Wedding Planning

... is FUN. AND stressful.

FUN first though. We picked our DJ and have narrowed down our photographer - and it's still 366 days until our wedding (...but who's counting)!!!

I'm really excited about the vendors we have chosen and the possible vendors we still need to meet with. I'm most excited about the MUSEUM because it's going to be SO gorgeous.

I am looking forward to menu tasting and cake tasting and engagement pictures and floral appointments and DRESS SHOPPING.

I went dress shopping once with my mom and I am scheduled to go back on 9/15 when my sister, Erica, is in town. It will be me (duh), momma dukes, Erica, Maria (Dan's Mom), hopefully my dad and hopefully 3 bridesmaids. I think I know the dress is THE ONE, but I need the reactions from my crowd. It got a good reaction by all the patrons in the shop the day I tried it on... but they weren't MY reactions. We're going to two different stores - and I am totally open to trying on any dresses the others pick out - but I'm most excited to try on THE dress again!!!

And then I won't get to wear it for 12 months.

And then never again.

I try not to think about that part.... maybe Dan will want to renew our vows someday and I will still fit into it - HA!

Anyways, I am really loving planning our wedding. I'm excited to have the big vendors picked and then get to start the little stuff.

Toodles.

Little People

Dan and I have been affectionately referring to our Flower girl and Ring bearer as the Little People.

Well. We just got confirmation from both that as long as the adults will be able to make it to the wedding - the LITTLE PEOPLE are in!

Dan happily announced this to me as "we got our little people!"

We love you Abby and Chase!

Toodles

Our Wedding Website

... is up and running!! You can visit it at www.mewhirtercoppola.ourwedding.com - please do!

It has all the information about how we met, how we got engaged, where the wedding will be and our registries.

We've been planning pretty nonstop since we got engaged and are way ahead of schedule. That is A-OKAY with me! I'd rather do things when we want to do them now rather than be stressed to finish them quickly.

I think registering was my favorite part of wedding planning so far... that little gun made us feel powerful!!

FYI - as I'm typing this - Dan is singing to himself on the couch... one of the many reasons why I love him!!

I am so happy and am so lucky to be engaged to my best friend.

Toodles.

It's the beginning

of planning our wedding.

We have already set a date - now that we know when my BFF will be back from Africa.

August 31, 2013.

It looks great.

Dan and I have a running inside joke about 8-31 so it just seems even more perfect.

We have already started to look at ideas and some venues... We'd like to get the location figured out and everything else will be a breeze (HA).

That's all for now... Toodles

He asked me to marry him

and I said YES!!!!!!!

this fourth of July is one for the books.

It was the best day of my life. I am engaged to my best friend.

My dad gave me a big disney princess box to unwrap. Inside of that was another box. Inside of that was another box. and you get the picture. UNTIL THE RING BOX.

Dan hid these notes in some of the boxes.

I cried my eyes out.

Fourth of July jello shots.

Hugging our moms, the perfect moment.

In shock.

To sum, I love Dan and cannot wait to be his wife.

Now to the stresses of wedding planning.

And getting my best friend back from Africa.

I'm soon to be Mrs. Dan Coppola.

OMG. 

Toodles.

Pictures

Insert huge sigh of relief here...

I uploaded all my pictures to Shutterfly (they have free storage and printing) finally. It took days. days. I had a lot of pictures and memories and didn't want to lose a single one. Now (as long as I don't lose my password) I will have them for keeps.

Now I just have to upload pictures from Disney... I sure am lazy when it comes to photo uploads

Tootles.

Tropical storm Debby

is my least favorite person right now.

We didn't have cable / internet for 5 days. 5 days. Do you know how long that is for a tech-obsessed twenty something? About 5 days still. heh. But, really, it seemed like forever.

Apparently little miss Debby windstorm blew the cable box on the outside of the house.

I am so thankful for my parents and that we live so close. I think in pretty much every post I say how much I love and appreciate my parents... but, isn't how it should be?

So... since the cable / internet is back on I'm catching up on my shows... and having to find episodes that aired during the outage... I can't be missing those Real Housewives stories.

Next up is posting pictures from our Disney trip and making sure the transition from Kodak gallery to Shutterfly...

It all boils down to this:

Tropical Storm Debby is jerk. And Dan and I are wildly unprepared for storms. Wildy unprepared.

Dogs...

...are hard to train.

But, we are taking the first big step and we enrolled Bruce Wayne in dog training. We're going to Petco every Sunday to work on his 'problem habits'.

Problem Habits include: jumping, barking, leash walking, stealing, listening and probably 10 more things I'm forgetting.

I used to make excuses for him and say "he's just a puppy... he doesn't know any better" BUT I woke up on his 1st birthday and everything changed. Suddenly, I wanted to do anything I could to fix his rotten behavior. Which of course means fixing our behavior.

Dan has never had a dog before. I had two family shih tzu's growing up. Molly and Dixie must have been trained by the owners that had them before they came to add love to our family.

So, we both were clueless on how to train a dog. We succeeded at the potty training - he hasn't had an accident in over 6 months. Thanks to Dan and his dedication to walking the superhero every morning.

We all had our first training yesterday and I feel like we have the tools to correct his behavior and turn his bad habits around.

I walked him this afternoon and didn't yell at him or get frustrated once. Not once. Dan, I know you're shocked.

Also, he stole a sock this morning as I was folding laundry and I was able to get the sock away without getting frustrated because I knew what to do with him. Again, Dan, I know you're shocked.

So, maybe the dogs are easy to train and people are stubborn. Either way, we are committed to make this work and teach him the right way to act. I know every day won't be roses but, we love Bruce Wayne and we're all going to work at this.

Toodles.

Dolphins

So I took this pictures in DECEMBER. And I am THAT bad at posting pictures and adding them to my computer.

Oh well, These are the Top 5 pictures from that day. It was a beautiful day and we were so lucky to see all of these dolphins right next to the boat.

Our family was in from Iowa and I'm so glad they got to see these dolphins this close too!!

(also, this is the first time I'm adding pictures to my blog. Experiment!

Today I said the B word.

Budget.

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm not adverse to cursing, but this B word is the most ugly word in the dictionary. Well, behind moist, that is a gross word.

Today I succumbed to the reality that is home ownership at 24. No more cash. (Don't worry, Mom, it will work out). At this time last year I thought being on a budget meant only shopping once a month... and only having around 150$ to do so... OHO I was WRONG.

Confession: I haven't shopped in 6 months. The last thing I bought was an outfit for New Years Eve (and I still wear that $20 dress well!) and a pair of Jack Rogers *cue noise of the heavens*. But, even for the sandals I had won some cash at work that covered it.

Confession: This is killing me. I love shopping.

Fact: I can win this. The emails that I get from my favorite stores (Pottery Barn, J. Crew, Anthropologie etc.) make me think that I could splurge juuuust a little bit. So, I head to their websites and 'OOOH and AHHH' over the fabulous colors and imagining the textures. I add things to my online shopping cart and then I.... EXIT THE SITE. I know that in my mind I have splurged to allow myself to choose items I know "I can't live without" and then I leave. And guess what, I could not tell you 24 hours later what was in those carts. But alas, I have fed my shopping bug and then he flies home to his nest (out of my wallet!).

So onto my budget. I have declared, outloud so it's real, that my budget is... Groceries and Gas. That's it. Everything else isn't necessary. Well, we are out of toothpaste, shampoo and conditioner... so, I may already have to bend the rules a little. But a girl has got to shower!

I am so lucky to be 24, a homeowner and debt free. I have zero credit card debt. And it's because I am crazy about paying off my credit card each month. I will not let it carry a balance. I am so glad my parents taught me that valuable lesson when I was younger (and probably rolling my eyes).

Mom and Dad, Thank you for teaching me this lesson and telling me horror stories about how people didn't know they had to pay the balance ever. Thank you for doing this through the eye rolls, shoulder shrugs and text messages. I heard you. And, most importantly, I listened.

I am now on my GG budget (so it at least sounds cute) until further notice. Please don't ask me to have dinner with you... I will say yes and then cancel. (Same theory as the online shopping... at least I could say yes briefly)

Tonight from the grocerie: Flank steak stuffed with mozzarella cheese and cauliflower smash. Hey, if I'm going to be on the GG budget... I'm going to shop the Publix sales that I LIKE.

Toodles.

well, it's 2012 now

Thought I would start this bad boy back up... much to my readers happiness (Hi, Mom and Dad).

I suppose I could start with all of the things that have changed since my last post. But, where do I start?

• I am gainfully employed in Tampa
• I own a house in Tampa
• I have a puppy named Bruce Wayne (he is almost a year old)
• I have the best boyfriend on the planet, Dan

That's enough for now because... WE'RE GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!!

and my swollen lymph nodes are preventing my brain from operating at full capacity.