Thursday, February 17, 2011

Spring is in the air only to rain on my parade

This morning, I awoke to birds chirping outside my bedroom windows. This morning, I stood outside with Kristi and my cup of coffee in jeans and a light cardigan without a single chill running through my body. Today, I spent every minute outside without a jacket. Today, I felt the need to put on old clothes and dig in the dirt. Today, my mind raced to planning my gardens, what would go where and what would be in each. Today, I almost opened the windows to let the cool breeze chill my house (until I saw there were stinkbugs crawling all over the screens!). Today, it was the first sign of spring.

In previous years, the first sign of spring was kind of bittersweet, just as it was today. I love winter. I love everything about it. I love the cold air (but not getting the crap shocked out of me). I. Love. Snow. Absolutely everything about snow (well except maybe driving in it). I love how it blankets every nook and cranny with beautiful white wonder. I love bundling up in warm wool sweaters, hats, gloves, and scarves. I love that I can see my breath when I walk outside. I love to feel the stinging of my rosy red cheeks after spending time outside. I. Love. Snow. Now, the bittersweet part comes because I come to a point where I don't want my love affair with snow to end, but I really want to see everything blanketed in plushy green leaves. Spring signals the beginning, of newness, of birth. Spring ushers in sweet smells of fragrant flowers and beautiful sights of pastel pinks, yellows, and purples.

I'm feeling very poetic today but I think that's about enough. Some of you are probably wondering where I went and who me! Rest assured. I am back! From my dreamlike state to ramble on about the wiles of my day(s)...

Andy and I haven't celebrated V-day yet so I'll update that one after Saturday. But, speaking of romance... My ring is finished!!!! Woohoo! We got the call today! :-) I'll be picking it up tomorrow or Saturday! Score! And yes... you will have pictures the MINUTE it's on my finger. I will take a picture on my iPhone and post it. I can't promise that my phone will capture it's everlasting beauty but you'll at least get the jist. Once we get the engagements photos though, I'll post fabulous pictures of it. Our photographer (who is totally awesome and amazing) is going to definitely be taking a picture of it :-)

Business has been keeping me crazy busy this week. As I told you earlier, I spent time at the courthouse creating my individual lead list and sent them in the mail yesterday. I got my first response to them today--a phone call. While my heart jumped for joy that someone had received it and still chose to call, it immediately did a nose dive once the gentleman started talking. Let's just say he was a little less than nice. The thing that made me laugh afterwards was I offered multiple times to take him off my mailing list and was totally polite about it. At the end of the call, he stated, "I'm not going to tell you who I am!" and hung up. I was like, Oooookkkkaaaayyy. And how do you expect me to remove you from my mailing list if you don't tell me who you are? LoL! Oh well. I'm not going to let it get me discouraged. :-) I know I can do this and it takes those rotten apples to get to the good fruit sometimes. I also compiled my first list of professionals, real estate agents. Just in case you're wondering, there are 168 real estate agents in Franklin County. Um, yeah... I have about half of the letters addressed and printed and only about half of those actually signed and sealed. Who knew marketing was so much work? My dining room table looks like it's been run over by the mail truck! Moving on...

While most of my week has been on the upbeat side, my heart was very saddened and distraught earlier this afternoon. I received a phone call from the company where I ordered my dress. I'm sure I told you all about the dress a little while ago. Just in case I didn't, here's a brief synopsis: We want to keep the wedding low key since we're, um, less than monetarily endowed. So, I found THE. PERFECT. DRESS. in January. It's a strapless, ballroom gown with a semi-cathedral detachable train. It has rouching, beading, and appliqué and is just all around GORGEOUS. Well, I got the call today that they can't get the dress made in time for our wedding at the end of May (even though they told me in January it wouldn't be a problem). Okay, totally like the girl I am, I just sat there stunned and started to cry. The dress was only $225 (and did I mention it was THE. PERFECT. DRESS?)! A total steal, especially since the dress normally retails for $1,000. So I asked, just in hopes, what the earliest date would be that it could be made. Well that answer was the end of August. Okay, so now what? (It was THE. PERFECT. DRESS.) Here's my dilemma. You all know I'm currently going through a lifestyle change/diet. Since starting, I've dropped about 12 pounds. I've done this particular diet last year so I know it works and I know I can hit my goal weight prior to the wedding. My dilemma is that if I go to a bridal boutique to purchase a gown, most places that I have experience with or have talked to won't allow me to order a size smaller than what I am now. In wedding dress sizes, I'm in a 14 (normally a 10 or 12 pants size). I'm planning to be in a size 4 jean size by the time I get married, so I'd need a 6 or 8 for my wedding dress size. I can totally order the size I am now but then I'm going to have to pay a crap-ton of money for alterations which doesn't allow me to keep the dress within my budget and there's a possibility of screwing up any patterning/bead work on the dress. Now my next thought is I'm almost positive that I won't find a dress that has everything I want that'll be within my budget. The other issue is that because my wedding is so close, if I do find a dress that is perfect but have to order it, there won't be enough time to get the dress in and properly fitted/altered before the wedding. So then I'm faced with the dilemma of having to possibly back the date up. Ugh! My head hurts... Anyway, I'll keep you posted on that.

So Carol came home from the hospital today! Yay! Kris and I went over to her house to see her and hang with some of the Bentzel clan. Kris was really excited to see Sophie and vice versa. We took pictures of them outside and it was the perfect lighting for it. I'll post some pictures once I get them from Shari. The girls played for a little while and we went to visit Pap at the hospital. He looked much better than the last time I saw him. His leg is healing very well. :-)

Well this post was way longer than I meant it to be. (See, this is why I have to start updating every few days!) Until next time, much love and many blessings!

♥Courtney♥

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