Planes, trains, and Christmas cookies

I love this season, and I love having enough down-time to really enjoy it.  This weekend, we barely left the apartment (with the exception of a pizza adventure with Caroline).  Who needs the world outside when you can crank up the Christmas tunes, and the oven, to your heart's content?

I fly down to Florida on Tuesday to spend Christmas with my family, and then my mom, sisters and I fly up to NJ on December 26 for Christmas Part II--the cold edition.  George will drive down to his parents' early on Christmas Eve, and we'll drive back home together sometime before New Year's.  On the wedding front, one major step will be taken in Florida as I build my duct-tape dress form (stay tuned for pictures of that debacle) and my aunt modifies the muslin version of my dress.  Can't wait!!

It's so exciting to have my aunt making my dress just for me, based on different pieces of different patterns I've fallen in love with, but there's one down side--I never had that "ooh, this is the dress!" moment.  Trying on the muslin version will be my first chance to actually see myself in the dress, so I'm extremely excited!  I can't thank my aunt enough for all of her help.  She's the best!

George and I exchanged our Christmas presents early this year.  We usually wait until after Christmas when we're together, but figured why wait?  If we aren't holding out for Christmas itself, why not just go for it?  We both got each other experiences this year...I got him a few hours of golf simulator time, since he's had to give up his favorite hobby with the change of seasons.  He got me monthly facials from now until the wedding!  (Glow insurance, perhaps?)  I am so excited; I love getting facials but they're the sort of thing I never treat myself to.  Especially with wedding/home/"settling down" savings at the forefront of our minds like never before, it's a real indulgence!

While we're in New Jersey, we'll also have our first pre cana meeting with Father Bill.  We're both excited, and will update you afterward.  Since we know each other so well, it will be fun to see what new ground we might cover.  I called the church during my lunch break at work one day, and it turns out that some of my favorite Emerson professors actually participated in a workshop this fall for Greek Orthodox priests!  Father Bill noticed "Emerson College" on his caller ID and filled me in on the coicidence.  Sure enough, Dr. Phil Glenn and a few other members of the poli comm faculty, along with communications professionals from other schools, worked with the priests to talk about effective and dynamic message delivery (not a preaching style that the Orthodox church is really known for).  Now I know our priest has been coached by the best!

On that note, I have some summertime cookies left that are just begging to fulfill their purpose...

Thanks for listening!

Picture Perfect

  

 

Obviously, I'm obsessed with our engagement photos, and couldn't resist posting a few highlights here.  (For many, many more, head over to the main site at www.georgeaskedkate.com!)  It's not the season of self, though; it's the season of family!  Hopefully this Christmas will be the last one that George and I ever spend apart, as I'll be in Florida with my family and he'll be in New Jersey with his on December 25.  We'll have our own celebration (and exchange presents) when I fly up the next day!


Juggling geography is tough, and it always sets my holiday cheer just a little bit on edge at some point.  We are so blessed, though, that this is our biggest concern!  Wherever our families live, we're blessed to have them in our lives, and to be able to celebrate with them every year.


George and I are in no rush to have children, but I can't help getting excited about starting our family someday, and what big, beautiful Christmases we'll have with everyone.  I imagine sugar cookies making a mess of the kitchen, Christmas music pouring from the innumerable speakers George is bound to have acquired by then, and  lots of garlands and twinkle lights around the house.


In ten years, maybe our kids will be spending the night looking through Christmas photo albums with me and their dad, looking forward to visits from their grandparents and aunts just a few weeks away.  I may not know exactly where we'll be, and I may not know what our babies' faces will look like, but I know one thing...there will be a LOT of cookies.  And that mental image is all I need to know our life together will be incredible.

No news is fine news

This picture has nothing at all to do with this entry...I just really love it.  We weren’t going to dress up for Halloween since we were visiting NJ and George’s parents, but at the last minute I decided the best costume would be Bobby Haranis.  Can you even tell us apart?

We’ve been busy lately, and not so much with wedding planning...but I want to be more diligent with my posting, so here goes.  Mostly, this entry is an excuse to post more pictures of the Sayen House (enjoy!).  I’ve also said all along that I wanted this little blog to serve as a digital scrapbook for me, and that means taking some time to reflect on this whole process.  There might not be any news, but you know me...but when has that ever stopped me from running my mouth--or keyboard, as the case may be?

There are a couple of news items to report.  My dress patterns came in the mail, which is really exciting, but I don’t want to tell you anything about them.  It’s a surprise!  We also have our engagement photo shoot on Sunday, which might be the most exciting piece yet.  We have a lot of fun ideas and we’ll be shooting at a few locations around Boston that are really special to us, so stay tuned.

Back to this reflection business...I’ve been getting a lot of advice lately.  One of the best pieces of advice was to set a time before the wedding after which all troubleshooting is someone else’s problem.  At a certain time, be it 5 hours or one day before the wedding, any last-minute issues become someone else’s responsibility to resolve.  The logic is, my bridesmaids and family know me well and are trustworthy people--they’ve promised to see me through the whole wedding-planning process, not to mention the marriage that will follow.  They can handle it if the car won’t start, or the centerpieces fall apart, or the caterer runs out of eggplant.  After that magic time, all I’ll focus on will be the joyful things, like imagining George’s face when we’re pronounced husband and wife.

The second piece of advice that stuck with me was an explanation of how a marriage changes a relationship.  In most ways, our life together will be the same.  We share a home, so we’re used to that, and eventually even the name change is bound to feel less novel.  The real difference, I’ve been told, is that a marriage is just as much about the community as it is about the two of us.  When we get married, we’ll be promising in front of all the people that matter in the community of our lives that we will stick with it, that we’ll stand by each other, and that we’ll turn to them for help when we need it.  They, by witnessing our marriage, are committing to helping us through and supporting us on that path.

Alright, you didn’t come for my musings, you came for the pictures.  Here you go--but one last thought.  Feel free to share your marriage advice with us.  Thanks for listening!