131. This Story "Warrant"s a Post!

i know. i have A LOT to be posting about. but i've had a lot going on.


so to all who read my blog (you 3 know who you are! :)) i promise to post more wedding/honeymoon related bits soon. hopefully.


in the meantime i'm going to tell you a story that i find to be super funny. perhaps it's one of those 'you had to be there' funnies. all i know is that chris will be pissed i posted it....(not really)...


last night we were just lounging on the bed chatting and petting our cat minerva. chris was in the process of giving her a pretty vigerous head scratching when he started singing 'heaven' by warrant.

i started to laugh and he explained that it was the first thing that came into his head when he looked into minerva's eyes. she looked like she was really enjoying herself i guess. that just made me laugh even harder.

my husband (that is going to take some getting used to) looks into the cats eyes and the first thing that pops into his head is a warrant song. that he sings. how is that not funny?


sorry chris!

127. The Day Before....

friday the 8th of may 2009......


the day before the wedding. rehearsal day. an exciting day. a lot more friends and family were arriving. there was a lot to get done. and what would the day before the wedding be without the bride having a minor panic attack?


first thing that morning i had a doctor's appointment. i specifically made it in duluth becuase none of the doctor's back in the cities seemed to be listening to me in regards to my headaches. the last one i had talked to gave me a pain med that was the equivalent of two ibprofin when i told her that i had been taking up to four of these at a time with no results. it was like talking to a brick wall. i just wanted a pain med that worked. one that i didn't have to take before i had the pain (i'm not psychic) and on that didn't require me to lay down for hours and hours. i just wanted a pain med that took away my pain. i was terrified that i was going to get a headache on my wedding or on the honeymoon. luckily my old doctor listened to me. he gave me two different kinds of meds along with his phone number in case i needed him at all over the weekend. i was so thankful!


chris picked me up afterwards so we could run some errands. it was then that i had my minor panic attack. just started crying for no reason. poor chris was at a loss as to what to do and i was of no help as i didn't even know why i was crying. the more i tried to explain the more confusing it got. a mess in short. by the time we got to the mall i was in no shape to actually go in and make my purchase. luckily i have the best (then fiance now husband) in the world. he marched right into Victoria Secrets and asked them for exactly what i'd requested - granny panties that wouldn't ride up my butt'. evidently the sales staff thought he was pretty cute :) seriously though - do i have a great guy or what?


after that we made our way home. my sister, her husband and little boys had arrived by this time so we watched them try on a few different suits for the wedding - so cute! i swear she has the cutest little boys i've ever seen! chris went and got lunch. i showered. his mom arrived. we ate. then we headed down to meet my mom and grandma at greysolon to start setting up for the wedding!

(did i mention that i have the greatest guy in the world? while i was running about all frazzled he remembered to take pictures of everything! i'm so thankful he did - i would have been super bummed at having forgot.)

when we arrived the tables were already set thanks to the great staff that works there. the room looked fantastic! i was so pleased! and really happy that i'd picked gold to go along with the brown and ivory for the color scheme and not pink as it just fit the room perfectly! it was gorgeous! i just walked around admiring everything - in awe that chris and i would be getting married there at that time the very next day!

the room itself has this beautiful wooden bar - i love it! my mom and chris's mom were there getting the centerpieces ready. since my mom never drinks it was funny to see her at the bar working it like she knew her way around. the centerpieces were borrowed from my matron of honor - carrie - who'd used them at her own wedding. fitting that'd we'd be using them since that's where chris and i met :) my mom picked out the bead work and candles that went into the vases - it was perfect! she did a fantastic job!

she also made the wise decision to get little boxes for the candy table - something i hadn't even thought of. grandma was busy getting those all set up for us. our mom's were also responsible for putting together a quiz (3 different versions) about chirs and i. mom printed them out on ivory parchment paper and tied them with brown ribbons - one for every guest. along with an answer sheet for each table. it was super cute!

did i mention how beautiful the location was? i don't think i mentioned that the site itself used to be the grand hotel in duluth. it's now mainly apartments for seniors but there is still a ballroom and the moorish room which is where we were to be. the actual wedding took place in the lobby area shown above. it was perfect. as you walked in the guests were seated around the fountain and the actual ceremony took place on the steps leading up to the moorish room. i know i'm probably biased but it was just perfect :)

the actual rehearsal was set to begin at 4pm. i think it really started sometime after that as the person in charge of showing us where we were supposed to actually walk down (there was no clear traditional aisle) was running a bit late. we were also having problems with the dj but that's a different story and one that i don't really want to dwell on since it takes away from all the good that happened :) (what's this - michelle is actually making an attempt at being positive and not jumping on the chance to complain....hmmm....). anyhow. rabbi amy (shown above with my mom) showed up right on que and was fantastic. she was able to take charge and get everyone in their proper places. she also helped us to figure out where the aisle would be and from there the rehearsal began!

we got everyone lined up on the upper level and tried to get it timed right to come down the stairs and into position. this was no easy task with two four year old ring bearers, a five year old flower girl and a two year old flower boy. in reality it wasn't that hard - just amusing. the flower boy threw his basket over the balcony :) the dj did not have the song we wanted to walk down the aisle to (argh!) so instead we rehearsed to ABBA's 'Dancing Queen' - with everyone dancing down the stairs it went pretty quickly - not the slow processional we'd hoped for but it was fun :) and did i mention hot? dear god -the place was like a boiler room! luckily we found out that the moorish room would be air conditioned the day of the wedding - otherwise i think people would have started to pass out....

the rehearsal was great. everyone was so easy going and willing to do anything to help. chris and i really blessed to have such fantastic friends and family! since we live far apart from most of our friends it was so great having them all in the same room and helping us out. i don't know if we'll ever be able to thank them enough!

oh - after the rehearsal itself aj (the lady in charge) showed up and took us to the bridal suite where the bridal party was going to be getting ready the next day. it was perfect! tables and mirrors for everyone to use. beautiful big windows full of natural lighting. a really nice dressing mirror that mark (kari's boyfriend) was kind enough to pose in front of for us :)

after all was said and done we headed down to the blackwater lounge (located right off the lobby inside greysolon) and had a much needed drink :) again - it was great to have all of our friends gathered around a big table getting to know one another :) i had a june in january or a january in june or something like that - can't remember - martini. it was super yummy! and it bubbled so it was fun to boot (they put a little pellet of dry ice into the bottom of the glass). in face it was so good and made me feel so good that i put don in charge of bringing in some vodka and pinapple juice the next day in case i needed it before the wedding :)

after a quick drink and stop at home for a change of clothes we headed up to hartley nature center for the grooms dinner. in order to try and save some money we went with something pretty low-key. subway, chips and soda. nice. comfortable. it was fun. everyone got a chance to relax and chatter.

we were also able to give out the gifts we had bought for the wedding party here. well...chris was able to give out his gifts to the groomsmen. i on the other hand - being so organized - did not have mine on hand and ended up passing them out as we were getting ready the next day. i really liked the gifts chris picked out though. personalized cufflinks for everyone. don got some great KISS ones. bryan had ski ones. nathan had some bike ones and dave had some airplane control panel ones. (if i haven't mentioned it before - etsy is a fantastic site to get customized orders!) i liked them so much that i ordered scrabble ones for my dad. one 'L' and one 'R' :)

uhhh..yeah....i did mention that it was pretty low-key, right? :) (nice chris!)

after dinner i made the very wise decision to go out and have some more drinks at blackwaters. my intent was to just have one. then i was going to go home. take advantage of my parents lovely bathtub and have a soak in those wonderful smelling chai tea bath leaves that vija got me for my bachelorette gift. then i was going to get a good nights sleep.......yeah......

instead i stayed out till 12:30. i had three martini's and some chocolate fondue. while i had a great time i would end up regretting my decision later on. i had to include the picture above. it's chris's brother nathan and below is nathan and his wife mandy (who just happen to make up a fantastic band that you should check out here). nathan never really ever drinks and it turns out that this was the first alcholic beverage he'd ever ordered - in honor of our wedding! evidently we were all trying to attain a hangover for the big day..... :)

halfway through the evening the guys in the group decided to head off and play pool. it worked out perfectly becuase right then my sister and her husband showed up and our little table area was more than packed! and like i said - we stayed there till around 12:30 then headed back home. i know that the bride and groom are traditionally not supposed to stay in the same place the night before but since we didn't have a lot of options chris ended up sleeping on the couch in the basement of my parents house and i stayed on the third floor. for reasons that i'll mention later i was incredibly grateful that he was so close.....

and with that this massively long post has come to an end!

126. Dear Bobbie

as i mentioned earlier i've been listening to the cd's we made for the wedding. there is one song in particular that i've been playing over and over.


it's 'dear bobbie' by yellowcard. he wrote it for his grandparents. the first time i heard it chris and i were driving out to visit his family in willmar. he had this cd he'd picked up from the library and said this song reminded him of me. it made me cry.....


follow this link and listen - or - if you came to the wedding then just play it :)

121. Single Digits

we're down to the single digits. 9 days.

so we're making our own favors for the wedding. mix cd's. i bought a variety of cute cd packaging kits. they look great. one problem. one of the songs had been bought from itunes. in this instance itunes will only let you burn 7 copies. so i had to get that song from another source - one that chris had signed up for. download the song ('all i want is you' by barry louis palisar/juno soundtrack). great. burnt about 100 cd's.

the other night chris and i were working on something and listening to the playlist and that song came on. guess we should have listened to the whole song. at the end the singer (at least i think it's him) comes on in some twangy (more twangy than his normal voice) and starts singing another version of the song. one that includes one person being the cow and the other person being the udders. uhhhhh....yeah.....

if you're coming to the wedding. i apologize. i can't fix it. well i could but i don't have the funds to buy more cds and more packaging kits - especially now that over 100 have been made. hopefully people will just laugh. hopefully they won't think there is something wrong with chris and i.....

111. 18

hour 18.

headache still here.

headache is 100x worse than when it started at 4am this morning.

eyes are constantly watering.

it's moved from all over my head to just the left side.

i want to rip out the left side of my brain.

i want to be able to sleep.

i fucking hate these fucking headaches.

110. 1.5

the headache is still here. STILL.

all i want to do is close my eyes. let them rest. (1.5 hours and counting...)

what a bummer. it's absolutely gorgeous outside and all i want (need) to do is sleep. why must headaches show up at the suckiest times?

i had one like this the day of my shower and bachelorette (i still need to blog about those!) and while i still had a lot of fun i was super bummed - i wasn't all there ya know?

on the upside i did schedule a doctors appointment for next thursday. a different doctor too. hopefully i can get some meds that work. i live in fear that i will have a headache like this the day of our wedding!

109. YaY Sun!

i woke up this morning to find my bedroom bright with sunshine! Hooray!!


unfortunately my enthusiam was a bit dampered by the fact that i'd woken up 3 hours earlier with my 6th headache since last Saturday. 6th!

i still have it.....

i'm hoping i can make a doctors appointment next week. if they tell me i can't have the time to do so...well....i don't know what i'll do....


yay sunshine........

101. Chick-A-Boom!

i have that song stuck in my head and have no idea why.....


some things.....


a) our wedding is in 44 days. 44 DAYS!

b) it was two years ago today that i moved down to the twin cities. that day saw a record temp - 81! today it was 28 when i got to work.

c) it's been continually grey since sunday. grey wet cold slop. it makes me want to sleep/eat all the time.

d) i need to exercise. eat better. the chipotle we had for dinner last night does not factor into that.

e) the cake topper i ordered should be arriving today or tomorrow!

f) i got an RSVP with no name. but these people would like to eat tangerine glazed chicken.


more later. birthday cards await!

96. Sterilized Super Glue

i should have known better. and i had a bad feeling when i picked up that bruised apple.


i was cutting up my apple this morning and noticed it had a bruised spot. so i went to cut it out. never cut towards yourself. i know this. but i did. i sliced open my left thumb.


i've cut fingers before. i'm not freaked out by blood. but this splashed on the wall and i freaked. i rinsed it off. wrapped it in a paper towel and it bled through. wrapped it in another and it bled through. i called chris who had just left for a conference for work. he told me to wrap it again and just hold it tight. i did. he said he was coming home.


i felt bad. making him come home like that. but i'm glad i did since he decided i should go to the ER. i was feeling pretty woosy too so he drove me there.


two hours after the cut i'm all fixed up. tetanus shot too. stitches would have made a cooler story but i got the fancy super glue instead. can't get it wet. washing my hair is going to be a bitch.

90. Etsy

i love etsy.

that's all.

89. 2 15's = 30

here is my problem.


here at my job (and most jobs) i am supposed to recieve two 15 minute breaks. I never recieve these. despite getting an e-mail from my boss asking me when i would like to take them. and i can't just take them on my own - someone has to be covering my desk.


i'm fairly certain that if i bring this to their attention i will be made to feel that it is my fault. that i should have said something (despite the face that i have).


i bring it up becuase i've been getting some flack about my time off. our vacation policy just changed. thankfully i had my honeymoon time approved before this. i have 68 hours of accumulated sick time. i was told that i cannot take more than two hours for a doctor appointment. but that's beside the point....


those breaks add up to a half hour a day. that's 2.5 hours a week. i haven't had those breaks since the end of september. that's 52.5 hours of time that i feel i should recieve in vacation.


like i said. i've mentioned the lack of me recieving these breaks before. nothing. i no longer feel i should have to say anything - nor should i ever have. it is my supervisors responsibility to give me these breaks and if there is no one available to cover my desk that is not my fault.


i'm tired of getting flack and want to just point this out but....feel like i'll be made to feel it's my fault.


what would you do or what do you think i should do?

82. Sprinkles

i have an obsession with bryer's natural vanilla ice-cream (no other vanilla will do. i'm an ice-cream snot) and rainbow sprinkles. love them. a lot.


despite the fact that i feel like a whale right now. maybe they didn't make me bloated but it was the last thing i ate.


aren'cha glad i share everything with you?


and since i'm sharing....


i have so much left to do! or at least it feels that way.....
-create playlist for the reception
-find shoes for bridesmaids
-ummm....


brain is drawing a blank. perhaps the bloating went from stomach to head? who knows. bedtime.

78. Funny

ha.


ha. ha.


we experienced a rather large (the largest this winter) snow storm today. in response the head honcho made the announcement that all non-essential employees could go home upon receiving permission from their supervisor.


YAY! (i thought) because....
...definition of my job: least essential employee in entire organization.


(i spent the entire day doing virtual food jigsaw puzzles online)


seriously. i did.


then i get a call from my supervisor informing that my position has now been upgraded to essential.


so. i sat until it was time to go home. what normally takes me 15 minutes took me one hour and forty five minutes tonight. 1 hr 45 min. and those of you know me know that i do not handle traffic. it makes me want to poke out my eyeballs and drive my car into other cars.


i was determined to not get more stressed than i was. i was going to relax. ha. it's like my brain thought about that intention - laughed - and then pushed over the mountain of a freak-out-to-do list and make me panic.


but.


while i did pount and ponder the existence of life and what a joke my "essential" job is i also walked for an hour on the treadmill (that on top of the 40 minutes i did before work this morning). so. while i still kind of want to poke my eyeballs out i feel better. until i see my belly in the mirror. and jiggly arms.


going to go get ready for bed. dream of london. dream of london. dream of...crap...flying...


perhaps a cocktail and then bed. dreamless sleep.

51. One More Thing....

....lest i sound hypocritical myself let me add that i understand there will always be those who feel that homosexuality is disgusting. they have the right to feel that way. they do not have the right to deny them equal rights. period.

50. Ignorance

i'm in the process of watching (although now i'm just listening to) the vice presidential debate. the topic of gay rights came up. i can't even begin to explain how angry hearing these ignorant fucks talk about this makes me. how fucking stupid can people be?


if you don't like swearing go read someone else's blog....


how people can have a problem with two consenting adults having a loving relationship boggles my mind. i'm literally so angry i can barely form sentences.


people who call homosexuality gross and disgusting are fucking ignorant bastards and in my opinion don't deserve the rights they have. i had a co-worker say to me that he saw to guys kiss on the street and it freaked him out. he was also kinda freaked out by a guy waiting in our lobby who happened to have a pink ipod and be knitting. really? what exactly about any of those behaviors affects your life? i remember hearing al franken say that just because he sees two men holding hands doesn't make him want to turn to his wife after 40 (don't know the exact number) years of marriage and say 'sorry honey - but that looks more fun.' if you are secure in your relationships than seeing someone else's - gay or straight shouldn't fucking affect you. the fact that it disgusts you shows how ignorant you really are.


and most people oppose this on a religious stance. they say it's not what god intended. how in the fuck do they know what god intended. and even if god did intend marriage to be between a man and a woman - religion in this country is supposed to be separate from the government and the last time i checked just saying 'i do' in your church did not mean you were married. marriage is a fucking legal contract - legal. you go to the courthouse to get it. so fucking take god out of it. if you believe in god and believe that marriage is between a man and a woman then fine - but do not ever tell me that god fucking dictates what i have the right to do in my personal life. ever.


hypocrites are what those people are. they go on and on about 'love thy neighbor' and then go protest that their neighbor bill is going to hell because he lives with his partner Sam. fuck that. if all these damned religious people are so up and mighty on the topic of marriage exactly why do they go to such lengths to deny that jesus had any kind of relationship (and god forbid an actual marriage) to mary? aren't those people big on marriage and then lots of babies? but according to them jesus didn't do any of that. perhaps jesus wasn't married - perhaps he was gay.


and then there are the fucks that go on and on and on and fucking on about whether it's something your born with or a choice. WHO THE FUCK CARES. i should be able to decide tomorrow that i'm fucking gay and not have it affect anyone but myself. so you're born with it. so you choose. i could care less. either way you still deserve to share the same legal rights as everyone else.

sorry if this blog isn't completely coherent. like i said i'm just incredibly angry right now. i just do not understand on any level how people who are anti-gay rights and anti-gay period do not see that this is just like racism. segregation. you are segregating a couple from seeing each other in the hospital. from sharing the same rights as other couples. yet most of these people will tell you that racism is wrong and that segregating is wrong but i don't see a difference - do you?


writing this has not calmed me down like i hoped it would. hearing both parties talk about this bullshit makes me not want to vote for either one. how can we tolerate such ignorance to lead our country? how?


why can't someone get up there and point out the fact that all of this is bull. because god forbid you tell the american people they're ignorant. well you know what america - a lot of you fucking are and you need to start looking a little harder at that fucking flag you fly. look a little harder at that constitution. liberty for all. justice for all. freedom from religious persecution. not just for the heterosexual.

44. Isolation

okay. i'm more than upset now. i'm getting serioulsy pissed off.


the united states would like to isolate russia for not abiding by the cease fire agreement in it's recognition of south ossetia's and abkhazian's independence. also - and most importantly (in their minds) invading georgia.


hello! does no one see how fucking absurd this is? georgia invaded south ossetia! russia reacted in an effort to protect the people of south ossetia. what is so hard to understand about this?


today putin claimed that the united states orchastrated this whole ordeal - as in they were behind georgia's attack on south ossetia. he claims they did this to give an advantage to a certain presidential candidate. i don't know about this last part but as soon as i heard of this mess i thought about the first thing he said - and i wouldn't put something like that past our government i'm sorry to say.


agh! what does our government not understand about the fact that we basically have no fucking miliatry to spare right now? what do they not understand about russia having a valid point? i am just shocked that no one in the higher ups (unless i'm missing it somewhere) is against this isolation of russia. do they not understand what a horrid idea this is? oh wait - the bush administration doesn't think. at all.


am i alone here? is anyone else worried about this? i wish i knew some way to get involved...it's bothering me that much.....

UPDATE:
i changed my mind. perhaps putin is right about this giving an advantage to a certain presidential candidate. by creating this whole mess with russia it brings back that sense of fear that the republicans have been oh-so-fond of using these past eight years. so is this a ploy to keep their control of the white house? i would not put it past them......

40. why? Why? WHY?

why is it so freaking impossible for me to find someone who is able to cut my bangs? why?


last time i got them done i went to trade secret and i loved them. beautiful. i went tonight and was happily suprised to see that it was the same lady! yay! everything was looking a-okay but then it started to go a little long. i think i chatted her up a bit too much and she just kept merrily cutting away - despite the fact that when done i looked like amelie's ugly cousin. i like my bangs at my eyebrows....not an inch above them! whimper......


hopefully my appointment at JUUT in a few weeks goes better. if so i'll just continue to go there - they give free inbetween cut bang trims :)


and perhaps the next time i get a really good bang trim i'll remember to take a picture so that i can bring it with from then on....

35. Stupid Virus....

our computer has a virus......


still not sure exactly what happened and still working out how to fix it - it sucks! you never realize how much you use it until it's gone.....


so - that's why i've been absent - not that anyone has been asking - but there is a reason all the same. right now i'm using chris's work laptop that he so kindly hooked up to the internet but laptop keyboards drive me kinda batty....


alright - i'm off to continue to watch the olympics although i really should go to bed....

22. Cupcakes!

i love to bake. (i also love to eat cake batter)

i decided it would be a fantastic idea to bake about 800 cupcakes (not really that many...) for a co-workers birthday tomorrow. it's very hot and very humid and this probably wasn't the best idea i've ever had. but i still had fun.

now i'm off to go frost :)

17. An Explanation

so my blog yesterday may have left a few of you wondering just what the heck was going on....


i got a call from my mom yesterday after work informing me that my dad had suffered a heart attack and was being flown from the canadian resort he was visiting back to duluth. this of course set me into a panic - i won't divulge his medical history on the web but suffice it to say this was not his first (or second) heart attack.


luckily chris was home last night and so i had someone to pass the time with while awaiting another phone call from my mom. when she finally called she assured me that he was okay and they would performing a series of tests on him today (which they'll actually be doing tomorrow i found out).


in the meantime....we wait. i don't even really know what to say. i worry about my parents health constantly and getting a phone call like that.....


i'll keep you posted. no more cryptic blogs...i promise.