Who Kittybean...its your turn!

[kittybean]

Date: 2/4/2009 4:26:53 PM
Author: trillionaire
I LOVE your inspiration board! I envy women that have beautiful visions of their weddings! I fear that I lack the creativity to plan one, and even worse, I fear being forced to do it. (I want to elope!)

I''m glad you like my inspiration board! I came together much more seamlessly than I thought it would, to tell you the truth.

The whole wedding planning thing seems daunting, but you begin to realize that it all comes from series of smaller decisions, and that those decisions follow each other. For example, let''s say you find a bridesmaid''s dress that is flattering and in a gorgeous color. You then pick out some flowers that would complement the dress. The flowers inspire another wedding color, and you maybe use that for the linens, which inspire you to pick your centerpieces, etc. That example might be oversimplified, but hopefully you can see that it''s not as huge a project as it looks. I was recently in a wedding where the bride described herself as "lacking any creative streak whatsoever," and she left a lot of the decor in the hands of her venue and the florist. It looked amazing, and I think the florist loved having the artistic license to create her own vision for the event, without someone taking the reins from her. I think you can leave it up to the professionals if that would make it easier on you (provided they come with good references), and it can totally turn out beautifully. Many destination wedding spots also plan everything for you.

Okay, rest of your questions to be answered in the next post . . .

 

[kittybean]

Date: 2/4/2009 6:33:39 PM
Author: Dreamgirl

Date: 2/4/2009 4:26:53 PM

Author: trillionaire

Where will you all settle? Kids? pets? How many and when?

lol Such a question I''m sure several engaged women get. But.....I wanna know too! lol

I don''t mind answering the questions at all. Now if you were my great-aunt asking, that would be another story

.

About my FI: he is a lawyer as well. He works in commercial litigation for a big national firm. He is much more passionate about legal theory than I am. In fact, we were unpacking a box of his old law school textbooks and notes when we moved in together this summer, and he got all giddy poring through them. He actually handed me a constitutional law book and said, "This is the Bible." I just rolled my eyes and left him engrossed in his Federal Courts outline for a while. Outside of a major nerdy streak--the guy wore sweatshirts tucked into sweatpants until eighth grade--my FI is such an outgoing, friendly, and hilarious person. His quick-witted sense of humor and love for old Saturday Night Live sketches was what first attracted me to him, actually (admittedly, the dark hair and blue eyes didn''t hurt).

I am hoping we will permanently settle somewhere in the Denver area, where we live now. He would love to go back to where he grew up at some point, but I don''t think I can handle the climate in Seattle. I know some people love it, but give me 300 days of sunshine over 300 days of cloudy, rainy skies any day! We hope to buy a house as soon as we can after our marriage, but we''ll have to see what the future and the economy have in store for us.

Pets: I want one now! He thinks we should wait ''til we have a house, and I''ve resigned myself to that for the moment. I am in love with Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, mostly because my parents have a Cavalier/poodle/dachshund mix that has totally stolen my heart. I love Cavaliers'' sweet, affectionate personalities and little puppy faces they hold onto when they grow up. I do have some animal allergies (so cruel because I love all animals), so we''ll have to do more hands-on research to make sure I can tolerate a pet before we get it. I wouldn''t be averse to a shelter dog, either, if we found one that was a good fit for us.

Kids: we want them eventually. I think three would be my personal maximum, but I would prefer two. He has said his personal max is four, but he would also prefer two. I have always wanted to adopt. I think we will also have to adopt a wait-and-see approach on the kids front. I can always talk about wanting so many children and when I''d like to have them, but the reality is that one never knows what the future may bring. Some former neighbors of mine couldn''t have children. They adopted a child from a young mother who already had a number of children and was on welfare; when the same woman found out she was pregnant again, she approached the couple regarding the adoption of her second child, and they agreed, but they said they did not want any more than two children. As it turns out, the mother was having triplets. The couple ended up with four children under the age of two all at once! My point here is that I want to make sure and keep my heart open to unexpected blessings, whether they be children or something else entirely.

 

[kittybean]

Hi Friends!

It''s been almost six months (maybe more!) since I posted in my WW section, so I thought I''d update everyone here a bit. My biggest event was, of course, the wedding, which happened on June 20. It was beautiful and so special. Here''s a wedding thread link you can check out if you want to see it all, but I''ll post a few in here, too.

First, me opening my gift from DH, then realizing they''re new diamond studs (.5 ctw G VS2 in plat.). I was so surprised and happy!

Here''s us seeing each other for the first time:

Here we are being given a traditional Ukrainian blessing by both of our families.

This is during the ceremony. The crowns were are wearing show that we are now married and are the "king and queen of our kingdom" according to Ukrainian tradition. Our ceremony was a mix of Urkrainian Byzantine Catholic and Roman Catholic. Everyone seemed to like it, which I was so happy to hear.

We are so happy here to be married! This is also my favorite shot of the dress.

 

[kittybean]

A few more photos coming along . . . the first is our entire wedding party at a park in Boulder, Colorado. There was some rain, but we had a lot of fun with these photos.

Bridesmaids, me, and DH having fun in the rain.

Wedding party sans umbrellas for a sec--they were a little sad to be getting wet, but happy that they were going to get back into the limo a hit up the champagne again.

And here is my favorite shot of our reception venue and our phenomenal, outstanding, delicious cake:

 

[kittybean]

More photos! First of DH and I having a fun time with veil + wind, then first dance--"Buena Sera" by Michael Buble (rhumba/swing).

Us in the park

Our introduction into the reception. I was so hungry I just wanted to dive into that cake. Nom nom nom.

 

[kittybean]

Finally, last couple photos. First one is my favorite photo of just me from the day:

Last, but not least (at all!) is the bling:

 

[kittybean]

Since the wedding and our Italian honeymoon, DH and I have been doing lots of travel, mostly to other weddings. We have hopped all over the country, which is fun, but I wish we could have had more "home time" this summer. Hopefully we will gets lots of together time this fall, winter, and spring. It''ll be fun to plan our first anniversary trip, wherever that may be (we''re taking good suggestions!). We are still saving, saving, saving for our house that we hope to buy by next summer, but we''ll see how that goes. DH promises that once we have a house, I can get my dog! As soon as we are under contract, I''m going to start looking.

The only sad thing that''s happened is that my grandparents on my dad''s side--especially my grandfather--are not doing well at all. We''ve had a couple scares with Dido (what I call him in Ukrainian), but now he seems to be [knocks on wood] pulling out of a serious bout of pneumonia. He''s had four heart attacks in the last year, and while they''ve all been relatively mild, they''re doing a number on his heart tissue and function. We keep praying, but it''s hard to see someone you love struggle with a long illness, as so many on this forum have done. He might get better, but he might not, which has been causing me tons of anxiety. The thing is, he isn''t the man he used to be at all. He''s removed, distant, aloof, hardly speaks, and has a hard time remembering things sometimes. It''s also hard to see him like that when I remember him as a laughing jokester who liked to drive me to ballet class in his boat of a car and stop by Toys ''R'' Us and the candy store on the way home. He was athletic, well-spoken, always willing to debate with you or play a game of chess; he was a Chessmaster. Now it''s so different . . . I just hope his life is good now and that these illnesses don''t make him suffer too much. [Sigh.] What else can I do?

 

[soocool]

Kittybean, congratulations on being married. You were a beautiful bride and your photos are absolutely gorgeous. My nephew got married just a couple of weeks ago and he and his wife went to France for their honeymoon. My new niece had a gown similar to yours ( different shade) and will donate it to a charitable organization called Making Memories Breast Cancer Foundation (www.makingmemories.org in case anyone reading this thread is interested) as her mother is a breast cancer survivor.

I will remember your grandfather in my prayers as I remember when my grandparents moved in with us when I was a kid primarily because they were not in very good health. It is hard to watch someone who played such a vital and special part in your life deteriorate right before your eyes and you feel totally helpless. Keep your memories alive of all the good times you shared. My mom had my sister and I each make a special album about our grandparents, and along with photos and we wrote about things we did with them, the funny games they played with us and the secrets we kept just between us (not letting our parents know about letting us stay up late and eating ice cream for dinner, etc.). To this day I still look at mine and my DD found this was a way to learn about her great granparents. DD made one of her grandparents a few years ago and I am glad she did as her grandmother (my mom) passed away 2 yrs ago.

 

[Dreamgirl]

I can''t get over how amazingly beautiful you were as a bride! I especially love your favorite dress shot walking down the isle after the ceremony as well. LOVE how the gown moves!

I could see not wanting to move to Seattle. It seems like such a beautiful place but the climate would be a concern of mine too. I''ve never been there but know enough about it anyway.

So sorry to hear about your grandfather. My goodness, my prayers go out to you. My grandpa had conjestive heart failure so I know how you must be feeling.

I do hope that you and new DH get some quiet alone time this fall and winter. That''s always a good time to cuddle up under a blanket and watch a good movie! You will have to share photos of Italy. I''ve been waiting patiently!

 

[kittybean]

Date: 9/10/2009 11:09:12 AM
Author: soocool
Kittybean, congratulations on being married. You were a beautiful bride and your photos are absolutely gorgeous. My nephew got married just a couple of weeks ago and he and his wife went to France for their honeymoon. My new niece had a gown similar to yours ( different shade) and will donate it to a charitable organization called Making Memories Breast Cancer Foundation (www.makingmemories.org in case anyone reading this thread is interested) as her mother is a breast cancer survivor.

I will remember your grandfather in my prayers as I remember when my grandparents moved in with us when I was a kid primarily because they were not in very good health. It is hard to watch someone who played such a vital and special part in your life deteriorate right before your eyes and you feel totally helpless. Keep your memories alive of all the good times you shared. My mom had my sister and I each make a special album about our grandparents, and along with photos and we wrote about things we did with them, the funny games they played with us and the secrets we kept just between us (not letting our parents know about letting us stay up late and eating ice cream for dinner, etc.). To this day I still look at mine and my DD found this was a way to learn about her great granparents. DD made one of her grandparents a few years ago and I am glad she did as her grandmother (my mom) passed away 2 yrs ago.

Soocool, thanks for the well-wishes on my marriage and your prayers for my grandfather. I really appreciate both. My grandfather unfortunately passed away last week, but he had such a wonderful, full life. He and my grandmother were married for 68 years! I can only hope my own marriage lasts half as long as theirs.

 

[kittybean]

Date: 9/11/2009 11:08:27 AM
Author: Dreamgirl
I can''t get over how amazingly beautiful you were as a bride! I especially love your favorite dress shot walking down the isle after the ceremony as well. LOVE how the gown moves!

I could see not wanting to move to Seattle. It seems like such a beautiful place but the climate would be a concern of mine too. I''ve never been there but know enough about it anyway.

So sorry to hear about your grandfather. My goodness, my prayers go out to you. My grandpa had conjestive heart failure so I know how you must be feeling.

I do hope that you and new DH get some quiet alone time this fall and winter. That''s always a good time to cuddle up under a blanket and watch a good movie! You will have to share photos of Italy. I''ve been waiting patiently!

Dreamgirl, thanks so much for your kind words! Although that dress caused its fair share of stress, I love the way it looked the day of the wedding. I felt so glamorous and beautiful!

Thanks for your prayers for my grandfather. I appreciate it! As I said above, he passed away peacefully last week, in the company of family.

I promise to share honeymoon pictures eventually, but I still have to go through and resize all of them! Maybe by the time I do that, PS will have come up with a new, easy way to upload/resize photos [fingers crossed]. I am using DH''s computer at the moment, and he has no photo-editing software, so I can''t even post a teaser yet =(. I know you wanted to see photos of Lake Como, so I will work on it as soon as I can. Lake Como was incredible--even more beautiful than I imagined. I feel like my photos don''t do it justice at all! I am already bugging DH about when we can go back for a longer stay.