oh, you know….

oh, you know…., originally uploaded by sarahreck.

what’s on your agenda for tomorrow?

me? oh, you want to know what *i’m* doing?

GETTING MARRRRRRRRRIED!!!!!!

size

so….the wedding will be considerably smaller than we’d thought (YAY! it’s going to be ALMOST EXACTLY my ideal size…but at the end, the guest list kept growing and growing and growing)…. today was the due date for reply cards. i’ve started harassing emails/text messages (in good nature with people i feel comfortable with) but will start making official calls next week, etc. but right now we’re at 115 with 33 people to hear from yet. it’s gonna end up to be almost my ideal size… and it will be much easier on the pocket because when we were figuring out caterer costs, we banked on all 200 guests saying yes (even though we knew that wouldn’t happen… better to overbudget than underbudget) … YAYs all around!! ♥

i think future husband is a LITTLE disappointed at the size… but i’m personally thrilled.

projects projects projects.

futurehusband & i have done so many projects over the past few months. first, we made all of our invitations ourselves. in the meantime, i became addicted to wedding blogs. some favorites have been here, here, here, and here. so much inspiration for so many projects.

once we decided to do cupcakes, i got cracking on cupcake stands, which i made for a fraction of the price…. there will be three of these per table:

futurehusband built crates to carry these, but i don’t have a photo of that.

i was disappointed when IKEA was out of a chalkboard easel… so futurehusband suprised me and MADE one for me:

this will hold a welcome message for the guests at the reception. how will the guests be able to find the reception, you ask? see here….

i requested it, and future husband got to work! he’s so handy!

i named all of our table numbers after years that we’ve known each other…

… and then i got to work on matchbooks and flags.

these matchbooks will be the death of me… they take forever.

above, 133 are done!

and here are the flags… all done! i think we shall give them to people as we leave the church….

also done but not pictured because they are already in milwaukee:
table runners with this fabric (the fabric is nowhere near as bright as this photo makes it look), a unity candle display (made and thrifted), a photo display of all of our grandparents and parents, my future name on the bottom of my shoes, and…, well, i’m sure there are some other projects. but that’s enough for now. am i accountable enough, now? 🙂

testing.

let’s just try this…

fitness update.

so in order to hold myself accountable, i listed my fitness goals a few weeks (months?) back. i’ve been doing OKAY… not stellar. for example, i stopped doing insanity because i was having foot pain. i still have been doing other things– running, Jillian Michaels, yoga, elipticalling– at least one of those, usually two, almost every day…

GOAL ONE: I wrote this over a month ago…”it’s just time. i need more strength, more flexibility, MORE ENDURANCE, and just to be LESS TIRED.”

• progress: i’m losing strength because i’m not doing P90X anymore. that’s sad. but happily, i’m gaining endurance and flexibility. sadly, i’m not less tired. i blame my poor sleeping habits. DEAR MIND/BODY, IT IS OKAY TO TURN OFF AT NIGHT. THAT IS WHAT YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO DO.

GOAL TWO: yoga goals:

• to do at least SOME practice 4 days a week (it can be for just 5 minutes)
  • eh. i would say i’m definitely at 3 days. 4 days MOST weeks but not all.
• to hold bakasana for 1:00. i have it for about 30 seconds right now
  • WIN. goal achieved. consistently.
• to work toward side crane. eek!
  • I’m working on it. I really am. Not there yet.
• mermaid
  • Can do, but I’m working towards perfecting it.
• work on headstands and feathered peacock
  • I’ve been working on headstands (wall assist!). Feathered peacock has gone to the wayside a bit.
• improve hip flexibility, esp. for frog
  • this i do often. It’s working, but I can’t say goal achieved. (can you ever in yoga, really?)
• Marichyasana I
  • I enjoy this one.

So overall- I’ve been doing okay. Eating is still something I struggle with. I struggle with telling myself NO. I struggle with eating sugar (yum!). I struggle with snackng wayyyyy too much, thouhg I have written down EVERYTHING I’ve put into my body for the past 4 days (I do believe that is the longest a food journal has ever lasted in my life).

i will be back later with a wedding project update. one of today’s goals is to photograph as many of the DIY projects that I have residing here in Illinois… and then post them. 🙂

wedding DIY projects

Table numbers, originally uploaded by sarahreck.

this weekend was *so* productive on the wedding front. which is good, because this was the LAST weekend before the wedding that we don’t have to be in milwaukee for at least PART of the weekend…

we accomplished a lot. i crafted, tyler designed & built. i’ve decided that maybe i can use the wedding as an excuse to become a better blogger. because if i make public the projects that i am going to do, maybe then i will actually feel guilty if i don’t DO them.

so, this weekend we:
-made our “table numbers”– we are numbering them by YEARS instead of by the boring 1, 2, 3. we were eating dinner last night and it struck me: we’ve known each other almost exactly as long as the number of tables that we’ll have. each table number is framed in an IKEA frame and includes a note about something that happened to us during that year (note: if you’re seated at years 2001-2006, it’s boring… we call those the lost years and just include little factoids about what we were each doing individually since we didn’t talk much, if at all. if there are a lot of “no” RSVPs– PEOPLE, RETURN YOUR RESPONSE CARDS ASAP!– then we will just not have tables with those numbers.
-tyler crafted a pointy sign so we can direct guests to the reception & to the bathroom. he built it from scratch, i painted the lettering on. it looks, well, awesome. wait for photos.
-tyler built crates for the 50 cake stands that i made. $15 for cake stands in the store– are you kidding? mine were less than $2 a pop! and now, thanks to future husband, we have a way to carry them.
-i designed our unity candle display. i still have to finish the actual candle itself, but it’s almost done
-we decided how we’re doing our tribute candles. we love you g&g r, g&g n, g&g c, & g g & passed on aunts/uncles.
-we decided how we’re doing our “where we came from display.” now i’m just waiting on photos from the moms…
-i THINK we decided how we’re doing our aisle decor (the vases). yet to be decided officially, as i didn’t have time to craft a prototype yet…

this week:
make the YAY flags (like this: http://offbeatbride.com/2009/10/wedding-flags)
figure out welcome bags (if we’re doing them, what goes in them)
make bathroom courtesy baskets
figure out rehearsal/rehearsal dinner times
figure out how to officially ask the ushers
figure out how to officially ask the readers
figure out a job for a special cousin
FINISH the unity candle once & for all
make the “where we came from” sign
exchange tyler’s ring for the right size
make a prototype of the aisle decor to determine if they are right or not

i think that’s enough for one week, yeah?
xo,
sarah

so much

there is so much wedding planning to be done.
there are hairstyles and shoes to choose
decorations to make (so many ideas. must. narrow. down.)

people to involve.
decisions to make.

so much to do.

i kept putting things off.
oh, i’ll have time in the summer, she said.

and now that she has time,
she’s totally overwhelmed.

wish me luck.

who wants to help me plan & craft?? 57 days to go!

shaping up.

i am shaping up in many ways.

trying to.

trying to be calmer in my mind, in my heart.
trying to organize and shape up my work habits (it was a good, but rough, first year on the job).

and of course, physically.

i began p90X on march 8. i finished on saturday. i proudly did NOT skip any workouts… except the last one. and i don’t know if that counts. it was supposed to be a YogaX day… and I had a really tough hour & fifteen minute yoga class at the gym. So I did YOGA, just not Tony Horton yoga….

I took yesterday off, and today, I did the Insanity fit test. 60 days begins NOW.

For accountability, because I need that (even though NOBODY READS THIS):
switch kicks– 86
power jacks– 43
power knees — 82
power jumps– 38
globe jumps– 8
suicide jumps– 15
push-up jacks– 21
low plank obliques– 54

OUCH!

later, I went to the gym with tyler and did Ab Ripper X, some strength machines, and elipticalled for 15 minutes. and steamed (BEST. PART. OF. MY. DAY.).

i feel like it’s time to really get into shape. p90x was a good start, but i didn’t lose as many inches/pounds as I would have liked (after pictures still need be taken. tomorrow). i just feel like its TIME. i have the time this summer to do this.

and of course there’s that little thing called a wedding in 67 days.

it’s just time. i need more strength, more flexibility, MORE ENDURANCE, and just to be LESS TIRED.

oh summer. you’re perfect to achieve these goals.

i also have yoga fitness goals:
-to do at least SOME practice 4 days a week (it can be for just 5 minutes)
-to hold bakasana for 1:00. i have it for about 30 seconds right now
-to work toward side crane. eek!
-mermaid
-work on headstands and feathered peacock
-improve hip flexibility, esp. for frog
–Marichyasana I

now i’m a little more accountable. i don’t have the plans for how i’m going to achieve all of these goals yet other than: i began insanity today and WILL complete it. I will work on yoga poses. I am going to make a food plan (but thats not ready yet).

but at least now, i’m a little more accountable for general fitness, and for my specific yoga poses. 🙂

goodnight, nobody!

ten, ten, ten, ten

my new philosophy. i’m trying this out.

about any situation i start to get upset about:

1. will this matter in 10 minutes?

2. will this matter in 10 days?

3. will this matter in 10 months?

4. will this matter in 10 years?

And for MOST THINGS, that I’ve tried to apply this to in the past few days, the answer is no to at least the last three questions. And the answer to number one is yes.

Because honestly, wherever you go, there you are.

and if you need to just stop, and listen and breathe,  this is for you.

me, or the car?

just saw more engagement photos from our amazing photographer(s)- jake rohde definitely came through on this one. of course, has he ever shot anything where he hasn’t?

now the burning question about the photo above is this:

who does tyler love more in this picture: his car, or me?

we just may never know.

(round one of engagement photos- HERE!)