Yep, that's right. I think me and that boy who used to have long hair and bought a school bus are getting hitched!

Only 10 more days to go and most of our friends and family will be gathering together for our wedding. We simply cannot wait to see everyone and celebrate together. We still have a few things more things to do, but we are ALMOST there!

We are two weeks out from the wedding, but we are also two weeks out from HAWAII!!! That part of it still seems VERY surreal to me. I only have been waiting to go there my entire life. We enlisted the help of some friends who have been to Kauai for some must-see's, and so far this is what we (I) are thinking.

2) See Wailua Falls - Whether we are hiking around it or just going to see it, we need to go here. They say the best time to view this site is early morning as the sun shines on the falls. Sign me up right now (although I wonder how difficult it will be to wake Jared up. Oh wait, what is the time difference?! We will be fine!)


3) Eat a Puka Dog - That is correct. We are going on our honeymoon to eat a fancy hot dog. This comes highly recommended, and in fact we have heard that we may want to go multiple times. Apparently, this isn't your normal hot dog (because otherwise I most likely wouldn't eat it!)


4) Hike the Kalalau Trail - I may have some difficulty getting Jared to do this, but I think it would be WELL worth it. If I am unsuccessful in my persuasion, we can at least hike up to the overlook for a view of the coastline and Kee Beach. That may be more realistic. And let's be honest, I am not sure I want to deal with muddy shoes.


5) Check out Waimea Canyon -  This is the largest canyon in the Pacific and supposedly has a ton of beautiful scenic overlooks.


6) Take a helicopter tour - I am on the fence about this one, although this was my one friend's favorite activity while staying in Kauai. I think I may get really scared to do this, but the videos and pictures on the site make it look breathtaking.



And that is just stuff to do in Kauai! We will also be spending a few days in Maui, so we need to look into the offerings there as well.

Do you have any additional recommendations? Have you been to Kauai or Maui?

In order for Rev. Taylor Smith to marry us,  Jared and I are required to take four wedding counseling sessions. While initially it didn't sound all that fun, it has actually been extremely eye-opening and helpful thus far. I think many people have to complete different types of counseling or pre-marriage courses before getting married, but I truly believe that the For a Lifetime classes that the Pastoral Services of Maryland offers is very straight-forward and refreshing.

For example, during the session that covered communication, we learned how to fight fairly. How can you really do that you ask? Well, take a look at the document we received. How often can you say that you really argue this dipolmatically? Probably not often, but I think it's completely possible to do this. Maybe Jared and I are into a lot of this self-improvement stuff, but how could it hurt, you know?

Anyway, this is just one little example of some of the things we are covering.  It isn't just psychobabble or religious persuading. We are discussing real-life situations and learning models of behavior that could really assist us in the future. I like it.

Surprise! I actually was able to post during the week. (Confession: I totally wrote this yesterday and pre-scheduled this one because that is what a good blogger would do - not that I can even pretend to be one).

BUT, I also was able to be home all evening because "Brad" from Heritage Mazda called in sick and the other workers apparently didn't know where my stuff was. As in, they weren't aware that a) my car was there and b) what service it required.  Ummm, that's comforting. Thanks for nothing, Heritage Mazda. I am glad one service man disrupts your flow of service for the entire day. I'm not bitter, though.

Anyway, like most weddings, we have a rehearsal dinner the evening before our wedding. Wendy wanted me to find some cute invites for this, but she also wanted me to find something for the brunch the day after the wedding that complimented it.

So guess where I went? ETSY! And thanks to a wonderful lady named Kim Henrie, we found some super cute invites in her Silly Me Design store.

Dinner (this is just a sample so don't go getting any ideas that we are having some dual purpose rehearsal dinner to announce babies and such. I just didn't want to include all of the nitty gritty details on this here world wide web.)

Brunch: Again, this is a sample with dummy text.  Wendy and my mom wanted to provide the out-of-towner's staying in the hotel with some grub prior to hitting the road or checking out the city. Thanks, moms!


I think they look great and it was fun to incorporate some new colors into the wedding. I think some people's refrigerator doors are getting rather full.

I fear that this week is going to be tad crazy. Well, I think every week from here on out is going to be total chaos, but it seems we have something every night that is sort of wedding related. As a result, not only will I be forced to work out in the mornings with no option of going in the evening in case I oversleep, I also will not be able to play on the internet in the evenings (in other words blog).

Here's the ugly schedule for this week, (And yes I realize normal busy people who juggle school, work, second jobs, etc. think this is nothing. But, I can come from the thinking that any sort of scheduled event on a weekday night is a punishment. I NEED my sleep).

Monday: Pick up my car from the Mazda, because I had to get new tires. This isn't wedding related, but it still interrupts my ability to be home all evening. What can I say, I LOATHE errands or activities in the evening. And this also requires a huge chunk of change at such a convenient time. Sarcasm. Look how new and shiny my car was at one point? This was in 2004 when I first got it. Poor thing.


Tuesday: Meet with the wedding planner at our venue to discuss final details!! Too bad we have this big form to complete, and I don't have everything filled in yet. Oops. AND THEN, straight from there we need to meet with the Jewish officiant who will be participating in our wedding. That evening sounds like it's going to go way past our bedtime.

It's true what they say; wedding's bring out the crazy in people. I have been feeling super stressed, and I have not been enjoying the wedding planning as of late. Is it because we are three weeks out? It's highly probable. Regardless, we need to remember that this is one day. We just want to be married to each other, and this party just happens to highlight the beginning of our life together.

So, here's a little of what we have been up to:

1) We finally selected the groomsman's ties, and I love them. Surprisingly, I did not get them on Etsy as the person I was dealing with up and left me out of nowhere. Granted, we are giving these to them as gifts, I am 99% sure none of them are reading this blog. :)

2) We picked up our rings and they fit perfectly (and look beautiful!!)


3) We went to some marriage counseling classes after finding an awesome priest to be a part of our wedding. Coincidentally, he is also my bosses' husband. It seems like some sort of blessing that she was able to recommend him to us. It's not so easy to find people to marry an interfaith couple. Sometimes, I love this small little world. 

4) Tai continues to rest up for his big day. Preparing for his big walk down the aisle is REALLY exhausting.


5) I compiled all of the music submissions and made a kick-ass cocktail reception/dinner playlist. Granted we do have a DJ, we just made his job REALLY easy.


6) We selected our cake!

I am sure I am forgetting a bunch of other things, but that is what I can remember at the moment. Everyday of the next three weeks are pretty booked with appointments of some sort, and I keep forgetting that we are going to Hawaii in three weeks!!! It's going to be such a wonderful, wonderful trip.

Today our family suffered a big loss. My great aunt, Garnetta, who you may remember from my Pittsburgh shower, unexpectedly passed away.