Whew! I'm......tired!

Ok, so in about two weeks we will be moving to a bigger house.  We are going from a tiny 650 sq. ft apartment to a 2bdrm + den house.  What can I say, I am extremely happy!  We have been in a packing frenzy this past weekend too.  It was nice because my daughter has been really helpful this time.  I think it is because she is older, but she has been really helpful and considerate.

In packing up somethings, I found some old photos.  There is the only baby picture of me that I own, the picture of my grandparents, with my mom and her brothers and sisters and a picture of my daughter when she was only a few months old. 

With finding the picture of my grandparents, my mom and her siblings, it was sobering for me to realize how short life is.  Its hard to accept that the ones you love will not be around forever.  I realized how young I must have been when the picture of my mom and her siblings and how much I miss my aunt, uncles and grandparents.

Then I come across the most precious photo of all.  My baby girl sleeping in her great-grandmothers arms at just a few months old.  She is such a precious and beautiful child and I really hope that I convey that effectively to her. 

Please, do not hesitate to tell your loved ones how much you care about them or how important they are to you.  Life is just to short.

Tips for beginning DIYers

One might wonder if a project is something that they can DIY or Do It Yourself.  Or some might shiver and want to dig a deep hole to hide at the mere thought of anything DIY.  Here are some tips on figuring out whether or not a project is something you can truthfully handle on your own.

Research!  Research!  Research!!!
You need to find out everything you can about how a project is completed, the materials you will need and the approximate time it will take in order to figure out if a DIY project is one you can handle.  For example, Mr. Teddybear and I are seriously considering on DIY'ing our flowers for the wedding.  I did extensive research on this subject and found out that the type of bouquets I want for me and my girls are relatively easy to do as well as the boutineers and the centerpieces.  I found that the only item giving me some concern was the flowers that decorate the arch. I also found out the timeframe we would need to get our flowers done.  Although we both love the personal touch doing our own flower decorations for our wedding brings, we are on the fence on whether or not we want to tackle the stress that comes with DIY.

Practice.  Practice.  Practice.
Once you believe that the DIY project is something you can handle, be prepared to practice the project.  Going back to my wedding flowers, Mr. Teddybear and I have made tenative plans on practicing our flowers.  We plan on going to downtown L.A. to buy flowers on a Thursday and then prepare them on a Saturday for a Sunday wedding.  This will give us a good idea on exactly how long it will take us to complete the flowers and whether or not the anticipated stress will be real or just in our heads.

Gather all tools needed.
Make sure, before you start your DIY project or practicing it, that you have all of the tools and supplies needed so that you don't have to stop in the middle of it and go shopping for it. 

Ask for help when needed.
Don't worry about asking for help.  If your painting a room at the house, it would be a lot faster having more than one person helping you out.  For our flowers, not only is Mr. Teddybear helping, but I do plan on asking my Maid of Honor to help out as well.

Well I hope this bit of information helps you in deciding if a project is something you want to DIY or not.

Have a great weekend!!!  :-)

New Blog Name

I have been wanting to change the name of my blog for a while now.  Although when I first started this blog, I felt the name fit, I wanted to appeal to a broader audience and felt that changing the blog name is a good start to that.

Let me know what you think of the new name.  Do you feel it is better, if not, what would you change it to?  Let me hear your opinions!!!  :-)

One additional item to add...

Well Mr. Teddybear and I went to look at wedding dresses yesterday.  We went not expecting to find the "one"at all.  I really thought that it would take me several visits to bridal salons to find my dress but Mr. Teddybear and I were very lucky to find the one that made me cry.  :-)

Here it is hanging on the hanger:

Here is the same dress on a model.  This dress was taken from the manufacturer's website, www.moncheribridals.com:

 

Now, I am not a skinny mini so I was not able to put on the size 10 sample gown, but it was held up to me and it looked beautiful.  Also, one of the store employee modeled the dress for me and it was beautiful.  Now before I even started looking for a wedding dress, I scoured the bridal magazines for dresses that I liked and wanted to possibly try on.  I could not find one whole dress.  I had to take two different pictures because I liked the top of one and the bottom of another.  That taped together picture that I made looks very, very close to the one I fell in love with.  The only difference is that the dress I bought has off the shoulder straps and I wanted on the shoulder straps (tank-top style).  I was assured that the straps could be altered to not be off the shoulder and look the way I want.

I'm very happy with this dress.  It has the train length I wanted, the non-puffy skirt I like and it is flows well and will look beautiful for an outdoor wedding.  Mr. Teddybear was there with me when I went to try on dresses and he did see it held up to me.  He said that he was speechless at my beauty in that dress.  :-)  He is so sweet!  I love him so much!  He loves the dress and can't wait till we get married, in 356 days from today!  Neither can I!!!

Have a great week all!

Where do we stand?

Well wedding plans have been getting off to a slow start. Its no wonder since we had more than a year to plan when we first got engaged.  We have been to a wedding expo or two and everyone we talked to at these expos have told us that we have plenty of time to plan things!  With our wedding now officially less than a year away, it feels like we don't have enough time!  LOL!  Here is where we stand with our wedding plans so far:

1) Venue - We have not only choosen our wedding/reception venue, but we also put a deposit down on it. It is a very nice golf course that Mr. Teddybear has golfed at many, many times.

2) Wedding Coordinator - Mr. Teddybear really doesn't want me stressed out the day of the wedding so he and I are both interviewing coordinators for a "Day of" package. We will do all the wedding planning ourselves but we need someone to make sure it is all done the day of the wedding.

3) DIY - Yes, I am and always have been a very crafty person. I have handmade my daughter's birthday party invites and also created a castle cake for her party as well, have designed, created my christmas cards, and I am an avid scrapbooker who also make my own greeting cards. HOWEVER! When it comes to the wedding, I do know my limits. My sister and I will be making the wedding invitations and the accessory cards as well. Mr. Teddybear and I are discusssing the possibilty of doing our own wedding flowers and floral decorations as well. We didn't plan anything to extensive to begin with so we both believe it is a project we can accomplish. However, we have decided to interview a few florist first. If they can't give us the flowers we want within our budget, then its off to the FlowerMart in Downtown L.A. for us!!! This trip will be a blog post within itself! LOL!

4) Bridal party members - We asked them months ago and all have said yes! Woo Hoo!!!

5) My Wedding Dress - I already know the style of my dress, but to find one that looks like what I envisioned, well that's a whole other Oprah! I am starting my search for my dress this weekend when Mr. Teddybear and I go to the first appointment at a bridal shop. Yes, we are not the conventional types! :-D

6) Save the Dates - They have been ordered and received. Just getting some, a few...ok, several last minute address before sending them out. Keep an eye out for them around January!

I think that is all that we have done so far regarding our wedding.  With the wedding being less than a year away, it will be all downhill from here!  Have a great day y'all!!!