US meets UK

Last night we met with our officiant for the first time. ever. As in, I had never spoken on the phone or seen her in person till last night. Mr.D and I aren’t particularly religious and we come from different faith based backgrounds. We don’t have a church we attend regularly (when we’re not country hopping) and as such, we don’t have a minister or priest that we have a close relationship to.  Not to mention that we haven’t solidified which (if) organized religion suits us, and we simply wouldn’t feel comfortable marrying in a faith we weren’t 100% committed to.

Many people have asked how we found our officiant, and really, I’m just a huge review devotee.  I searched on Wedding Wire for an officiant, and a general google search (Maryland non-denominational wedding officiant), and checked out the reviews on Project Wedding. Then I scoped out her website too.  Because three sources just isn’t enough for me, I told you, I’m devoted to reviews! So I shot off an preliminary email and when she wrote back Laura was so friendly and warm and I just felt comfortable working with her.

I’m a fan of “gut feelings” and I’m happy to say that this one panned out quite nicely.  During our meeting last night we were able to flush out the order of ther ceremony, which elements were most important to us, and Mr.D and I are even modifying a ritual to suit us perfectly.  We came with a huge pool of ideas and Laura was great in helping us to funnel them into a coheasive outline. Not only that, but she emailed us a ceremony draft to review the very same night!

At first, I was concerned about how we would find an officiant that would suit us, understand us, and really grasp what makes us tick.  After all, it’s pretty difficult to put your faith in the internet and hope that you’ve picked the right officiant out of the “bag”.  But really, through reading the reviews and hearing how people described her and their ceremony, as well as the words she chose to describe herself on her website, I began to favor her above all the others I had looked at.

How did you chose your officiant? Were you pleased with them?

A few weeks ago I attended what could possibly be described as one of the most fun days of my life.  I wore a pretty dress, and so many of my friends were there as well as delicious food and drinks at one of my favorite homes in all of Maryland (MOH MB’s mother’s house).

Although it was supposed to be a surprise, as with most surprises, I ruined it. I have a horrible tendency to ruin surprises, and it doesn’t matter if they’re planned for me, by me, or I’m just invited – they get ruined.  If you want anything to be a surprise, keep me far away from it. On the plus side, I showered and looked nice for the “surprise” shower.  On the negative? I ruined all the hard work MOH MB had put in trying to keep it a surprise.

Even though it had been raining the whole week the skies cleared so we could have drinks in the garden before heading inside for food and presents. Before we could open the gifts however, I had to answer a few questions about Mr.D. For each incorrect answer I had to chew a piece of Bazooka Joe bubble gum.  What didn’t help in this little game is that Mr.D straight up answered questions to fool me.  He doesn’t actually have a favorite color, but told MOH MB that it was “light green”.  When asked the questions “what was his longest drive” I answered New Orleans, LA to Orlando, FL from our first road trip together. Mr.D’s answer? Heysham Golf Course, 295 yards, par 5. Sooo funny.

Can you see the fear? So, with a huge mouthful of chewing gum I tried to soldier on, but being on the spot had worked me into a bit of a tizzy.  I found myself uncomfortably hot and sweaty, and nervous! So when it came time to open the gifts (sans giant wad of gum) I began to get a bit worried about how you were supposed to open presents in the “correct” way. What if I didn’t display one long enough? What if I didn’t thank someone enough!? I was overly, and unnecessarily  concerned, but it did take me about 15 minutes to fully relax after the gift opening part was finished.

Despite my momentary mini panic, I had the most fun afternoon of my entire life.  At a few points my mother or I started to well up with tears but we were thankfully able to hold them back. Being surrounded by my friends and family with so much love and kindness was genuinely overwhelming. I think it touched me especially close to the heart because I had been away from the area for quite awhile, so being able to be around so many different groups of friends was just lovely.

I just wanted to take a second and say a big shout out to my MOH’s, bridesmaids and mother, who organized, cooked, prepared and until I ruined it, kept it all a surprise from me.  I had no idea a day could be so perfect, thank you so much for being my friends and bridesmaids.

(I don’t have the photo of all the bridesmaids and I, but I do have one of my fantastic mom!)

Did you have any gift opening anxiety at your shower?

Personal Training that is. Although I’ve recently had great success with weight loss I’ve pretty much plateaued since returning home. My cousin (and BM) and I decided to start buddy training with each other and our new personal trainer – Robert. We chose to train with Robert because of the crazy success of some of his past clients.  I don’t mean the kind you see on an infomercial; I’m talking about people I actually know -  a friend from my high school who lost over 50lbs since January, or Robert’s own younger brother who, no joke, completely transformed his physique over the course of a year. I wish I had before/after photos of these guys to show the hive, because you can’t help but be impressed.

Buddy training has been pretty great for my cousin and I, you have a teammate there to push you along and root for you.  There are even several exercises which are more fun to do with a friend, like medicine ball squats! I thought Jillian pushed me hard, but I had no idea! I can honestly tell you that in all my years of dance, rugby and soccer I’ve never worked as hard in one hour as I have with Robert.  We’ve been doing resistance training 3 times a week, but I know I need to step up my cardio game on the off days if I want to hit my goal weight by the wedding. Going practically every other day also helps me stay on target with my dietary goals.  Have you ever visited a personal trainer and had a hangover? It’s a bad idea, and reminds you to just say no to those liquid calories.

Buddy training also inspires me to work harder. There are the occasional exercises which count on one of us doing XX number before the other can finish – ex 20 ball/wall squats which the other does as many burpees/jumpees as they can. Sure, this may cause you to temporarily hate or curse your buddy but you get over it plenty quick.

Have you considered a personal trainer? Do you have a training buddy?

If you’re looking for a quick, last minute favor idea I have the recipe for you!  I tried my friend’s mother’s Peanut Butter and Chocolate fudge last week and it was so great I begged for the recipe right then and there! Lucky for me, it’s so easy you can remember it. It’s quick to make and really the only requirement is that you have a bit of patience and some upper body strength.  I have a 4th of July cookout today and forgot to make something – luckily we had all the ingredients in the house because I was feeling a bit too lazy to go to the store right before a holiday.

Start by melting your butter and peanut butter in your pot. Yes, it looks gross. No, there is no way to justify this as a diet treat.

Then add your sifted cocoa powder and vanilla extract.

Next, sift your confectioners sugar into the pot a bit at a time, mixing it completely each time. This is where your upper body strength and patience comes in handy.

Mix it ALLLLL together and stick into a 9×13 pan.  Place paper towels on top and weight with light objects (I used two boxes of crackers).  Replace your paper towels every so often once they’re full of oil, I did it about 3 times.  Let the fudge sit for 2 hours before cutting up.

OM NOM NOM.

Here is the tiny version:

Since we’re considering Mrs. Kitten’s lavender bud throw project it looks like we’re going to have an serious excess of glassine bags.  Which would be perfect for these fudgy favors or OOT treats!

Have you pondered making your own favors?

If you have a blog, one that you’d actually like to keep updated, you probably shouldn’t lose your login url.  I had heavily relied on my browsing history to pop up with my admin login url, and I foolishly cleared it the other day while clearing out some cookies (I’m on a diet people!).

I COULD NOT FIGURE IT OUT. I could not get in.  I tried every imaginable combination of urls nothing worked. I finally had to ask Mr.D how to get in. le sigh.

So…if you have a blog, that you’d like to keep – you should probably bookmark that right now.  As a result of being locked out I have several mental posts lined up. You can look forward to a DIY tutorial and for several other important life/bridal things.

The most important thing? Mr.D comes tomorrow! yippie!

The less important things? I joined Twitter, I’m MsDorsay.  I caved, I don’t really understand how it works to be honest.