First off, let me just thank you all for making suggestions, for real. I seriously shot down some of Jeff’s ideas simply because you guys didn’t agree.
Jeff: I like this one.
Me: Well, the internet didn’t, so I’m going with this one.
Jeff: *sigh*
Anyway, the template we chose has space for 4 pictures.
The winners are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
And I know that the last one wasn’t on the previous list, but it was a last minute kind of thing. You know how it goes. I’m spontaneous. Edgy. Dangerous.
So, thanks again.
And stay tuned because I predict that next week’s Monday 13 will be groundbreaking… and it’s probably wedding related! Lucky you.
Ok, so I’m gonna need everyone to vote on these pictures. We’re having a tough time deciding which ones to put on our wedding announcements. There’s going to be like, one main picture and a couple smaller ones. Each picture has a number, so if you would (even anonymously) vote on which ones you like the best, it’d be mucho appreciated.
[click on any of them to make them bigger… obviously.]
A lot of these are going to sound weird, as I never thought I’d be one of those people who actually got excited about getting kitchen items for christmas, but I’m getting married which apparently turns even ME into a sniveling little “oh, this will look sooooo great in my new kitchen in my new little townhome next to my new kickass stove” people. But I am excited about kitchen items. Anyway.
1. Jeff’s mom and dad gave us a gorgeous set of holiday china for next christmas at our house. I found a picture of it here. I actually squealed upon opening this gift, no lie. Who am I?!
2. Kenna, this hilarious woman who is like best friends with Jeff’s mom, gave us a beautiful (and holy crap, expensive) holiday tablecloth to go with our holiday china! So sweet of her. Plus she’s one of those awesome old ladies who sometimes curses and I LOVE it!
3. Tyson gave me an LOLCatz book. Hilarious. He and I have a little inside joke about the LOLCatz, so it’s one of those presents that made us laugh. But not so much everyone else.
4. A huge bottle of Vera Wang’s Princess perfume from Jeff. He knows it’s my favorite, but it’s ungodly expensive and I refuse to buy it for myself because I can’t justify spending a large-ish amount of money on ANYTHING without having a few nervous breakdowns first.
5. A sandwich maker. Seriously, this will make my life so much effin easier. Grilled cheese. Every day. For at least 3 or 4 years.
6. My dad and his girlfriend Tisha, gave us a top quality pot and collander. And I need top quality stuff, because I’m likely to break/scratch/blow up every single cooking item I know. So I need things that’re gonna last.
7. My mom gave me a giant purse (she knows me so damn well). She also gave Jeff and I a gorgeous picture frame, some home decoration things and… wait for it… lingerie. HA! This is why she’s my best friend.
8. Jodi and Adam (Jeff’s sister and brother-in-law) gave us a gigantic basket full of a buttload of tea, tea syrups, and giant tea mugs. Every time we go over to their house (where we play Guitar Hero and trash-talk), Adam makes these damn good teas and creates flavors of tea and adds the different flavored syrups and they have huge mugs and then every time Jeff and I leave I complain loudly for a few hours about how I’m jealous because I love tea and why do we only have regular sized mugs, I want unreasonably large ones too, and the fancy syrups. So Jodi and Adam… thank you guys again!
9. Jeff gave me a leather jacket. And it’s quite possibly the most perfect leather jacket I’ve ever seen. It makes me look so skinny which automatically makes it my favorite jacket ever.
10. The game Scategories. I’ve never actually played this game, but I’ve heard it’s fun. Plus, Brittney gave it to me and I totally trust her judgement. Score!
11. A $50 gas card from Dee (my mom’s fiancee) and a $15 gas card from my uncle. What practical gifts, right? I thought that was so awesome.
12. A Wii. Oh yes, my wonderful fiancee gave me a Wii for Christmas. And I know, I know, it’s partly a gift for him too, but he gave it to me instead of just buying it for himself.. in spite of the fact that he knows that whenever I’m not in the mood to give him a turn on it, I can just whine, remind him that HE gave it to ME, so it’s MINE and then take it back from him and play it myself. And therein lies the true essence of my charisma.
13. Jeff also gave me Guitar Hero World Tour. For the Wii. With the drums and everything. I swear, I am so in love with this boy. He just KNOW me!
- Engagement pictures tomorrow. I promise this time.
4. A punching bag for the new house. My brother has one here and I use it a lot, but I don’t have one to take with me when Jeff and I move. And trust me, it’s like therapy. Only therapy never bloodied my knuckles quite this much.
5. For Bill Gates to send me and Jeff a wedding present. Can you even imagine that? And he’s so nerdy looking. Weird.
6. A new coat. Seriously. It’s 4 degrees outside.
7. Let’s go ahead and say world peace. Just for kicks.
8. Class and/or grace and/or sophistication.
9. To be able to play Guitar Hero on expert without messing up. I just can’t reach that damn orange button or trust me, I’d be kicking SO MUCH rock star ass.
10. A PhD. I don’t even care what it’s in. Just a big fat degree so that I can get a big fat paycheck. For real. I’m sooo poor.
11. Sidewalks and roads and driveways that melt snow immediately upon contact. I’m sick of shoveling and driving 15 mph.
12. A puppy. But I don’t ever want it to poop or pee or bark or grow any bigger than a puppy.
13. For this whole wedding to be planned!
Oh, and guys? In the next few days I’m going to be posting some of the engagement photos that Jeff and I can’t choose between and I expect votes! Lots of votes!
1. Jeff’s birthday was on Wednesday. Unfortunately it wasn’t really the best birthday ever, and it wasn’t the birthday I’d been planning to give him. It just happened to fall on the same day as Jose’s funeral. Jeff spent his birthday in a mortuary full of strangers while I stood over an open casket, sobbing with my face pressed to his neck. I tried to salvage it as much as I could, we went to the Cheescake Factory for dinner and then walked around the mall and window shopped, but he could tell I was preoccupied and we ended up going home early so I could cry in privacy. He’s forgiven me, mostly because I gave him an awesome coat. I still feel bad.
2. Jose’s funeral. I’m not going to get much into it because I’ll cry. Suffice it to say, it was one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done. I miss him.
3. Breakdown #1- Related to guilt over Jeff’s Worst Birthday Ever. Also related to Jose and how I’m supposed to stand in that tiny little coffee shop every single day and try not to glance over at the empty corner where he used to stand and insult me while he drank his chocolate milk. Especially when a million regular coffee customers a day bring it up.
4. I had my first experience with a tanning bed. I panicked the entire time about how I could feel, feel the melanoma starting to sprout (or whatever melanoma does) all over my body. Turns out it was just sunburns.
5. I got a new high score playing solitaire! Spider solitaire even. With all 4 suits. Is anyone impressed yet?
6. Jeff and I did a wedding registry at Bed, Bath and Beyond! It’s so easy to get carried away with the scanner gun, though. At first I was all mature responsible adult and I even told Jeff that we could only scan the things we really needed, because we’re grown ups now. But 2 hours later, I was scanning everything in sight and even ’shooting’ people in the foreheads with the little red laser bar code scanner. 10 minutes later I’d then burst into spontaneous tears when presented with too many different choices of bed-spreads or vacuums or blenders. That alone shows the emotional roller coaster I’ve been.
7. Breakdown #2- Wedding related. Mostly about invitations. I’ve technically only been engaged for 2 weeks and I still have another 2 and a half months of planning to go, but it feels like I should have more done by now.
8. Jeff and I got completely finished with our Christmas shopping for our families and friends. This is one less thing I have to stress myself out over and it’s enabling me to get that extra half hour of sleep that would previously have been spent lying in bed at 3 a.m. trying to decide what to get my dad’s girlfriend’s daughter. (Hint: a shirt.)
9. On Friday night, Jeff and I went to visit his sister, Jodi and her husband Adam. It was Adam’s birthday and we got him some cool stuff and then sat in their basement for almost 4 hours playing Guitar Hero, hanging out with their 3-year-old, drinking tea, and eating Mexican food. It was the best, most relaxing night I had all week.
10. My dad and his girlfriend, Tisha took me, Tyson, and Jeff all out to dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe for Jeff’s birthday. It’s always fun hanging out with my dad because we have the same twisted sense of humor and taste in music. Plus, we got apple cobbler for dessert and it was freakin’ delicious. Also, we got to see that famous cone-boob-bustier that Madonna wore. Which Tyson thought was awesome.
11. My mom’s ex-cop/construction worker/tough guy boyfriend, Dee, made us all fudge. This is awesome for 2 reasons: 1- Hello? Fudge? I ate half the pan in under 15 minutes and 2- It was hilarious watching him read a recipe card.
12. My family put up all the Christmas decorations. Which, trust me, is a feat. And not so much filled with holiday cheer and a loving family as it is with stress, screeching, degradation, and this year- fudge.
This blog will be taking a moment of silence for Jose for a little while.
With the viewing and funeral and assorted wedding stuff, I’m going to be a quivering ball of stress.
I’ve just barely composed myself enough to type coherently.
I got a call from Pablo’s (whose real name is Jose… no more need to disguise him) sister tonight.
He passed away this afternoon.
I don’t know any of the details, but I mourn for his family and his friends and for the sad, tortured life he led. He had a difficult past and an ever more difficult present, that he shared very rarely, and with very few. My heart breaks that he never got to see his life get any better.
I know that Jose and I had a… unique (and sometimes degrading and insulting) relationship, but he and I were truly very close. It’s hard to be trapped in a room the size of a port-a-potty with someone for 5 hours a day, 5 days a week for a year and not form some sort of bond.
I know that I’m speaking for most of you when I say that I’m going to miss Jose and the Thursday Pablo-isms.
So, ok, I know that I was supposed to update the day after Jeff proposed to me, but I’ve been busy. So I’m posting a WEEK after.
I know that some people want to know how he did it, and it’s a really sweet story. He and I were shopping at the Gateway Mall, and we decided to take a walk around Temple Square. Jeff and I sat down by the reflecting pool where we could see the beautiful temple (where we’re getting married!) and we were talking about the first week we met (this… remember?!) when suddenly Jeff got down on his knee and pulled a ring box from his jacket pocket. I immediately burst into the choking, sobbing tears (because I’m classy). 15 minutes later, when I’d finally calmed down enough to gawk at the gorgeous ring on my finger and ask Jeff what took him so long, we’d decided to go to the Joseph Smith building to a restaurant called The Garden to eat some dessert. When I walked into the restaurant, Jeff had reserved the place and invited both of our families who clapped and gave us flowers and gifts (a wedding planning book! I love it!) and we all ate and I cried some more.
After we left the restaurant I went home and didn’t sleep.
And haven’t slept so much as 5 hours in a row since then. At first I think it was from the excitement, but now I think it’s more stress. There’s so damn much that’s involved in planning a wedding. Engagement photos, getting registered for gifts (Bed, Bath & Beyond… here we come!), finding a reception center, and..? Shoes. Oh yeah. This book I got called “1,001 Ways to Save Money and Still Have a Dazzling Wedding” has an entire chapter on shoes. Chapter 9- Shoes. I’m not kidding. And I started to panic, because.. shoes?! I hadn’t even thought of that?! And what am I going to do with my hair!?
*sighs…. panics*
Anyway, the date has been set for February 26th.
So, save the date, internet.
Because you’re all invited.
But only if you help me decide what to do with MY HAIR!
Lindsey’s boyfriend, Jeff here. The reason why I am doing this guest post, is because Lindsey (of the famous Lindsey’s Rantings blog) has been incredibly sick for the past 3 days and hasn’t even been able to think straight, let alone think about the Monday 13! So I thought that by some small chance, if I provided the universe with 13 reasons why I want her to stop being so sick, she’d make some sort of miraculous recovery… so, keep your fingers crossed… Lindsey’s responses are bolded
1. I just hate to see Lindsey sad. When she looks at me with those big beautiful eyes and a frown on her face, it makes me want to cry. And I’m not even the one barfing.
2. I miss the incredibly witty little remarks that come out of her mouth all the time. I know I speak for all of us when I say that life just wouldn’t be the same without one of Lindsey’s smart, well-crafted, insulting statements that elicit hysterical laughter from all who hear. Myself included.
3. Her “that’s what she said” jokes are unparalleled. Lindsey is the queen of “that’s what she said” jokes and I never noticed how much my daily routine relies on such jokes until Lindsey no longer has the energy to interupt a statement that could always be slightly misconstrued to form a more hilarious meaning.
4. I don’t appreciate my life as much without the most beautiful girl I’ve ever known making constant death threats upon my life if I don’t submit to her will. When I first met Lindsey, I was a little frightened by the graphic and detailed nature of the death threats she sprinkled into every sentence but they soon became one of those quirky little things that I love about her. HAHAHA! This is funny because it’s true.
5. I need help with my homework. Lindsey is a magician with words and whenever I need to write a paper, I know exactly who to turn to first. I’d be lost without her. I really do help him bullshit through a LOT of homework. It’s pretty much what I do best.
6. My family doesn’t like me around as much if Lindsey isn’t there too. They always say they like her more than me, but now that she’s not around as often, I’m realizing that they might be serious. Oh. They’re serious.
7. At 10:30 pm, a Whopper Jr. from Burger King sounds really good. Linds and I have started a rather unhealthy tradition of late-night fast food runs. At least with Lindsey I can blame it on spending time with her, but when I do it by myself..? I’m just getting fat.
8. I caught myself singing a Joanna Newsom song…
This one.
Lindsey likes to play it for me because she thinks it’s funny to watch my reaction (I’m not saying that I don’t like it, but…. well, I don’t freaking like it) and now that I don’t get my daily dose of Joanna, my subconscious is providing it for me. *sigh* This makes me happier than I’ve ever been.
9. She’s not very good at being a sick person. Don’t get me wrong, because I love giving Lindsey attention but she requires quite a bit of sympathy when she’s not feeling good. I love her with all my heart, but the world would be a much better place if she were feeling herself again. I could take offense to this, but it’s completely true. Sad.
10. Every year for my family’s Christmas gift to other family members and friends, is a cd we’ve recorded and performed ourselves (this family is so freakin’ massively musically oriented and TALENTED. They’re amazing, every one of them) and this year, we’ve asked Lindsey to contribute. She and I are going to be singing Barry Manilow’s version of ‘Baby, it’s Cold Outside.’ She’s a little nervous (A LITTLE?!), but I’m way excited. And just so the internet knows, she has a way better voice than she gives herself credit for. Anyway, the point is, if she doesn’t get better soon, I’ll have to sing both parts by myself. And that’s just ridiculous.
11. I have been feeling like a jerk. She’s not usually as sensitive as she has been the past few days and things that I do on normal days no problem, are now making her cry (I’m not really a jerk, though. I seriously promise. I don’t want the internet to beat me up). This makes me so sad! Clearly I need to be nicer to him…!
12. We have a fun date planned for Thursday and she had better feel good enough to shop shop SHOP. Linds and I have a LOT of Christmas gifts to give this year, and I don’t know about her but I haven’t even started. We are going to get a head start on Thursday and hit some malls.
13. Because I love her. Lindsey has one of the most amazing smiles in the world, and it’s one of the reasons why she makes me so happy. She means the entire world to me and I would never want her to be uncomfortable in any way.
Get feeling better, baby!
