Wedding Updates [2]

We are finally rolling full steam ahead with the wedding plans! Don't worry, I'm still paying plenty of attention to work and school... They're just not my top choice to write about right now. So I'm going to write about the wedding happenings!

First things first, if you haven't read our engagement story, you can read that by clicking here.
Also, if you didn't catch the first update I wrote, you can check that out here.

Now, on to the new stuff!

I mentioned in my last post that I was going to start calling reception venues to see what we could find. Well, I did start calling. And it was either booked or no one would call me back. I seriously put in calls to every venue in existence in the area. Except one.

A few weeks into our engagement we attended an event for the school that I work for. I instantly fell in love when the venue and immediately began asking questions. When we mentioned that we were looking at a June wedding, we were told that they were booked solid all the way from the beginning of April to the end of June and into July next year. Once we finalized the date as May 31st, I basically gave up on that particular venue believing it to be booked.

After several weeks of calling and being disappointed by a number of places, I decided to just call the venue I originally wanted. I figured it was a long shot, but worth a try because I was seriously on the verge of just saying we weren't going to have a reception. It had been that awful.

So I gave them a call, left a message and we got in touch. And much to my everlasting amazement, they were available that day! I'm not kidding, our wedding day is the only Saturday available in that venue from April until mid-July next year. Talk about meant to be! We discussed price and I asked all of the important questions and said I would get back to them.

It took Pat, Gramma and I all of about three minutes to decide that this was the place and that it must have been meant to be! I called back immediately and we scheduled a meeting for today to draft a contract. This afternoon Pat, Kaley and I made our way over, went over the contract details and signed away. We officially have a reception venue in the middle of downtown! It's gorgeous and I cannot wait to figure out decorations!

What else has been accomplished? A wedding website! I finally put together a wedding website. Eventually I will give the link to everyone who has been invited to the wedding, but for now I've kept it to the bridal party and family. I'm using it as a place to post all of the necessary information they need to know. For example, where do the men go to be fitted for their outfit? And what color shoes do the bridesmaids need? And what color should my mom and Pat's mom be wearing? Yup, that's all on there! Now I don't have to answer the same question via text message from what feels like 17 million different people. Easier on me, easier on them. No one is forgetting anything and no one is forgotten!

Pat and I also decided on a ring bearer. Traditionally the ring bearer is a little boy, but we're going to be untraditional. Our ring bearer is actually going to be his niece. She's seriously one of the sweetest little girls I have ever met and I am so delighted that her mother is willing to let us include her in our ceremony. She and Kaley are going to wear the same dress, Kaley will hold a basket of flowers and Dalayna will walk down with Kaley carrying the rings on a bible. I think it's going to be absolutely adorable!

Our engagement photos came in a couple of weeks ago! If you follow me on Facebook you've seen a few of the photos as I've posted them. I am absolutely thrilled with the way they turned out and Kaci from Sweet Pea Photography did a fabulous job!

Right now I'm fiddling with them a little bit trying to create a Save the Date card that I like. I've made five. And I'm still not sure I have the right design, but I'll share my two favorites up to this point with you. Remember, they are a work in progress and I'm still creating and tweaking!

#1

#2

And that's where we are with our wedding plans right now. Next big task to tackle? Centerpieces and food. Oh, I actually purchased the vases for our centerpieces last night! $1 each from the Dollar Tree. Now to just figure out exactly what it is that I want to do with them....... I'm thinking water and floating, flameless tea lights with ivy!

And now I'll leave you with just a few of my favorites from our engagement photos!

34 weeks, 1 day, 16 hours and 22 minutes

Putting Together My Puzzle

Those of you who follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or Instagram have likely noticed some changes on each of my social media accounts. My usernames have all been changed. My cover photo and profile pictures have been changed. And I've made an announcement on Facebook.

Musings of a Single Mama is no more.

WHY??

Mr. Boston and I became engaged on August 1st. I knew at that point that I was going to change my blog name. I hadn't put much thought into it, though. After all, the wedding was 10 months away. Why would I need to change my blog name now??

Well, technically I didn't need to change my blog name. But I decided last week that I really wanted to. I've spent the past several years defining myself as a single mom. It's been all of who I am and my identity was sort of overrun by being a single mother. I didn't know what else to think of myself as. I hadn't graduated college, I didn't have a boyfriend, I wasn't really proud of any of my accomplishments.

But then I met Mr. Boston. And life started getting a little bit easier. And then life began getting a lot easier. The big difference? I had help. I wasn't used to having help, and it took me a while to adjust (and I'm still not entirely adjusted) but it made a huge difference. I honestly hadn't understood just how much was going on in my life that I could ask for help with. But Mr. Boston stepped in and just started helping. Sometimes without asking. Talk about an eye-opener.

I've always been a proud person. I've always strived to be an independent person and hold my own. I've never liked asking for help. And I am still all of those things. Trust me, Mr. Boston knows that I am still all of those things. So he just does things for me. Like I said, I still haven't entirely gotten used to it.

What's amusing to me is that he's helping with the little things that have always seemed like the big things. Folding laundry, for example, is such a little thing but was always time consuming so it seemed like a big thing. Now I don't have to worry about it because he's willing to help me fold laundry or do it for me. He also does dishes, cleans out the cars, takes care of the dogs, etc. All those small things that just seemed like so much before.

Oh, and he helps KBug with her homework. This year homework hasn't been as much of a fight as it was last year. KBug hasn't been as stressed as she was last year (the bully is no longer at the school) and she's more willing to do her homework because she is often in a better mood. But it would still be thirty minutes each day that I would have to set aside to help her. I don't mind helping her or supervising her, but it's thirty minutes that I could also be using to grade papers or clean up my classroom. And now that Mr. Boston is around, I have that extra thirty minutes and it has been such a blessing to have just that little bit of extra time.

So since Mr. Boston and I began dating, I haven't really felt like a single mom. I haven't felt like I'm carrying the burden all on my own. I haven't felt like it's all up to me and like I always have to be the one to do everything. I have help. It may seem small to many of you, but it's big to me. It's really big.

And that's the main reason I decided to change the name of the blog. I've begun realizing that I am not just a single mom. And I'm realizing that I wasn't ever just a single mom. I am so much more than that, and I always have been. It's an amazing discovery. But since that discovery I have felt as though I've been lying when I write under the name of "Single Mama". So I decided it was time for a change.

I chose to call my blog "Putting Together My Puzzle". I am, slowly but surely, learning what all of the pieces of my puzzle are. I have so many things going on in my life right now and everything finally seems to be fitting into place. It's like each part of my life is, literally, a piece of my own personal puzzle. Therefore, I am "Putting Together My Puzzle" and I am doing it "One Piece at a Time". Over time you will see me talk about the different pieces of my puzzle and how they are starting to fit together. It may not look like much, and you may not always see how they fit together. Heck, maybe I won't even understand how it all works. But I'm going to write about it until I do understand.

CHANGES??

 

There will be some changes happening over the course of the next several weeks and posts.

 

The biggest change I plan to make is the use of names. It's always been evident that my name is Christine. I've never shied away from letting my name be known. It's never bothered me.

 

So why did it bother me to use the first names of my family members? Or of friends? Or of my fiancée? Well, I really don't know. So I'm going to introduce the key members to you now.

 

KBug is Kaley.

Mr. Boston is Pat.

Gramma. Well, she'll always be Gramma.

PJP is my brother Patric.

CKP is my sister Caitlin.

Mom and Poppa will remain Mom and Poppa.

 

Other than that, I will introduce other people as I go along and as needed. But that gives you the names of those I tend to talk about most.

 

For the moment, Kaley's father will remain the Ex Husband. It is possible that could change at some point, but I don't know if that's necessary. Honestly, there is such little interaction these days that it's hardly worth mentioning most of the time.

 

Other changes? Those will be mostly cosmetic. My header may change slightly, or my button, or the look and feel of my page. Obviously the name of my Facebook page will change. It's already in the works, but I have to wait for Facebook to allow the change to take place.

 

My email has also changed and can be accessed using the social media buttons in the sidebar. All the other social media buttons have also been changed to reflect the change in usernames.

 

At this point in time, I think that's all that I have for you. It's possible that other things will change as I create this new image for the blog and associated pages. But I will do my best to keep you all in the loop as the occur.

 

If you made it to the end of this post, all I can say is thank you. It's long and probably somewhat boring. But I felt it was important to tell you why I made the changes I have and what the changes are and will be. I like to keep you all in the know!

Currently.

I've been such a slacker lately. I haven't written in almost a week. And that was to tell you all about how my amazing Mr. Boston proposed to me! Pretty awesome if you ask me!

Anyways... I figured I would write about some of the things that are going on in our lives right now.

Wedding Planning

 

Honestly at this point what I consider wedding planning is pinning things on Pinterest. I've had a wedding board on Pinterest for over a year now and it certainly had it's fair share of awesome ideas, but I've started pinning more selectively. I've also created different boards to pin for different parts of the wedding (reception, photos, invitations, etc.).

 

Aside from that, I haven't accomplished much. Well, except for choosing the wedding colors, picking out my bridesmaids dresses, finding KBug's flower girl dress and purchasing my wedding gown!

 

I went in to David's Bridal (of course) last weekend to just look around. I wasn't planning on making any purchases, but just getting a general sense of what colors I really liked and what sort of dress I might like. One thing led to another and my consultant had me trying on dresses. I tried on four dresses and the minute I put the fourth one on, it was a perfect fit, and I just knew that was it! And my consultant just kept adding little things to make it even more perfect. So Gramma and I decided to purchase it because it all seemed too perfect to just walk away! Seriously, how often does anyone walk into David's Bridal and walk out with a wedding gown? No alterations needed, the had all of the pieces I wanted in stock and it was the best experience I have ever had! And they took a video and had me ring the bell and I cried.

 

And that's as far as I've gotten on wedding plans. I have plenty of ideas floating around in my head, but it will be a while before they all come to be reality. I'll check in as I do more, though, I promise! And I'll definitely check in after we have our engagement photos taken in a few weeks!

 

Schoolwork

 

Well, I submitted two assignments yesterday. Go me! One of them came back with a passing grade, the other had a few revisions necessary. No big deal. I completed the revisions this morning, had my assignment looked over by a course mentor who gave me the go ahead and then I submitted it again. Hopefully I get a passing grade back in the next day or two. Once that is graded, I will have completed 12 units in two months and only have 25 units to complete before I'm officially graduated! I'm so incredibly excited, you have no idea! And school is my top priority. Wedding planning would be much more fun, but I have to finish my degree. Besides, the wedding isn't for another ten months. I've got plenty of time!

 

Work

 

I go back to work next Monday. I finally found out that I'm teaching Religion this year for grades 4-8. Fourth and Fifth grade is a combined class at our school this year, so I'm teaching four classes a day. I'm also coordinating the weekly school mass, coming up with service projects, managing the altar servers, organizing our Adopt-A-Highway clean up and teaching Faith Formation every Sunday night. And don't forget I'm also a cheer team coach again this year! I've got a seriously full plate, but I'm really excited.

 

And, go me, I've figured out how I plan to run my classroom to make it easier on me in terms of workload and grading. There will be a Prayer of the Month test every month. This is something that middle school had last year and it was a big learning experience for all of them. Basically they'll get a new prayer each month, have about four weeks to memorize it and then be given a test. Not so hard.

 

They'll also have a weekly quiz every Friday. This will cover what we've talked about through the week and requires them to have paid enough attention to retain the big topics we've discussed. I think having to remember our conversations for longer than a day will make a big difference. Maybe a few of the big things will really sink in and they'll really learn something.

 

Homework will be given out in a packet at the beginning of every week. It's due at the beginning of the period on Friday. If you didn't complete your packet, guess what? You're doing it right then and there. Consequence? You lose Friday Fun Day. I know these kids are getting older, but they haven't lost their childhood. They still love to play games and do arts and crafts and just do silly activities. What we do will still have something to do with the discussions and topics from the week, but it'll be fun and enjoyable.

 

Quarter projects. The middle school classes had to do these last year. Largely they hated them, but I'm hoping to find ways to make it more fun. For example, the first quarter we are focusing on Saints. The middle school students will be assigned a Saint and they will have to do enough research to create a Fakebook for their Saint. They'll have certain criteria to meet and deadlines for their research. But they all know Facebook and I think it'll be a new twist on the assignment that they might actually enjoy. Fourth and Fifth grade? They're going to learn how to make brochures for their Saints!

 

Housework

 

Basically my house is a mess right now. Why? Well, PJP moved out and life got crazy. When PJP left, I moved back into the upstairs room. This created an open room which we used to give KBug a playroom because I was tired of her toys taking over her bedroom and it being such a mess. I really don't like stepping on Legos when I go to put her to bed. So the playroom was painted, and so was her room. Mostly everything is set up in the playroom, but not all of my stuff has made it upstairs yet. My living room is a total disaster. But I'm planning to get that cleaned up tomorrow before the neighbors children come over tomorrow evening. I can do it.

 

And that's pretty much what we have going on. Starting back to work will be interesting next week. I'm really excited! I'm going to put together my bulletin boards Friday morning which will be awesome and meetings begin on Monday. KBug says she isn't ready to go back but, trust me, she's ready. She's so bored with summer at this point and there's not much I can do with her at this stage of the game because we have so much going on. So next Thursday when school starts will be a blessing for all of us.

 

Let the craziness of the next ten months begin!

Updates [Challenges for Me & No More Mr. Deployed]

I feel like I have been completely neglecting my blog, so I went back and looked back at the date for my last post.

5-2-13.

Has it really only been 5 days?

It feels like freaking forever...

 

But anyways. So I owe you all some updates and they really aren't all that good. I didn't get Insanity started up again last week, and I didn't start it up again this week. I'm such a slacker. But keep reading and you may understand the depths of my exhaustion which has led me to push Insanity off for just one more week...

Updates: Challenges for Me and KBug's Birthday [pictures]

via
this pretty much sums it up... :)
 

So I'm sitting here avoiding folding the three baskets of laundry I've let pile up over the weekend.... And I thought to myself

"Christine, you haven't written anything in a couple of days..."

 

Updates [Challenges for Me]

Wow. It feels like it's been days since I wrote.... Oh wait, maybe that's because it has been!

Oops.....

 

Anyways. So I know I'm a day late because I had said in Challenges for Me that I was going to be writing about my fitness/Orange Rhino progress every Saturday, but I figure it's better late than never!

 

OK, here we go!