The end of an era!

As you may know, the last year of my life pretty much revolved around planning a wedding day, one single day that would be imprinted in my mind forever. I LOVE thinking about this day and finally realize why people say that it is the most important day in a girl's life...probably a man's too, depending on if he's a jerk or not.

My wedding day was the most strangely tranquil, magical and happy day of my entire life. It is just an indescribable experience to have everyone you love and that loves you, to share a ceremony that is magnifically (<--new word) important with the most important person in your life.

To make a long story short, it was a great ceremony and crazy fun party. I feel like everyone really had a great time, which was my main goal. It wouldn't have been as great without someone handling all the day-of details. (NOTE TO BRIDES: you MUST have a day-of coordinator if nothing else.) I am so excited to begin my life with my new husband. We are taking the month of January to organize and situate ourselves and plan for the rest of the year and set timelines and goals. I love January for that reason, I end up feeling so organized.

Oh yes, we got great wedding gifts and I have enlisted the help of my new CrockPot to make this Chili recipe, as my very first slow-cooker recipe. Wish me luck, 4.5 hours to go.

Married life, here we go.

The Cusp of Insanity...4 days before the 'big' one.

What enormous stress and pressure a wedding is. The more sane your family is the less you have to deal with. However, the more crazy your family is....an event like this creates a colossal tornado of stress and emotion. I don't know who in my family hasn't cried during the past month.

Last Friday, I came at the cusp of the madness and broke completely down. My fantastic fiance realized it was time to sober me up (no, I wasn't drunk) and snap me back into normalcy. After a lot of yelling and more crying, I am finally in a place where I'm focused on getting tasks accomplished and just letting go mentally.

I think this has been one of the hardest obstacles in my life so far, it just contains so many aspects and hidden emotional issues. I can imagine why so many brides go crazy. It's hard to plan a day that you expect to be perfect and then let go and be a guest, especially the guest of honor.

I'm okay now and am trying to stay as serene as possible until the big day approaches (a nice massage will help with that). Being around my family tightens me up immediately, not knowing what to expect, what they will say or even what will happen. At this point there is nothing you can do, I wish I could have realized this earlier, but I think it was just inevitable.

At one point, I even wondered if it was all worth it, but I know when we hit the dance floor on New Year's Eve and we see the smiling faces of all of our closest loved ones, it will be a memory that we will NEVER EVER forget.

Cheers to everyone and Happy New Year!

It's December 2011, arguably one of the most important months of my life.

So It's now December 2nd. I took time yesterday and this morning to reflect and to really think about what this all means. I've been trying to reflect more these days, given I just dove into my thirties and now...29 days away, I will become Mrs. Beno Joshua. Wow...what a big step in life. I realize now, that everything has been practice and preparation up to this point.

The stress has definitely reached a high (not in a good way), with the most minute and crazy amount of details coming to fruition with the nearing of our nuptials. We have also agreed to do a prenuptial agreement, so that takes time too. The hardest part of this whole thing is figuring out the cultural stuff without the help of other more knowledgeable people (cough cough, MOM). It would have been very nice to have some help and support there, especially because I am so amped to have a Hindu ceremony. At this point, getting too many people involved is just more organizing and time, than I have the patience to deal with.

Needless to say, I am handling things the best that I can, trying to be organized and getting increasingly nervous and excited as the wedding day approaches. The last thing I'm worried about...a crucial thing...the honeymoon. B's supposed to be on it, I'll hope for the best with some suggestive noodling. Above all, this should be a smashing party, but I can foresee some extreme moodiness this month...So be on the lookout!

Wish me luck, I'll report back soon.

5 months and counting...

The wedding is getting closer and my anxiety and stress levels are rising. For some reason, I don't think that Beno really has these same issues. I am excited about everything and most everything is planned, but there are still details to tighten up. We are getting married on Decemeber 31, 2011 at Recreation Park Golf Course in Long Beach, really cute lil' place.

Our wedding is small, just how I like it, with closest friends and family. Since it's on NYE, only really close people would probably show up anyway. Here's a list of things we still need to do:

- Meet with the florist
- Get a band/DJ
- Meet with the jeweler
- Confirm a 'priest'
- Get our clothes (we are getting these in October)
- Figure out decorations
- Plan the pre-wedding family events
- Plan the parental meet and greet on Beno's bday
- Send out the invitations

WOW that seems like a lot. Well the venue, food, cake, photographer is taken care of. Technically so is the florist. We just have to tidy up some of the other details. Oh yea and the HONEYMOON, can't forget that. We are still wavering, but feel like we'll probably head down to the Dominican Republic for our getaway. Although there's a lot going on with Thesilvertelegram.com, I am still totally stoked about this whole event and getting more glad that it's on NYE.

The band isn't really panning out, it's almost as much as the total wedding venue. I am contemplating an iTunes playlist instead, between the two of us, we definitely have enough family/wedding friendly music and we can create the mood ourselves. I dunno. Decisions, decisions...

A November to Remember- birthdays, engagements, thanksgiving and more...

As the end of the month approaches I realize a few things:

1) I did not write enough on the blog this month (even though I intended to several times)

2) Time goes by, whether you want it to or not

3) Regimen is key

4) Anyone can surprise you

5) Getting older does not have to be a bad thing...totally!

A lot of things happened to me this month. Early this month, I had a birthday, which I was completely not ready for. As the day approached I was left feeling listless and unfulfilled. Just one of those moods I guess. It comes and goes with the rain sometimes. The closer my birthday got, however, the happier I got.

I had dinner with my closest friends in Long Beach and participated in a mean game of Scrabble afterwards. Having everyone over, just reinforced the fact that I desperately want to move to a new place, preferably a small bungalow house in Long Beach. Our lease isn't up until the end of January, but I haven't been able to stop myself from preemptively paroozing on Craigslist for available listings. It looks promising. All in all, my birthday turned out to be great and I don't feel any older.

Another thing happened on my birthday, my love decided that he was ready to propose. It's a cute story, perhaps I'll save that for my next blog. Regardless, after spending my birthday working, checking in with the doctor and going on a lovely hike. Beno proposed to me in a garden up in Santa Monica. I could tell he was nervous, but I couldn't stop smiling. The ring is one that I had spotted out when we were in Turkey this past summer, very untraditional and very unique. It was an experience that was greater than I expected it to be.

Now, Thanksgiving is upon us. One of my favorite holidays, as I love anything pumpkin flavored. We're going to be spending Thanksgiving with Beno's family, while my parents are living it up in Vegas (I think it's a tradition now :).

I have decided to take the GMAT in February 2011, which will be a tricky one, because work will become very busy with our recent lineup and plans for next year. Beno has decided to take his NASM certification at the same time, so at least I will have a study partner.

What's next? The most important month of the year (at least as far as I'm concerned), stressful Xmas preparation, figuring out New Year's Eve and of course....planning my wedding. At least I know that next New Year's will be taken care of....Wedding date? 12/31/2011

I'm so excited for all that is to come and hoping the fiance is excited to. Although, I don't think any of this has phased him much. Oh...and the puppy! Chaka is great and is now a well-integrated member of the family, always keeping us on our toes, causing mischief and most of all looking adorable.

Happy Holidays everyone! Let the festivities begin.