The Pause at the Tippy Top

Fear not, my followers, I have not abandoned you! I've just been a little busy, is all.

Actually, what I feel like is that for the past couple months I've been slowly chugging up a very tall roller coaster hill and now I'm perched at the very tippy top. You know how you actually pause for a few seconds before you plunge over the edge into a near free fall? Yeah. That's how I feel.

I have discovered that the problem with not updating the blog as frequently is that I now have bloads to update you on! So let me try to fill you in in a somewhat coherent manner.

Vacation
Chris and I spent last weekend in Phoenix. Since the 4th of July fell on a Saturday this year, we had Friday off, so we made a long weekend of it.

Yes, we are crazy. We went to the desert in July. It was hot. 110 DEGREES hot.

We went down there to visit his aunt, uncle and cousin. It was a wonderful vacation. We spent a lot of our weekend sleeping, eating, reading and hanging out by the pool working on our tans. And also avoiding being pounced on by Roxie, the Michael Phelps of the Dog World.

It was fun to get a glimpse of Chris' childhood. I had a chance to see a bunch of old photos and I was able to verify a few things.

1. Chris was a cute child. But even as a teenager he was totally adorable. It seems he was born that way.

2. His aunt, uncle and cousin were a very important part of his life. He's in, like, every photo album they own.

3. There was a time when he sported a mullet. A bleached mullet.

Sweetness.

Uh, Mom? One quick thing. We need to talk about destroying some old family photos. Stat! Specifically The Dorky Years.

Anyway, after spending four days in AZ, my conclusion? Chris comes from good people and I'm a very lucky girl to be marrying into a family like his.

Wedding
I have some very exciting news! Danny Oertli has agreed to do the music for our wedding! I'd asked him a few months ago knowing it was a long shot that he'd actually be able to, but I'm happy to tell you that he's agreed! Here's the best part. Unbeknownst to him, Danny was actually a part of our story. You see, it was at one of his concerts that Chris first heard about Compassion. He sponsored a boy that night, who he later went to Kenya to visit. While in Kenya he met Gayle who told him about a job opening she was hiring for at Compassion. He applied and got the job and ... well ... you know the rest of the story. So Danny was a part of the beginning of our story and now he will be a part of our big day. Thanks, Danny!

Also we've managed to secure highly talented Dominican videographer. He is a friend of my sister's and graciously agreed to fly out from NY to film the day. Thanks, Roman. Eres muy generoso, amigo!

In other news, I finally got the invitations in the mail this week. It took a while, but it was SO worth the wait! (Not unlike my love story, actually.) My brother, a.k.a. brilliant graphic designer, made them. They are PERFECT. Exactly what I envisioned.

(Speaking of invitations, whoever came up with the idea of leaving four weeks to RSVP? Really. It takes five seconds, people.)

Anyway, there are a lot of details that are waiting on final numbers, so I've been anxious to get these out and start getting a better idea of how big this thing will be.

A few weekends ago we registered for some gifts. Chris agreed to do this for me. (Thanks, honey. Way to score some major points.) But I want to tell you about something else we're doing. We want to use our wedding to fund a project with Healing Waters International. The water project we are funding is in Barrio George in the Dominican Republic. It is actually connected to a Compassion project, which makes it extra special for us. So if any of you want to help us do this and make a donation, please mention our names in the comment section of the donation form.

Finally, and perhaps the news I'm MOST excited about, I picked up my dress yesterday! Three words for you: I. LOVE. IT. Seriously, if it were possible to be in love with an inanimate object, I would be smitten.

According to our trusty wedding web site countdown thing, there are 38 days until THE day. So tell me, at what point do I start getting nervous?