Having said that, I loved (loved!) the history of the monastery where we stayed. It was like going into a secret society. Not that it's secret to Catholics, but to me I didn't realize that there were still orders of cloistered nuns. It was a beautful old building, and from looking at the website I realized we only had access to a very small, public section. What history behind these walls and what sweet, wonderful people living their lives within them. I love history of all kinds. Growing up in Maryland I loved the stories of the deep south and it's so neat that I've gotten to live here and experience places like Mobile, Pensacola, and New Orleans. Places that seemed so romantic and fictional when I was young...yet, I feel ready to consider moving on :)

And really there's nothing much in the way of wedding planning going on right now. It's probably the lull before the storm. I've taken care of just about everything I can for now and probably won't start back in full force until my folks get here at the end of next week. For right now we're still working on house stuff. We laughingly realized yesterday that mowing the yard and tilling the garden are really part of the wedding plans, as I need to have the house looking at least fairly decent before my mom and dad get here. Two things that must get done tonight are picking out the recessional song and finishing the programs. We're definately not keen on traditional wedding music and we picked a processional song but not a recessional. Egad, the details. The home improvement items really are a welcome relief from my wedding plans.

So far the RSVPs stand at 91 affirmatives. Yikes! 91 people! At least! I thought 60 or 70 would respond at most, but 91 is right at the estimated positive replies for 130 invites.

My mom just called as I was typing to say my dress was in so that is a huge relief...I kinda went way outside the traditional for my dress choosing process. Mom went to a little boutique that a few girls I went to high school with opened to find her dress. While she was there she talked to the owners and they actually sent me links for some ideas, and of course I loved one of them, and of course they are actually the only dealer for that particular designer on the east coast. Needless to say, though I was nervous about how "untraditional" the dress looked, I really thought it was cool! Next time mom went into the shop, they had a sample and mom called right away to say that it was really beautiful and that being it's an empire waist it didn't need much alterations, and it was simply put together so any alterations could be done quickly and maybe even by her. Chris gave it his okay too (I figured he might as well like the dress) and we went with the dress sight unseen.

Now, I've come to realize that many brides go through "dress remorse" and I started to do that, but I also realized one CAN'T do that. There's billions of dresses and for sure one or two or 100 will later seem like a better choice than the one you made. So, my usually brooding personality made a concerted effort not to go to the grass is always greener mentality. BUT I did need to have a backup in case the dress did not arrive (it wasn't slated to arrive until next week) OR was absolutely tear-jerkingly hideous on me. So my backup is JCrew...classic and simple and can be overnighted :) But my exercise/diet program (through which I have lost 13 pounds!) has been slacking lately with the excuse "it's an empire waist..." I think I should take the last three weeks and not use that excuse any more!

So, what a surprise right while I'm writing the blog :) How fun.