Five Tips On How To NOT Be A Bridezilla

I'm not sure if I was successful at being a Non-Bridezilla while I was planning our wedding, but since then I have gathered some ideas on how to keep your inner beast tamed while planning your big day. I am partially writing this post for my sister-in-law who is in the process of planning her May 2013 wedding. While chatting with her about what she is planning I have noticed that while trends change so much from year to year, there are some basics that are always the same.

1. My first suggestion is always to research and find a photographer that you love! It is so expensive to hire a professional photographer, but if you find the right one it will be very much worth the sticker price. I was really disappointed with our pictures after the wedding and that will forever be my biggest regret from our day. I had two photographers that I loved and both of them were booked for our date and we ended up going with someone that we knew (family member of an acquaintance) and I ended up with very basic pictures and very disappointed. So research and book your photographer EARLY. My friend Amanda had this to say about booking a photographer: 


"Love your photographer, if you have any doubts after engagement pictures- REBOOK. Make sure you to tell your photographer exactly what images you want, chances are they will miss some. So communicate. Have your MOH or a bridesmaid make sure your dress doesn't need to be re-adjusted during shots (ie your bra is showing on the side) because your photographer is too busy clicking away to care (and a good image might be ruined by careless editing on their part)."


2. The second piece of advice that I can pass along is to stick to your choices! There will be times where you will see something else you want to add, something you want to change, etc. but the best thing you can do is just stick with your original decision. If you are constantly looking for new things to spend time and money one you will eventually be broke and have an over-done event where 60% of the little details you agonized over will go unnoticed. 

3. Let people help you - I am a self-proclaimed perfectionist. I had a very hard time letting people help me with anything wedding related. If people offer to help, give them some job to do, something that you don't mind letting go of. In the end it will help check something off your to-do list and will make your friend or family member feel like they're helping with something.

4. Don't let people sell you on extra crap you don't need. I hate seat covers - they always get stuck on the backs your chair legs and quite frankly just look silly. They also cost a fortune! People that work at banquet halls will try to sell you all kinds of crap because it's more money in their pocket. Keep it simple and keep it unique to you.

5. Have fun! Don't stress yourself out on the day of your wedding! Little things might go wrong, but let other people handle it for you. The day will fly by faster than you can even possibly believe and you won't be able to remember the details if you're constantly worried about something that *might* go wrong. It is your day - everyone is there to see and celebrate you. Enjoy it.

Have any other tips for brides? Share them!

High Five for Friday

So, I've been pretty MIA lately on the blog front, but I figured if I was going to avoid studying today I might as well be a little productive...if you do, in fact, call blogging productive.

Remember when I said I found some things from other blogs that I wanted to try? Well one of them is called "High Five for Friday" a bunch of bloggers connect with each other and share the highlights of their week. I'm going to try and make an attempt finding five things to highlight from the past week but it's been kind of a strange week so it might be difficult. 

On Sunday, Justin and I went with my sister to the Detroit Zoo's Run Wild fundraising event for the animal hospital at the zoo. My sister is in school to be a vet tech and her class go to this event every year and we decided to tag along. We got admission to the zoo, a t-shirt and a bunch of free food. It was a beautiful day and we even tagged along on her class's tour of the zoo's animal hospital which was pretty cool even though I knew nothing about 90% of what they were talking about.

This really isn't a highlight, but Justin went to Texas this week to spend time with friends. From what I've heard he's been playing video games, touring Lubbock, went to the gun range and other Texas boy stuff. While he's been away I have been pretty lazy - did some laundry, cleaning and grocery shopping but other than that I've been nursing a wicked cold and playing with the kittens (I did go to work too). 

Another highlight - I had today off, which was really nice. I intended to be rather productive but ended up not really doing much of anything. I did try a recipe that I found on pinterest and let's just say it did not turn out as expected. Here is the original recipe...and this is what mine looked like.

They tasted like crap too. Oh well - better luck next time. The down side of being off today is that I have to work all day tomorrow, BUT I get to work with one of my favorite ladies - so that's another highlight :)

So there is my first "High Five for Friday" post - hopefully next week I have more highlights to share, but you've gotta start somewhere!

The Last Normal Day: Part Two

So, I think I have been holding out on you a little bit on the second half of the story. Honestly, I think I feel like I have told the story so many times that people are sick of it and could probably tell it as well as Justin or I could. So, I will give you the reader's digest version and leave it up to you if you want more details :)

I think I left you right before we were give the "diagnosis" of lymphoma. So, Justin had surgery on a Monday and as we were prepping to go home on that following Wednesday the hematologist came into the room and said that it looked like he had an "unconfirmed" diagnosis of Non-Hodgkins Follicular Lymphoma - he said that typically they do a watch and wait plan at first and someone from his office would call us in October (at this point it's the beginning of August) and then he said "do you have any questions?"...this was literally 3 minutes after he walked into the room and we were still in shock, I think. He handed me a bunch of papers on lymphoma and told us to have a nice day. Gee thanks.

After our not-so-great experience with this doctor, we decided to change doctors and check out the University of Michigan's Cancer Center. The doctor we ended up with was amazing and made the entire experience as comfortable as possible. He answered our questions and made sure we understood everything that was going on and we felt like he was always honest with us, which was important. 

Long story short, the week after Thanksgiving Justin started chemotherapy, a lot earlier than both the doctors and we thought. Chemotherapy is one of the scariest and most emotionally (and physically, obviously) exhausting experiences we have ever had. After a second unsuccessful attempt at getting the original medicine to get into his system, they declared Justin allergic to one of the medications (scariest day of my life) and changed his treatment plan to a more traditional chemotherapy. 

In April Justin finished his last chemotherapy treatment and in June his tests and bone marrow biopsy came back without a sign of cancer. He is not cancer free - he will always have lymphoma and will most likely have to battle it again in as little as three years but he is currently in remission and feeling great. We're just happy to have the opportunity to get our lives back to normal.

This is undoubtedly the "reader's digest" version of the story, but honestly at this point the little details that I remember aren't as important as the fact that right now, he is feeling well and the treatment, as traumatic as it is, did what it was supposed to do.

Justin and his sister, Jaime at his "No More Cancer Birthday Party"!

Teen Mom Series Finale

So, last week I told you I was going to blog while watching the Teen Mom series finale - but while I was watching the hour and a half episode, I found that there was no way to organize a post like that in a way where you would understand what was going on unless you were watching with me. So, although I never posted a play-by-play of the episode, I thought I could still post about Teen Mom as a whole.

I have been watching these young ladies since they were on the first season of 16 & Pregnant and have been following their stories in the media as well. For the most part I have had a positive opinion of the show, but after watching the last episode and possibly the last couple of season I'm not so sure what I think anymore. 

I do, however, have a very specific positive or negative view on each of the ladies on the show:

Catelynn - I love! She was mature, thoughtful and undeniably selfless when she decided to give up her baby for adoption and since has taken responsibility for her younger brother in order to provide a stable home for him (or so I have read in the press recently).

Amber - She infuriates me. The father of her daughter infuriates me and they both have from the very beginning. Their poor daughter, Leah, is constantly stuck in the middle of their violent fighting and even as a baby was left (from what I could tell) unattended and was pretty much ignored. But, again, this is just what I see from the show so I have no actual idea about what happens when cameras aren't rolling.

Maci - I really like Maci, she seems to have a good idea of what she has to do to be a good parent and puts Bentley first. I go back and forth with Ryan. I hate that he is constantly trying to scheme against Maci and calls her names in front of Bentley but in the last episode it was nice to see him having fun with Bentley and his family. I am always rooting for Maci, she works hard to provide a family and home for her son.

Farrah - Ugh. Farrah. She is so incredibly self-centered and blows up without any reason on a regular basis. The fact that she gave her daughter to her mother for a month just made no sense to me. She made the choice to move across the country where she knows no one and then when her toddler got a little restless after being ignored she sends her away. What a great way to take responsibility for your child. I do, however root for Farrah. I hope she is successful in school and has a great life with Sophia.

I am still deciding whether I think the show was a positive thing or not. I think it caused a lot more drama than necessary and probably escalated problems that might not have been there otherwise, but for people like Catelynn, Tyler and Maci I think it helped them provide for themselves so they could accomplish their goals. I think Cateylnn and Tyler will make amazing social workers (coming from someone in the field) and Maci will continue to make the right choices for her family and be successful in whatever she chooses to do in the future.

In the case of Amber - I think the show did nothing but provide a microscope onto a problem that might not be there otherwise. This could be a good thing or a bad thing: If there is in fact a problem, it's good that the proper course of action is taking place when it comes to the child, but if the press and show are escalating the situation, it's not necessarily a positive situation for anyone involved, including MTV. 

Farrah is a toss up - I hope that seeing herself on the show makes her realize how unreasonable and selfish she can be and how incredibly rude she is to people, especially her parents. I am still so confused as to why she calls her dad, Michael...

So there you have it: a very undefined look at what I got from the show Teen Mom. 

What do you think about the show or the ladies?

I haven't watched other seasons, but tell me about those!

Get Me Some Coffee and a Hoodie Because...

IT'S ALMOST FALL!

My favorite time of year - cider, doughnuts, pumpkins, new school supplies, warm drinks, blankets, boots, hoodies, scarves, sweaters, colorful leaves, cooler weather, mums, open windows instead of AC, apples, darker hair colors, AHHH! I love everything about fall!

Things you may not know about me...

I believe it's People Magazine that has the "20 Things You Didn't Know About *insert popular celebrity here*" article and this is partially inspired by that. It is also a chance for you, my avid readers, to get to know me a little better.

Even as an adult I am afraid of basements - as a child I used to take our family cat downstairs with me in case something or someone was hiding down there while I was doing laundry.

When I find a new TV show that I like I obsess and watch every episode that I can and then get sad when it's over or I've caught up with the current airing schedule. In the past few years I've obsessed over Brother & Sisters, How I Met Your Mother, Dexter, Breaking Bad, Army Wives and most recently: Gossip Girl. All of these are outside of my other TV show obsessions like One Tree Hill, The Office, Gilmore Girls, and pretty much anything on Bravo.

My biggest fear is having someone break into my home while I am there. This fear comes out WHENEVER I am home alone. Even this morning after Justin left for work I kept "hearing" someone come into the apartment.

Most of my iTunes library consists of music from the show from One Tree Hill.

I am an organizational junkie and love new planners - I buy multiple planners every year because I hate how messy they get after a few months.

Every time I see an add for the current lottery I day dream about how I would spend my millions. My first thoughts are usually: pay off all debt, buy a house, buy a house up north, start my own business or non-profit, pay for different family debt/stuff.

One of my dreams is to own a house that I love as much as I loved my house growing up. I don't need anything huge or luxurious, but something that we can host holidays and make comfortable for our little family.

As much as I might never actually admit it in person, I miss high school and the early years of college. I thought I NEVER would miss high school - I was an average student and was itching to get out by the time I hit junior year but I had some awesome friends and had a lot of great times! And really, how many times as adults do you get to get all fancied up and go to a dance with all of your best friends? 

I have a love-hate relationship with Facebook. I love being able to keep in touch with my friends and family but I hate the drama that comes along with Facebook - and I really don't need to know every single thing that everyone is doing every second of every day. (<---that's a lot of "every"s)

Productive Procrastinator

Usually I can be quite the procrastinator, I work much better under pressure. I seem to think faster, am more logical and focused when I'm working in the eleventh hour. In elementary school I was the kid who on Sunday night says "Hey, Dad, I have I have a science project due tomorrow...I need poster board, paint and 10 facts about Wisconsin." Yes, that really happened. So now that you all think I am completely lazy and would make an awful employee let's talk about being productive. 

Ever have a day where you leave work or school and feel like you have accomplished every little thing you set out to do and feeling awesome? I had one of those days today. I had a to-do list and each and every thing on it was crossed off all before the stroke of 5pm. I have a big training to do in the morning with over 60 people expected in a room that isn't one of our normal training sites. These 60 people are also being mandated by their employer to attend 8 hours of training tomorrow so I'm sure 8am will really be amazing for them (sarcasm intended). But I am pretty sure I covered all of my bases and managed to get all my prep work done this afternoon with a little time left over to get my tedious every day task done before leaving for the day. It felt awesome!

So, I pose a question: How can one self-proclaimed procrastinator get such satisfaction out of getting things done early? Seems a little hypocritical, doesn't it?

I'm not sure if I'll ever give up on some of my procrastinating ways, maybe only when it comes to stupid tedious things. What stupid tedious things do I hate doing, you ask? Well I'll tell you!

1. Browning ground beef - I did this for dinner tonight and it was painfully boring and takes too long

2. Shaving my legs - why do girls over 13 have leg hair anyway?

3. Blow drying my hair - ugh...I hate blow drying my hair

4. Putting away groceries

5. Matching up socks - they all end up in a drawer and we find the match before we put them on.

I'm sure I could think of more but then that would just be me complaining. So, what are the stupid tedious things you hate doing?

Tomorrow I plan on blogging as I watch the last episode of "Teen Mom" with the original cast. I realize it's on tonight but I'll be DVRing it so I can catch up on some sleep before tomorrow's big training. So stay tuned if you're a "Teen Mom" fan!

Good night, Em