blogaholic

Ok, I think it is official. I just added the list of blogs I routinely follow. The list is ridiculously long. And I didn't even count the blogs that I end up reading after clicking on link after link. Blog hopping is like going on wikipedia. You start off wanting to know a bit of information, like: Where was Nikola Tessla born? Then a couple hours later you realize you are reading information about the model T. Or maybe that only happens to me.
Anyway, I have decided that I am officially a blogaholic. I haven't read any books recently because I have spent so much time reading blogs. The content is so much more interesting because it is non-fiction, and pictures nearly always accompany the text. It is like a socially acceptable form of people watching, without the awkward moment where the people you are watching make eye-contact.
I recommend you check out Kelly's Korner and learn about her obsession with all things monogrammed (I am now considering buying a machine to save money when I have children in the future).Or go visit the Nester to learn how to make your own window mistreatment that will look fabulous, but save you a fortune! I should take pictures of the ones I made based on her tutorial. I love them! Those will get you started, and you can find all the rest by clicking on links from there...
Happy Blog Hopping!

Patience

About two weeks ago, on October 13th, Sparky was in a dirt-biking accident. After school he went to some dirt-biking trail/park/area with some of his former students. He was planning on just riding the trail at a leisurely rate because he has been unable to ride for the past six months due to a herniated disk in his back. Anywho...he went to this place and was riding very carefully as to not re-injure himself. Well the boys in front of him told him that they were coming up to a jump.

Sparky thought that this was just like any normal motocross jump, a mound of dirt that he could ride up one side of and down the other. He was wrong. What he didn't hear was the boy said it was a CREEK jump. He slowly rode up the dirt then fell abruptly four feet down and landed in a creek bed, then his 200 lb. motorcycle landed on top of him. Ugh.

 

This is what Sparky's back looked like in the hospital. Yuck.

He was in the hospital from Tuesday until Friday. He has a broken shoulder blade, torn ligaments between his shoulder blade and collar bone, torn ACL, torn MCL, and a bruised and swollen liver. He had to stay in the hospital so long because his liver enzyme count was very elevated.

Sparky is a horrible patient. He has been moaning and groaning since he arrived at the hospital. He cannot sit up without making noises reminiscent of a very elderly person. It is a bit ridiculous, but I have been patient with him. I took off work and stayed with him in the hospital while he was attended to by the hillbilly staff (he was in the hospital located in a neighboring city). I helped him when I brought him home and he couldn't walk without assistance. I went to work for a week and then came home to do his bidding. I wondered how long my patience would last.

Apparently I hit the limit yesterday. I tried to take him out to eat on Friday to get him out of the house. We went to Buccetto's. It was delicious but very busy. While we were waiting for our table Sparky was sitting in a chair right inside the door with his leg extended a little due to his ACL/MCL issues. Some man was backing up trying to get out of the way of some people leaving the establishment and tripped over Sparky's foot. By the sounds that came from Sparky's mouth you would think he was stabbed in the leg. So I go to see if our table is ready yet and find it is! As we walk/hobble to the table Sparky runs into the waitress with broken shoulder blade. Dinner was silent. With the added benefit of grumpy, pain induced glares from across the table.

Then Saturday comes along and Sparky decides he wants to go to some race through the woods. I think he is crazy, but whatever. He is getting ready to go and goes into the garage to put his coat into the car. Well, he let the dog, Gaby, follow him out. He then just stands in the doorway to the garage, with the door wide open, provoking the heater to kick on and rack up my heating bill.

I nicely ask Sparky to close the door.

He stands there.

I not so nicely tell him to close the damn door.

He stands there. He is waiting for Gaby to come back inside on his own free will.

The dog is not going to come back into the house after discovering such a wonderland as the garage. There are all sorts of things in there that he needs to explore! So I angrily walk into the garage, pick up the dog, and shut the door. I then let him know everything I had been bottling up for the last two weeks.

This is the official end of my patience. Needless to say, we didn't go to the race in the woods.

Instead we went to a local Apple Orchard where I got a caramel apple, a 1/2 peck of apples, and apple cider. Then we went to Wal-Mart to buy two movies (because when we rent movies we never remember to take them back on time, racking up a large late fee, so it is more cost effective to buy).
I am much better now. :o)

Invitations

Ooooo! I forgot to post: My inviations are here! They arrived in the mail yesterday and I really like the. I tried to save the pdf to the compter so I can share what they look like. They are from The Green Kangaroo.They have been very easy to work with and have great designs. Here is a general idea of the layout of the invite, but mine is printed in turquoise and black. 

 

Wedding Stuff

When Sparky proposed to me in the parking lot after buying the ring, I realized I needed to choose a location. My first thought was the dream I had developed upon my first trip to the happiest place on earth:

Do you know where I am? That is me in the pink outfit in the stroller, just over a year old. Do you need another hint?

This me the following year in a different area of the park. I thought about posting a picture of me in this same location every year of my life... but I haven't scanned in the old pictures past the year 1987 and it would be too much work to do right now.

If you haven't guessed by now, I originally thought I wanted to have my wedding in Disney World. They have a wedding pavilion at the Grand Floridian that looks over the Seven Seas Lagoon to Cinderella's castle in the Magic Kingdom. Ahhh...what a dream.

 

If you look at the picture closely, you can see Cinderella's castle framed in the large window above the altar. So what happened? I went searching the internet to see how people liked their Disney weddings. Most people loved their experience but then I found just one blog... one horrible blog. No, they did not have a bad experience, that would be impossible on Disney grounds. They were horrible. They left all of their friends and family in England to travel half way around the world to be married in Disney World. They didn't have any guests at all. Oh wait, I am sorry, I almost forgot: they paid over $1,000 each to have Minnie Mouse, Mickey Mouse, and Stitch attend their wedding. Then they had a "reception" at a pizza place in one of the parks. Ugh. It made me want to puke it was so pathetic and sad. Why would you leave all of your family and friends to travel around the world to be married with strangers dressed in mascot costumes as your witnesses?

Anyway, I decided to nix that idea and move onto plan b. The beach. I LOVE it.

Last school year there were about four snow days in a row where I pretty much couldn't leave my house. What better time to plan?! I started searching the internet for beach locations I have traveled to. I landed on Anna Maria Island off the coast of Sarasota, FL. I have been there several times before and it has very beautiful white beaches. I started searching photography websites to find a photographer first. I found Dara Caudill's website and fell in love with the photos. I also love that she posted the local vendors featured in each photo. I noticed several different photos from different weddings had some really cool backgrounds, then I realized that they were all taken at the same place... The Sandbar Restaurant. I wish I could post some of Dara's photos but they are all blocked from being copied since she wants people to pay for them. Obviously. Here is a picture she took of a random flower girl that I found on google images:

 

Anywho, I contacted the Sandbar to see what they had to offer for weddings. Basically they charge one fee and that gives me access to get married on the beach by the water, then they have these permanent roof-structure-things over the sand where they have a bar, tables, chairs, and a portable dance floor where I can have the reception. Here is a picture since they are hard to describe. The floor is sand but it is covered in case of rain. I have no idea who these people are but it is the best picture I could find:

 

Because it is a restaurant they will do the catering, also they move the chairs from the beach to the tables for the reception. So that meant I needed a DJ, florist, and an officiant. Well, Dara's (the photographer) husband is a DJ. I checked out his reviews and he got the job. Here he is:

 

Then I looked through Dara's photos to find the flowers I liked the best. It turns out they were done by Silvia's Flower Corner. During spring break this past year I went to the island of St. Peter to help out a family I have babysat for since I was 16. While I was there I took the drive across the Sunshine Skyway to meet with Silvia and discuss my flowers. It turns out that she is located across the street from The Sandbar Restaurant. How convenient! I also researched the officiants available in the area and decided I liked Reverend Charlie (he doesn't have a website). Here is a miniscule picture of him:

So in about four days I planned my wedding. Now I just have to wait for it to get here. I squeezed all of my parent-teacher conferences into the past two weeks so I can take off the official parent-teacher school day and leave on fall break early (next week). My mom and I are headed down to Anna Maria Island to see the flowers I selected with Silvia, to talk about music with Dara's husband, sign papers with Dara, and check out the hotel I have booked.

I have posted way too much, so that is all for now!

Background

I thought I would share some background information with everyone to catch y'all up (no, I am not from the south).
I am getting married in two months to a man who is afraid to have his picture, name, or any information on the internet for fear of (crickets chirping)... who knows. He has no real reason, he is just paranoid. I guess that is what happens when you graduate from high school the same year Windows 95 is released. I, however, have grown up my entire life with computers and internet so I see no problem with my name or picture being splashed everywhere. But to please the guy in my life I shall refer to him by his childhood nickname "Sparky" which was bestowed upon him by his grandfather because he was so hyperactive he was like a spark plug... I guess.
I will post more information about our upcoming wedding in a later post.
I am teaching a combined kindergarten/first grade class at a wonderful elementary school and my fiance teaches students I may not refer to at someplace that I am not aloud to name. Sigh...
 

Blog Name

So I cannot decide on a blog name... my sister thinks this one is appropriate. I don't know why. I am not always sarcastic. I guess 98% of the time is enough.