Our Household: Part 5

We're back to the humans today and so that means you get to read all about me. Don't worry, I won't make the post too long. ;)
I don't know whether I go looking for adventure or if I just  turn everything I do into an adventure, but I always feel like I have some  story to tell. That is part of the reason why I started this blog so many years ago. That said, usually my stories involve me in some way, since it is my life, but I am not usually the focal point. In fact, I find it hard to write about myself: I think a lot of people do, but I'll try to give you a small glimpse into what makes me tick.
I was born with an illness called Retinal Blastoma, which is cancer in my retinas. Nobody knew until I was about two and I had lost both of my eyes by the time I was three. Both of my eyes are prosthetic and I can't tell you how many pranks I've played on people with them. Not to mention, the unintentional things that happen when you have prosthetic eyes. Anyway...
Despite being a blind kid, I think I had a pretty good childhood. Sure, there was some bullying and most definitely some exclusion by other kids, but I had one friend who I met when I was seven and she and I have been inseparable ever since then. In fact, the longest we were apart was when she moved to Scotland for her Master's degree and I wasn't far behind her. That friendship made all the difference in the world. I was so lucky, and still am very lucky, to have had Tenie as my best friend. Together we took on the world, but not in your typical little girl way.
When we played "house" the dolls we played with weren't our children, but were being babysat and would be picked up by their moms at the end of the day. When we played "Barbies" our Barbie dolls were witches and wizards and battling evil for the greater good of the world. We found games in hopping around in cardboard boxes, riding tandem bikes, singing at the top of our lungs and fishing in a river with fishing nets and thigh high rubber boots. We were pretty creative kids and I am so glad I had her to share those experiences with. We definitely made our own adventures back then.
I did attend a school for the blind for three years, but it was my decision to go and it was my decision to return to the public school system. Tenie was there of course and she made navigating high school so much more enjoyable. I went off to university a year ahead of her, but fate was kind and she ended up at the same university a year later. By that point, I had been working with Jetta for a year and had attended one Paralympic Games.
All in all, I attended three Paralympic Games-Sydney, Athens and Beijing-and swimming had been a huge part of my life. The swimming trials for the Paralympic Games were actually a few days ago and it was the first time in 12 years that I wasn't there. It's kind of a funny feeling; kind of sad, but also relieved as well. I retired from swimming at the end of Beijing and moved on to massage therapy college, with Glacier in tow.
2008 saw some big changes, with me beginning to work with a new dog and I also met Mr. K. Retiring from swimming that year also forced me to redefine who I was and find ways to fill my time. Sometimes I still struggle with that. After spending so long, committing so much time and energy into one activity, you almost don't know what to do with all of the extra time.
I graduated from massage therapy college, got married, moved to SC, had many experiences with various dogs and then ended up in Scotland, waiting to go back to school for my Master's degree in the fall. Of course, other things happened along the way, but I would have to write a novel and I'm not sure it would sell. :)
I have a lot of interests: such as jewelry/soap making, dog training/behavior,  reading, writing, volunteering, singing, attempting to train for a triathlon (which has sort of been put on hold), horseback riding Etc. I've never been able to sit still well and I think having retired from swimming has increased my need for movement.
The famous quote for this blog seems to be:
"there is never a dull moment"
and although I like to blame it on my dogs, I think I'm really good at putting myself into those situations. Honestly though, I wouldn't have it any other way. :)

Dear 2011

Dear 2011:
I cannot believe that you are already drawing to a close. So much has happened this year. So much so, that I have no idea where to begin. I think, besides the first year I made the Paralympic Games in 2000, or perhaps my first year of university in 2002, you have been one of the busiest, craziest years I have had. So many wonderful and amazing things have happened and for those I m grateful. There have been a few tenser moments, but I am just as grateful for those as well. The harder moments have taught me much about myself and have helped me grow. Looking back, I am still in awe at half of the things that happened and feel very blessed.
***
2011 In All Its Glory
1. In January of 2011, Mr. K and I lived in a house that was not ideal; not even close. The water shut off nearly every other day and was off for at least two to three days at a time. We started looking for a more suitable living arrangements even though we had intentions of moving to the UK as soon as possible. We had four dogs living with us: Glacier, Roscoe, Aria and Baloo.
2. In February we moved into a much better dwelling and Doc joined our ranks. It was then that I really started noticing problems with Glacier's working. This was also the month that solidified our plans to move to Scotland. Before Doc moved in, we had Roscoe, Glacier, Aria and Baloo Tider tested in order to begin the paperwork to bring everyone to the UK.
3. March was filled with puppies and their pooping issues. Dachshunds who were potty trained decided that they liked the carpet of the new house instead of going outside. We knew all three Dachshunds could not come with us, as we had originally bought Doc for Mr. K's sister, and the more we looked into it, the more we realised that we should re-home our little family members. It was a painful, and difficult decision. Glacier's guiding issues were becoming more apparent. I contacted Leader Dogs for the Blind in the hopes that they could help Glacier and I.
4.. In April, I headed home to Canada with Glacier and Baloo. Glacier and I were going back to Leader Dogs for the Blind for retraining and Baloo would be finding a new home with a high school friend; as long as they liked each other. It turns out, they fell in love almost right away and Baloo moved in with her just days after getting to my parents' house. Glacier and I worked hard for twelve days at LDB and left a much happier, confident working team.
5. May came quickly and I spent the majority of the month getting things in order for mine and Mr. K's wedding. I loved being home with my family, but I missed Mr. K terribly. May was also the fateful month that started making my triathlon dreams into a reality. Our wedding was fabulous and I couldn't have asked for a better day or husband, for that matter. May was also the month that saw Doc and Aria re-homed as well. It was difficult and parts of me still wishes that I could whisk them across an ocean to be with us.
6. June was a crazy month, attempting to finalize my passport and my Portuguese identity card. It was this card that would allow us to move to the UK without having to worry about Visas. I also found out that I could in fact get pregnant, but that it was not medically advisable.
7. Glacier and I returned to SC and sweated the month out,packing and planning to leave. We had vet appointments and we tried to sell, or at least, give away our belongings that we could not take with us. My parents visited for a while and helped us get a lot of things done in preparation for the move. The house felt so empty with only two dogs in it.
8. August snuck up on us and we worked feverishly to ensure that everything was set for our departure. We ran into a few glitches, such as the State vet saying that we may not be able to fly with our dogs because things were not documented correctly on our forms. We nearly watched seven months of planning go up in smoke. I worked to get as much of the house packed up as I could and some patient friends assisted with getting the rest of the stuff out once we had flown away. We ran into a small glitch in Boston when we tried to transfer flights and the guy assisting us through the airport didn't speak english. Then, on top of that, the airline didn't have record of our guide dogs, despite Mr. K speaking at least three times to them about it over the phone. After standing at the counter for almost an hour, we were cleared. Our flight was pretty good, considering we were flying so far and we had no issues once we entered London England. We spent a few days touring London and almost walked our feet off. We arrived in Edinburgh and stayed in Tenie and Carmen's flat, which they shared with two other girls. We stayed there until we could get things straightened out for our own flat. We did a few touristy things, like going to the zoo and a few festivals as well.
9. It was in September, after some waiting and assertive conversations, that we were able to move into our own flat. Tenie and Carmen had picked it out before we had even arrived, but it took nearly three weeks for us  to be able to move in. When we finally did move in, the hot water didn't work, but it was resolved. We spent the month settling in and getting to know our surrounding area.
10. It wasn't until October rolled around that I started feeling more comfortable with walking around on my own. Glacier and I experienced a huge regression in his guiding when we first arrived, which followed us basically through September. I worked hard with him, being consistent and resetting my mindset. I was to look at him as a working dog, not a pet. I knew that, but somehow in the move, I had lost that perspective. We celebrated Halloween dressed up in the Steam Punk fashion.
11. November was a great month for me. Triathlon training really started coming together with me finding a guide and receiving a whole lot of help from various sport minded organisations. Mr. K and I also brought Gus and Fiona home, our two little Sugar Glider joeys.
12. December was a  month for the Holidays and even though Mr. K and I didn't go home, we had a good month. We went to the Christmas market and had a great time experiencing the food, drinks and crazy crowds. Gus and Fiona joined us that day in their bonding pouch, but Glacier and Roscoe stayed home as we figured the crowds would be liable to crush them. We had a few dessert parties with the people living at Tenie and Carmen's flat and went out for drinks one night, sampling nearly every festive mixed drink they had on the menu. The night before the girls headed home for the Holidays, one of Tenie's flat mates had us over for a delicious dinner and we were able to say farewell to everyone. Mr. K and I spent Christmas together and it was enjoyable, despite our families being far away. Even though December was a joyous month, it also brought sadness when Gus passed away due to an unfortunate accident on Boxing Day.
As for today, December 31?
Mr. K and I will be going to pick up Yoda and Plato, two new Sugar Gliders, so that Fiona may have some playmates. Tonight, we may wander to a local pub and have a few celebratory drinks and talk about 2011 and maybe even of 2012 and what it will bring.
To everyone out there: Happy 2012. May it bring you joy and be everything you hope it to be. :)
Love,
Jess, Glacier, Roscoe, Fiona, Plato and Yoda

Fun Fact Friday: The Man Behind the Girl

Since yesterday was mine and Mr. K's anniversary, I thought I'd introduce him a bit more formerly

Fifteen Fun Facts: Mr. K

1. I have already mentioned this before, but since it is so obvious...Mr. K is six foot five inches tall, which makes him almost exactly a foot taller than me. Almost!

2. Mr. K wears his hair fashioned into a mohawk...or squished under a hat; depending on his mood.

3. Mr. K hates vegetables! It is impossible to get that man to get near anything that grew in the ground, on a vine, from a stalk...you get the point.

4. Mr. K was a cat person all of his life and wasn't a huge fan of dogs. The funny thing is he is incredibly allergic to cats and now he loves dogs. Hmmm, I wonder whose fault that was? ;)

5. Mr. K has way more tattoos than I do. Both arms have at least half sleeves that are Japanese inspired and his leg has a gigantic Jack Skellington  from the Nightmare Before Christmas movie. He also hasa Green Lantern symbol on his forearm...did I mention my husband's a nerd? (He's been on a Star Wars kick lately).

6. Despite being a very big man, Mr. K is a very good dancer; much better than me.

7. Mr. K loves electronics and electronics love him. I can have a problem with my cell phone, do everything that I know he'll do and it still not work; then hand it over to Mr. K, he do the things I did and the stinking thing works.

8. Mr. K has a contagious laugh. If he gets going I can't help but to start laughing right along with him.

9. Mr. K lost his vision at the age of 25 to a neurological condition, but had terrible vision in his left eye previous to that; he was practically blind out of it.

10. Mr. K loves Coke-it is his cryptinite (LOL. Oh, I crack myself up).

11. He loves music and was in a Christian, Death Metal band in high school. He still plays the guitar from time to time, but his latest passion has been the banjo.
12. Mr. K thinks that he lacks patience, and perhaps for some things he does, but for others such as my crazy ideas he is quite patient. I mean, come on. He's moving to Scotland because I got it in my head that it would be a good place to go.
13. Mr. K really should go on a trivia game where he could win a lot of money because...he'd win. The man is full of what some people would call "useless knowledge..." But I wouldn't call it useless facts because most of it is interesting and kind of useful.
14. Mr. K will talk to anyone. I'm not kidding. He'll call his university to get his classes set up for next semester and he suddenly has a new best friend. I'll hear him talking and think he's chatting to someone he knows  really well and it turns out it's the sales person from AT and T.
15. Mr. K's name is interchangeable between the sexes and when I first met him I blurted out:
"You're like the boy named Sue!"
Somehow, he married me anyway.

"Time Flies When You're Having Fun"

It's been 1 whole year; 52 weeks or  365 days. No matter how you look at it it's a day to be celebrated. This has been spent laughing, sharing, loving, crying, talking, arguing but never fighting, supporting, disagreeing, trusting, discussing, experiencing, holding, goofing around, relaxing, stressing, moving, planning, changing, growing and much much more. It was a year ago today that I signed a piece of paper and jammed a ring on Mr. K's left finger and said "I do." Confused yet?
Mr. K and I were legally married last year, but had our wedding on May 28th of this year. We did it that way for a couple of reasons. The main reason was because  we knew we needed time to plan our wedding, but also wanted to stop having to travel back and forth across the borders to see each other. So, we were married and had the wedding later. I actually would not have done it any other way. At first, I was a bit resistant because I was worried that no one would come to our wedding and wouldn't think it was important because we were already married, but I was wrong. There were a select few who took this attitude, but the people who were guests at our wedding made the celebration what it was. It also made our wedding ceremony even that much more special; there I stood almost eleven months later and I was excited to be married to this man again. What does that tell you?
So much has happened in the last year and considering we're moving to Edinburgh Scotland in less than a month, I'm pretty sure the adventures aren't about to slow down. The best part of it all is that I get to do it with one of my best friends. I think that is the key to our relationship; we became friends quickly and even though there was a definite attraction going on, the time we spent doing things together was just as important as anything else. We're still like that. We just enjoy spending time together. We can both be on our respective computers, doing our thing, but be sitting in the same room and that is enough. Mr. K always says,
"life is too short to have people around that you really don't like," and so I know he's not keeping me around for my fantastic cooking ability. Oh, right-I can't cook.
So it is with one very interesting year under our belts that we move forward into another chapter of our lives and like I said above, I'm glad it can be with you Mr. K. Oh, and Glacier and Roscoe too of course-without those two fuzzy fools, we never would have met. :)

On The Move Again

Today Glacier, my mom, Dad and I will pack up my dad's new truck and head down to Toronto for our last Portuguese passport appointment. Then, tomorrow we'll start the long trek back to SC and Mr. K. I am excited to see him and Roscoe, but a little sad to leave my hometown. I will be back next summer for a visit though, so it's not like I will never be back again.
My parents will stay for a while and we'll use that time to get some things done for our upcoming move to Scotland. We will go through our things and get rid of a whole bunch of stuff. Those items that are in good condition will go to Good Will and the rest will get tossed. We'll also get the "space saver" bags and have my parents help us vaccuum pack a few items we won't need in Sc, but will need in Scotland like winter coats, dog boots and linens. Their visit will not be all work and no play.
We plan on going to the coast and visiting the ocean. I love the ocean and was disappointed that we only saw it once since moving to SC. The cool part about moving to Scotland is that we'll still be near the ocean and will be able to take public transit there. We may even make a trip up into the mountains. That is a trip Mr. K and I have not made yet and it would be nice to see some of SC before we move away.
But before all of the sorting, packing, throwing away and visiting can occur, we have a very long road trip ahead. Due to our stop in Toronto, we will probably arrive in SC on Friday. We'll miss Canada Day, but we'll still get fireworks for The Fourth of July, complete with Mr. K. We've been separated for about three months, with a two week visit around the wedding, so it will be very nice to actually spend time with my husband.
I will try to update from the road, but I am not sure what the internet access will be like. If I can't, I will see you guys when I get to SC. :)

Sorry, but better late than never!

 Tenie helps me with my dress down the stairs.

 Mr. K just HAD to bring out the banjo after the ceremony

 Me and my girls, Carmen, Tenie, Lindsay and Kendra (with flower girl, Ava and Ring Bearer Noah)

 Mr. K and I with the wedding party, Matt bribing the Ring Bearer off camera with a quarter.

 The wedding party after Matt successfully bribed the Ring Bearer to join us. 

 My proud parents and I

 Kendra excitedly opened and poured wine in the SUV limo!

 3 of 4 bride's maids. Tenie, Lindsay, and Carmen, they all went to high school together

 Mr. K and I trying to kiss outside the chapel doors, but I just couldn't stop laughing!

 Finally, a kiss!

 Mr. K and I outside the chapel

Me and my girls again! 

Ok, so these are just pictures from Lindsay's camera from outside the chapel. When I can get my hands on some reception pictures, I'll be sure to post them!!

Bright and Early

I love mornings. In fact, I always have. I find that if I've had a late night and sleep in past 10 I'm usually cranky for the rest of the day. I also need quite a bit of sleep. I think it's partly due to being blind; you are always thinking. Even if you are walking from the living room to the fridge to get a glass of milk, you are concentrating on the floor in front of you with your feet, the sounds you hear and whatever other information you can glean. All of this ensures you are not  bouncing off of walls or blundering over Granny's favourite china tea set. In familiar places the concentration levels are lower and you don't really notice you're doing it, but, if I go back to my point, I need a bit more sleep than the average person. If we go even further back to my main point-I love mornings.
How can you not? The air is fresh and usually there are birds singing. You can sit and enjoy a cup of coffee and know that you have the entire day ahead of you.
That is why this morning when I woke up before my alarm was to go off at 7:30 I was quite happy. I laid in bed for a few minutes and then climbed out when Jetta head butted the door. I'm pretty sure she knew I was awake. I started the morning by feeding Glacier and Jetta and my parents' cats, whom they inherited from me, Loki and Sisu. Then each dog took turns going outside and drinking water and I had myself some breakfast.
Mango juice, a glass of milk, eggs/vegetables/bacon     and a SMALL cup of coffee.
Wait. What?  Small cup of coffee?
No, I'm not trying to cut coffee out. I actually don't really drink that much to begin with, if you compare my consumption to other people's. During the week leading up to the wedding I was a coffee drinking fiend, but normally I have a larger than normal cup in the morning and that is it. But this morning's was smaller than normal, and I was up bright and early because I am off to the pool this morning for my second official triathlon training session. Tuesday's workout went so well that I feel confident going back this morning. However, Tuesday's workout also made it obvious that I have quite a bit of fitness work to do.
When I first hopped in the water I couldn't believe how good it felt. I realised that is why I used to love the sport. It's been nearly three years since I've actually gotten in and swam lengths. After I retired in 2008 I had no desire to go near a pool. I didn't want to hear one, smell one or be near anyone who was associated with one; recreational swimmers excluded. I had begun to loathe the politics that had gone along with competitive swimming and in turn it left a very bitter taste in my mouth in relation to swimming...at all. Things were different on Tuesday. I loved it! I was hoping this would be the case since it is an integral part of training for a triathlon. From everything I have read, swimming is most triathletes' weakness. Not for me; mine will be running.
The water felt great and my body moving through it felt even better. I reached my goal of 1 kilometer and even surpassed it by 100 metres. I felt like I could go further, but as I'm just getting back into it, I stopped there and set the next day's goal for 1.5 kilometres. I am excited this morning to jump in and start. There is not a doubt in my mind that I won't finish.
I haven't done anything fancy; no interval work or speed work. This is about fitness. It's also about getting used to the water again. I'm also trying to change a bad habit that I swam with for my entire career, which may take some work. I used to breathe to one side and every second stroke. This interrupts your stroke and slows you down. I am still breathing to one side, but now focusing on every fourth stroke. It stretches my lung capacity, especially right now, but I think in the long run it will be beneficial. Swimming in open water is going to be much wavier than in a pool and the longer I can keep my face in the water, the faster and further I'll be able to go.
With a new distance goal in mind and a new breathing pattern to practice, I will sign off for now. I hope everyone has a fabulous Saturday and enjoy the part of the day you love most.

Triathlon News

Things have been kind of crazy around here  after the wedding, but I will have plenty of time to fill you in this week. The one thing I did want to tell you about right away was the movement forward on finding me guides in Scotland to train with.
In May I spoke with the founder of One with One, a non-profit organisation based In Ottawa Ontario. She was working very hard to help me find guides overseas and she has done a fantastic job. We've emailed a few times and just last week she sent me an email with four contacts in Edinburgh Scotland. Three were people who wanted to act as guides and the other was the "go to" person for the triathlon club located in Edinburgh. Armed with these four email addresses, I started firing out introductory emails and now have officially received a reply back from each person.
The woman associated with the club sent me a sign up form and told me that I should contact the Scotland Triathlon organisation with regards to competing as a disabled athlete. She said the club would help me with whatever I needed, but she was just not sure what I needed. As I'm not entirely sure yet either as this is a very new thing in my life, I will definitely be emailing Triathlon Scotland.
Each guide has emailed me back and two seem very enthusiastic. One has informed me that he has an older tandem bike we can use to train on, but he said racing on it might be a disadvantage when we get good enough to start competing. It's heavy and that would definitely fatigue us quicker and slow us down, but it's a start. The other potential guides have not guided a blind triathlete before, but are very excited to help out where they can. The one guy has actually guided a guy through a downhill skiing race a time or two. I think these skills will come in handy-I'm brave, but definitely not brave enough to race down a mountain. This particular guy's wife also works at a school for the blind and I am thinking she could be helpful as well. He also told me that he's spoken to a couple of swim coaches, including the head coach for Swimmers with a Disability in Scotland. It sounds like he's got his sh** together. I am so excited and thankful to these amazing wonderful people who are willing to risk their necks and dedicate heir time to my crazy dream. :)
With all of these exciting things in mind, I'm hopping in the pool tomorrow. I haven't swam laps in almost three years and so I am going to take things slowly. I am aiming for one kilometer, but we'll see how I feel. I don't want to over do it and then be set back with my minimal training just because I was over zealous.

Wedding Day Part Three: The Reception

As with the ceremony, the reception was just absolutely amazing. The hall was packed with close to 100 of mine and Mr. K's friends and family and the evening would not have been the same without them. I sat on Mr. K's left at the head table with my girls spreading out to my left and Mr. K's guys running the length of the table to his right. The head table was decorated with orange and purple accents and vases of beautiful Gerber daisies. There were little battery operated dragonflies dangling from the front of the table that lit up and orange and purple candles floated in the three centre pieces we had spaced out along the table.
Upon first arriving we had to figure out the logistics of fitting me on the chair with my ginormous dress, but after Tenie scooped me and skirt in, the best man tucked the chair under me and pushed me in. I felt like I was five again. :) Soon after getting situated the food started rolling out and we all were very excited about this.
The meal started with a traditional Portuguese vegetable soup and went from there with Ravioli and meatballs, roasted chicken and potatoes and green beans. Everyone thought the meal was over after the Ravioli and had piled their plates high. It was quite surprising to them when the chicken, potatoes and green beans were served. The food was amazing, as I knew it would be since Portuguese women can cook. We ate like crazy and most everyone enjoyed the three different types of home made wine placed out on every table. Between courses Mr. K and I were whisked away for pictures and upon returning to the table the "tuck and push" chair routine was implemented to get me back into a seated position.
At one point I had to pee since I had been downing water as if I were a dehydrated camel in the middle of the desert. My dress was heavy and it was quite warm in the hall. Tenie and Carmen, being the handy ladies they are, escorted me to the bathroom then Tenie grabbed the front of my dress and Carmen the back. They hiked it up clear up to my hips and carefully backed me into the Wheelchair Accessible stall. I had to figure out a way to get my arms around the ball of dress just to find my underwear. I will say another sharing line was definitely crossed, but these two have been my friends forever and their help was greatly appreciated. I decided that after our little dress maneuvering experience that I should cut back on the liquids.
After supper the traditional speeches and toasts started. Tenie went first and her speech was both funny and sweet. She started it off by giving me crap for holding out on the kisses and so made everyone count to five while Mr. K and I kissed. Mr. K's best man also delivered a very nice speech. He talked about love and how it's something that is deep inside a person and that someone special is who brings it out. He also cracked jokes about my horrible cooking and how I'll need patience because Mr. K can be cranky. My parents welcomed Mr. K to our family, but Mr. K's mom was too shy to make a speech. After the toasts my uncle who was acting as the MC, asked people to come up and tell stories about Mr. K and I. He kicked it off by telling a story about me as a child putting tape over my eyes and racing around a room shouting,
"I can't see! I can't see!" What an interesting child I was. ;)
The dances followed and even though we had to sort of stay in one spot because my dress didn't move so well, Mr. K and I had a very nice first dance. During the Father Daughter dance my dad wouldn't stop talking. I think he was trying not to be too emotional. It was very cute. Again my skirt got in the way, but I would just kick a foot back here and there and it would move out of the way. After the structured dances, all bets were off. The night started with "Ol' Time Rock 'n Roll" and the dance floor was never empty after that.
Mr. K and I were cornered for a few more photo sessions and at one point we did cut the cake. There were two minor problems with the cake-actually, one minor problem and a bit larger one. First of all, we originally were going to cut the cake with the knife my parents used. Well, in the craziness of the day, the knife never made it, so we used a yellow, plastic handled, ordinary kitchen knife. The second and more larger of the problems was something we did not discover until later in the night.
Our cake was three layers, chocolate, mystery layer and lemon; from bottom to top. Our fairy/knight in shining armour cake topper balanced nicely on the top and real roses decorated the layers. When we cut the cake, Mr. K and I got the top lemon layer and didn't really eat it. We were stuffed from supper and my feet were about to break from wearing those gigantic heels, which I promptly removed after the cake cutting. Carmen assisted me by pulling them off and then squishing the bones of my feet between her hands. She went off to get cake and returned to tell me that the mystery layer was *gulp* strawberry! Strawberry?! Mr. K is allergic to strawberries and I don't mean just a little allergic. Thankfully, for whatever reason, he didn't get any of the second layer and was fine. I just had to tell him to stay away from the cake, which I should have done as well because I almost lit myself on fire by nearly backing into the waist high candles burning by the cake table. Did I mention being a blind bride is very interesting? Whose bright idea was it to get a photo of me by flaming things anyway?  :)
Once I was barefoot the world was right again and I danced up a storm. I'm a horrible dancer and often dance away from whoever I am dancing with, but since I was in a building full of friends and family it really didn't matter. I tried to dance with as many guests as possible and talk with as many as possible. During the bouquet toss the song "Another One Bites the Dust" was played and apparently Carmen had no choice about catching the bouquet. I guess when I tossed it over my shoulder, it smacked her square in the face. Nothing says "meant to be" like a flower in the face. The garter toss went a bit the same, but the guy who caught it wasn't assaulted quite as roughly. Tenie's mom's boyfriend caught it and then proceeded to wear it around his head. If that is not an example of the fun we were having, I'm not sure what is.
Close to midnight I surprised my uncle-the MC uncle-by getting everyone to sing him "happy birthday." It was his fiftieth birthday the next day and I didn't want it to go unnoticed. Around 12:30 or so Mr. K and I were tired and ready to go to our hotel room. Tenie phoned the limo and my shoes were crammed back on my feet. We had a few last dances with everyone and then I was stuffed up into the limo for the last time.
The night was incredible. It is something I will never forget and not because it was horrible. It was full of fun-all of us jumping like maniacs to songs like "Home for a Rest"-and love. The atmosphere was the most amazing thing of all. There were all of these people in one room and they were all happy and joyful: it truly was a beautiful thing. My collar bones had dents in them from carrying that heavy dress around all night and Mr. K was quite dehydrated from over heating in his Tux, but as I've said before, I would not change a thing.
This brings me to the end of our wonderful wedding day. I hope you have enjoyed reading about it as much as I have enjoyed  writing about it. Three years ago I was completely contented being a single person, not wanting to ever get married. If I had known that a wedding could be so beautiful, bringing people together in such a fabulous way, I would never have been so resistant. :)
P.S. I promised photos and I will deliver! ...I just have to find some. LOL

Wedding Day Part Two: The Ceremony

Now, where was I? Oh right. We were pulling into the chapel and my hands were sweating and my heart was racing.
As the limo came to a stop in front of the chapel, Tenie told me that the groom and his party were standing outside on the steps of the historical chapel. Mr. K's sister was looking for her husband and two kids as they were standing up for us as well. My dad hopped out of the limo-I think he was a bit nervous-and Tenie went to look for the two little ones. We were informed that the flower girl and ring barer were not there yet and were probably caught on the bridge crossing from the States to Canada. That didn't make my racing heart situation any better. It was only 4:15 though and the ceremony was not scheduled to start until 4:30 so we had some time. As we waited Tenie, who had jumped back in, told me about the different guests trickling in. Eventually the ring barer and flower girl did arrive with their Grandma, Mr. K's mom, and the little flower girl was lifted up into the limo with us. She was wearing a little white dress with lacy gloves that went to her wrists. We had an extra jewelry set as one of our bride's maids had dropped off of the face of the planet a few months back and she wore that as well. She was absolutely precious. We waited a few more minutes to ensure all of the guests were present and then, at 4:35,  one of the groom's men shouted up that they were heading in. Hence the girls began unloading and I was carefully stuffed through the vehicle's door. As my five inch heels touched the damp pavement below, the sun poked out in full force and we all cheered. At least it would be sunny for the pictures after the ceremony.
The seven of us-three bride's maids, one maid of honour, one flower girl, one ring barer and one bride-made our way up the chapel steps, Tenie and Carmen carefully guiding me and my gigantic dress through the door. As we entered we realised that S had already started singing the girls' song and Tenie had just enough time to unbustle me and hand me off to my dad before she too had to race down the aisle. We had a bit of a rough start with the ring barer not wanting to go up the aisle and although I'm not exactly sure how the rings arrived up at the front, I do know they got there and Mr. K's other sister rushed him back out the doors in order to keep his crying from interrupting the ceremony. S did a wonderful job of singing "What a Wonderful World" as the girls walked up the old chapel's aisle. We had decorated the intricately carved pews with pew bows that had orange Gerber daisies and dragonflies glued to them. Purple and white ribbons held the bows on.
When Tenie reached the front of the chapel S switched songs and our friend pounded out the first few chords of "At Last" on the keyboard. I heard everyone stand up and realised that they were standing for me. I had completely forgotten about this tradition.  S began singing and after waiting for the first verse to close, my dad and I stepped out of the little foyer into the chapel.
I don't really remember much about the walk, just that I kept smiling and that my old swim coach said quite loudly,
"Atta girl." As I walked by. That made me smile even bigger. I carried my bouquet of three Gerbers and some kind of grass stuff in my right hand, the purple ribbons blowing slightly as I moved. My dad walked on my left. Originally I had thought I would have Glacier be a part of our ceremony, but he only listens to me and with the giant dress there is no way I would have been able to keep him under control.
As my foot hit the top of the three steps at the front of the chapel, S sang out a line about being in Heaven and everything seemed right. Dad handed me off and left by giving me a kiss on the cheek. He told me later that up until that moment he was fine, but that kiss made him a bit teary.
Mr. K's friend officiated our ceremony. He did a fabulous job. I won't relay the service word for word. For one thing it would be quite long to write and for another I can't remember everything perfectly. I do remember I was shaking like a leaf and even though I had practised my vows that I had written, when it came to my turn to speak, everything flew out of my mind and I mumbled something about our relationship being unique, that I was thankful for Mr. K and his willingness to help me follow my dreams, that I wanted to support him in his journey through life and that I loved him.
Mr. K went next and when he was done there was not a dry eye in the house. He got choked up and told everyone that he was thankful he had gone blind because if he hadn't, he would have never met me. Our officiator took our hands and put them together and Mr. K realised just how badly I was shaking. Our friend began playing the keyboard again. A table was placed between us and we poured our two different coloured sands-orange for Mr. K and purple for me-and then the table was removed. I was impressed at Tenie's sneaky repositioning of my train so I could move to allow the table to be put between us and how easily she took my bouquet out of my hand as I reached it back to her. We hadn't even practised or talked about that, but I guess when you've been friends for over twenty years you just know what is needed.
As the song continued to softly ring through the chapel, the officiator read a Native Canadian blessing. It's called a blessing, but it is quite neutral and just talks of how we have each other now and that life from now on is about working together. It was beautiful and ended perfectly with the piece our friend had been playing. We exchanged rings and despite me having to jam Mr. K's over his knuckle, it went smoothly.  The officiator closed by telling us we could finally kiss and Mr. K finally caught a glimpse of my dress when he put his arms around me; albeit just the back. :) We were announced and everyone cheered and stood up. I heard my swim coach use his oh so familiar whistle and I couldn't help but grin again. Our little party walked out to S singing "A Kiss to Build a Dream On" and Mr. K and I waited just inside the front doors to greet everyone as they left the chapel. We held hands and Mr. K commented on how he thought I was going to fall over I had been shaking so badly. Everyone leaving hugged us both and told us how great the ceremony was. There was just the right amount of humour and seriousnes and it was short and to the point.
When our officiator had asked me,
"Do you take this man to be your husband?"
I had replied "I do, for the second time."
When were announced for the first time, the officiator made it sound like he was announcing a Royal Rumble.
There were Mr. K's beautiful vows and the blessing to balance it all out.
All in all it was beautiful and I couldn't have asked for anything more.
The photos were taken outside of the chapel with the sun shining and our bouquets ribbons blowing in a light breeze. We posed for many pictures and even got one of Mr. K holding his banjo standing beside me. At one point  my pencil heels did sink into the soft ground and everyone rushed to catch me as they thought I was falling, but I reassured them that I was just getting more firmly anchored.
After my uncle was satisfied with all of the pictures, we piled into the limo where Tenie slid in first and helped me in, Carmen stuffing my dress in behind me. Everyone else climbed in and we were off with most of the wedding party partaking in the home made wine that was waiting for us. I refrained because knowing my luck, I would have spilled all down the front of me. We arrived at the Portuguese Hall in style and mingled around outside waiting for the stragglers to get into the Hall before we entered to "Jungle Bougie." There is never a dull moment: I feel like I've said that before. :)
Alas, we have come to the end of Part Two. I hope you have enjoyed it and I will get Part Three up soon. There are a few other details I'd like to tell you about, but left them for the end as I actually didn't witness them.
First of all, I would like to thank my dad's co-worker who came to the chapel and played classical guitar at the entrance of the chapel while the guests got seated. I unfortunately missed this as I was stowed away in the limo.
Also, I would like to thank our pianist for playing the theme song to the Muppet show for the guys to walk down the aisle to. Again, I missed this due to my location, but I am quite sure it was very humourous. :)

Wedding Day Part 1: The Beginning

I think it's Murphy's Law for things to run late on a wedding day. Despite my very careful planning and vow to be on time, I managed to start our wedding day off a bit late. The night before had been the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner and between waiting for part of the wedding party to arrive from out of town and finishing people's nails, we had a very late night.
Saturday morning began with my mom knocking on my bedroom door and asking what time Tenie, my Maid of Honour, would be picking me up. I said quarter after nine through a mouthful of pillow and Mom informed me that it was nine. I sprung out of bed and had the world's fastest shower. Thankfully, when one is  going to have one's hair put up, one must forego washing one's hair the day of the hairstyle. That made my shower even faster. I just managed to pull on jeans and a zippered hoodie before Tenie knocked at the door. We had a few stops to make before we could get started, so we piled into Tenie'sMom's car and headed out.
The first stop was at Tenie's Grandma's house. She had orange and  purple tulips growing in her garden that she said we could use to decorate one of the tables in the Hall. We had wanted them fresh to ensure that they would look nice for the reception, but we hadn't counted on my sleeping in or the rain that was sprinkling down. I've been told that rain on a wedding day is good luck. If that is so, then Mr. K and I are quite lucky. After our brief detour, we rushed over to the hair stylist's salon and dropped off one Bride's maid, a friend who had ridden a bus for two days to get to our wedding and our friend and soloist for the ceremony. We then drove over to the international bridge and waited for Mr. K's sister, another bride's maid. She did not take long to meet us and we were off again, swinging back to my parents' house as we had forgotten my tiara and hair pins. We were told by our friend-who also played the piano to accompany our soloist-that Mom had already brought the hair accessories over to the salon. With that in order we raced to Timmy's where we placed a gigantic breakfast order. (For those of you who are unfamiliar with Timmy's, it is a coffee chain in Canada that has sort of leaked over into the United States. Canadians swear by Tim Horton's). With five coffees and six breakfast sandwiches in hand we made our way back to the salon. As promised, the hair accessories had been dropped off and the soloist, now referred to as S, was already being attacked with curling iron and hair spray.
Each girl had their hair done and we spent the rest of the morning, and well into the afternoon, drinking coffee and chatting. My uncle who was acting as our photographer stopped in one point to capture the action. I thought he left, but as our hair stylist secured the tiara to my head I heard,
"Look this way Jess."
"What?!" I exclaimed."I thought you left you sneaky man." The perks to having a blind bride-you can sneak around and take photos without her even knowing. :)
Glacier was with us of course and behaved himself very well. Even when I was off being primped, he lay quietly on my sweatshirt and snoozed. He was probably thankful it wasn't him; images of his previous day's bath flashing through his doggie brain.
After much coffee and extra strength hair spray, we headed back to my parents' house to get ready via a white, stretch SUV limo. I had never been in one before and was tickled pink at the music and air controls, the chilled bottle of home made wine and how perfectly Glacier fit snugly at my feet. The limo company was amazing and didn't charge my parents for this extra pick-up as they knew who I was and that was their "way of supporting me."
Back at the house things went a bit crazy since we were much later than we should have been. We only had one hair stylist and she did five very nice up do's. The ceremony was supposed to start at 4:30 and we made it back just before three. I managed to shovel a few heaping spoonfuls of leftover potato  salad into my mouth before brushing my teeth, having my make-up applied by Bride's Maid Carmen and stuffed into my dress by Tenie and my mom. Somewhere in there I somehow found time to put Glacier Aria and Jetta out and also feed them all their respective suppers. The guys phoned at one point to tell us they were lost and couldn't find the Portuguese Hall where they were to be picked up by the  beautiful stretch limo to be whisked off to the chapel. It seemed that their GPS malfunctioned, but Tenie gave them solid directions and they were soon where they needed to be; be it half an hour late Apparently the driver didn't mind though because little old Portuguese ladies were feeding him so when the guys finally did arrive, he told them to take their time.
With my Tinkerbell garters in place, blue shoes jammed on feet, pearl jewelry  in place and gigantic train bustled, it was time to hop back in the limo. Dad was ready, my girls looked gorgeous and the driver had made it back from his afternoon snack. I tiptoed carefully over our driveway since the dirt driveway was soft from the on and off rain we had been getting all day. Tenie, my dad and Mr. Driver helped me up into our "wheels" and I was tucked into the back seat, surrounded by satin, ivory wedding dress. The girls were close behind me and Dad was the last to hop in. Just as the doors were about to close, Carmen realised we were missing our bouquets and sprinted back to the house in swirling African Violet Georgetta. She returned brandishing five bouquets of tangerine orange Gerber daisies and we finally set off. Mr. K's sister noticed that "I Got a Feeling" by the Black Eyed Peas was a part of the play list and asked Tenie to switch to that song. She obliged, turned it up and we grooved all of the way to the chapel. I wasn't nervous, worried or excited until we were about two minutes away and Tenie said,
"We're almost there." Then my hands began to sweat and my heart started knocking out a pretty loud rhythm against my ribs.
As we pulled in...oh, wait that is a part of Part Two. ;) Tune in tomorrow for the continuation of my Wedding Day tale. :)

Who's That Girl?

I'm back!!! The only problem is that I am still wearing fake nails and can barely type. I've never had long nails...never, and even though I've been wearing these things for over a week, I still don't know how to operate them very well. LOL
Despite my fake nail fun, the wedding went amazingly. I couldn't ask for anything to be different. Mr. K and I are truly blessed. Our family and friends are incredibly loving and generous and the day wouldn't have been the same without them. I will tell you more, but that may have to wait until these stinking nails fall off!
So, until my fingers return to their normal state, I will continue to check in on you and hopefully will be able to tell you more about the wedding soon. :)

Don't Miss Me Too Much ;)

Mom and I sat down last night and wrote our schedule for the next week. There are a lot of details we still have to take care of in the coming days, so I decided to warn you that I may not be back until after the wedding. I'll try to read your blogs when I have some down time, but may not have time to comment. If I get a chance, I'll try to write an update or two, but judging by our "to do" list I may not have enough time to even eat. :)
Have a great long weekend fellow Canadians and to you lovely Americans next weekend as well. :)

Fun Fact Friday: Wedding Details

Since our wedding is eight days away, I thought this would be a good time to tell you a bit more about it. :)

Fifteen Fun Facts About Mine and Mr. K's Wedding

1. The ceremony is going to take place in a historical chapel. It was built in the 1800's and the outside is Sand Stone from the St. Mary's River that runs through our town.
2. The reception is going to be at The Portuguese hall. My mom came to Canada when she was three and the hall seemed like the natural choice-plus, their prices are more than reasonable. :)
3. Our menu consists of:
-a traditional Portuguese soup (kind of like a vegetable),
-salad
-roasted chicken
-roasted potatoes
-Ravioli
-green beans
-chocolate mousse for dessert
5. Our colours are African violet and tangerine. Sounds weird right? Looks very cool.
6. I'm not wearing a veil...a tiara will do nicely thank you. :)
7. There   are three groom's men/bride's maids, a maid of honour and best man, a flower girl and a ring bearer standing up for us.
8. Since Mr. K and I are already legally married, one of his friends is going to officiate the wedding ceremony.
9. The girls' jewelry, including mine, was hand made by Tenie's aunt who is a pretty known artist in the Toronto area. It's beautiful.
10. My shoes were bought for me as a gift by friends in SC and they are blue...you know that saying "something borrowed, blue, new, old..." or however it goes? LOL They are the same shoes that Big proposed to Kerri with on the Sex in the City movie. I'm not much of a fashion professional, but they are very nice shoes...and probably cost more than the whole wedding. LOL I have been wearing them in the house and practising because I have never worn five inch heels before-this should be interesting.
11. Mr. K and I are having a sand pouring ceremony instead of a Unity candle for practical reasons...two blind people with fire in a historical chapel does not seem quite right. ;) I will be pouring purple sand and Mr. K will have orange.
12. Roscoe and Glacier are going to be wearing bow ties. Glacier's will be purple and Roscoe's will be orange.
13. Our friends are performing the music for the ceremony. One will play the keyboard while the other sings. The girls will walk in to "What a Wonderful World," I will walk in to "At Last" and the recessional song will be "A Kiss to Build a Dream On." Not very traditional...just the way we like it. LOL
14. Nothing about this wedding is traditional...Mr. K is going to have a purple mohawk, the guys are wearing Chuck Taylors (Mr. K's are going to be orange) and both of my parents will be walking me down the aisle.
15. We have people coming from:
-Scotland
-Vancouver BC
-South Carolina
-Ottawa
-Toronto area
-all over Michigan

I think this Fun Fact Friday needed more than 15 Facts. I could have kept writing. LOL I hope you enjoyed my wedding Fun Fact Friday and I will definitely be posting pictures. :)
Happy Friday

A Glacier Update

With most of my posts and life focusing on wedding details or triathlon training, I haven't sat down and given you a really good "Glacier" update. It's not entirely because I've been crazy busy and doing  what seems like, a million different things, but I wanted to give us some time to work on the things we had learned at
Leader Dogs for the Blind
during our retraining.
Glacier and I were placed together on September 24 2008 and struggled through the first two years and a half of our working relationship. We were having some serious communication issues and I wasn't even sure if he wanted to work anymore. With our move to Scotland looming, I knew things had to change. Either Glacier and I needed to re-bond or he would have to retire. Thankfully LDB took us back for twelve days of intensive training and I learned a lot about myself, Glacier and the way we were/weren't working together.
Glacier and I have been home just shy of a month and I am thrilled to report that we are doing fabulously. It's like I got a brand new dog without some of the problems that come with a new dog. His personality has really started to show again and he follows me everywhere. Even if I go to the bathroom he head butts the door to get in and wait for me. His recall in the house is fantastic (before we left, it was practically non-existent) and gets super excited when I pull his harness out.
Just today I was talking to Mr. K on the phone and had him talk to Glacier. Mr. G leaned his head into the phone and tilted his chin towards the ceiling. After listening to Mr. K talk for a few minutes, Glacier let out a little grunt noise and looked at me as if to say,
"well, I hear him. Shouldn't you get him out of there-that has got to be too small for him in there."
Mr. K and I laughed. It was so nice to see Glacier do something like that: it proves that my big, goofy yellow fellow is back.
Not only is his personality shining, but his work improves every day. He still gets a bit distracted, but he is much easier to re-direct with "kissy" noises and a gentle verbal "leave it." Mom, Glacier, Jetta and I took an hour walk Tuesday night along a bike trail that eventually opened up on to a residential area. I did not have to collar correct him once even though we passed other dogs, kids, cyclists and joggers. His curb work was flawless, stopping perfectly at each "down curb" and crossing each street cleanly. There was one oddly shaped curb that required him to make a half circle in order to cross safely. Mom told me to have him go left, but instead of giving him a direction I asked him to "forward" and he eventually maneuvered us to the safe crossing. I was so impressed. He didn't need me to tell him to find the curb. I think sometimes our problem is me giving him too much information. I sometimes forget that these dogs are taught to make decisions too. We are in a partnership, not an master/minion relationship. :)
In stores I will still put his Newtricks on from time to time because he can be a bit too sniffy. This head harness allows me to have control of his sniffing without getting out those leash corrections which, I must add, I am getting much better about not using.
I do make mistakes and correct him, but it's almost become second nature NOT to rely on them. The majority of the time I won't even instinctively reach for the leash. If I do, on the rare occasion I can usually stop myself. I have snapped he leash once in a while and sucked in a deep breath knowing I shouldn't have done that. What is interesting though, if I have had to use them for excessive sniffing or if I accidentally use one where a "kissy" noise would have worked just fine, Glacier doesn't shut down on me anymore. He just carries on, wiggling the tip of his tail and guiding me carefully along. I am very happy with the progress we have both made. As long as I continue to use the tools LDB gave me, Glacier and I will have a very long, healthy and happy working relationship. :)

Bride's Bothersome Thoughts

So, I am wide awake...again. Normally I have no problems sleeping and I know I am extremely blessed in this, but in the last five days or so, sleep has been evading me.
It is eleven days from mine and Mr. K's wedding and I lie awake in bed thinking of things that need to be done. The thing is, it's silly because none of these things can be accomplished at three in the morning, nor can they be accomplished properly if I am sleep deprived. My logical brain knows this, but my Worry Wart brain missed the memo. I have actually been quite productive in my waking hours and always come home tired from a crazy day of planning and scratching one job one at a time off of my list,  but when it is bed time I am suddenly awake again.
A lot of the big things are done and now it's just the finishing touches that we are working on. Some things, like decorating the Portuguese hall and the chapel, cannot be done until next week. My dress has been taken in for steaming, Mom bought her shoes today and Dad finally found a tuxedo-cutting it a bit close aren't we Dad? :) We all know that I've scraped the deck clean, and managed to get a dead tree cut down without me knowing. I am giving the bride's maids shoes as their gift and those arrived last night after having to be rerouted. I nearly had a panic attack when the shoes didn't show up on Friday as originally scheduled and a note was sent to Mom's in-box saying that the shoes could not be sent to a PO box.
Another thing we had to deal with last week was the discovery that the keyboard that we thought our friend was going to play for our ceremony was bolted to a wall and would not be able to be moved. Wait...what? Who bolts a keyboard to the wall in the first place and secondly, why the crap did the guy decide to wait until last Wednesday to tell me this? Now we're in a scramble looking for an 88 key keyboard, complete with foot pedal. We may have found one, but I would rather that tat particular loose end gets tied up very quickly.
Dad and one of my uncle's have started replacing the railings and some of the boards on the back deck. It still needs to be finished and stained. We're having the rehearsal dinner here at my parents' which is another area of stress for me. I keep thinking of how much food my parents need to make and whether or not we will be able to get it all done. It's not like we can start making the food this week though because it would be nasty by next Friday.
I have one bride's maid who still does not have the alterations done on her dress; a friend who won't reply to emails who is supposed to be driving our friends up to sing/play during our ceremony; this same friend is also supposed to be bringing the bridal bouquets with her as it is a gift to us from her and her parents; Mom doesn't like how her dress fits; Mr. K had to rush around trying to find a Groom's man stand in; the pew bows are not made yet...*takes deep breath*.
That said, we have gotten a lot done in the last little while:
-Tinkerbell charms were purchased and sewn on to my garters
-my dress has been taken in for steaming (and strap replacement). Apparently the straps that I had put on in SC were white...my dress is ivory. We discovered this today and thankfully the seamstress was there and ready and willing to put the proper straps on the dress. *Takes another deep breath*. Being a blind bride is not easy some days! :)
-Decorations are coming together
-our cake flavours have been selected (chocolate cake with chocolate  cream and a vanilla cake with lemon cream),
-Hair appointments were made,
-Bride's maids' shoes did reach their ultimate destination,
-Cards being placed on the table stating that a donation was made in the guests' honour to Leader Dogs for the Blind in leu of favours were mailed out to my parents' house last week,
-the "do" and "do not" play lists were given to our new DJ,
-New DJ was paid in full amount today...
After writing all of that I thought I'd feel better, but I really don't. LOL I still feel like a dog spinning in pointless circles chasing my tail, but there is no reason for this feeling. Things are and will continue to fall into place. I'm enjoying the planning and doing, but I feel like I'm forgetting to do something. However, tomorrow will come-or rather it has already come-and I will get up, eat a good breakfast, get some of my frustrations out on the elliptical, drink a bucket of coffee and
-pick a cake cutting song and email it to the DJ,
-go across the "river" (AKA, across the Canadian/American border), to get the girls' shoes,
-stop at Big and Lot (or whatever it is called) and pick up four more glowing dragonfly thingies,
-get my cake topper to the fantastic woman making our cake (another thoughtful and wonderful gift)...
and whatever else I need to, or can do tomorrow. But first, I need some sleep.

A Little Flare

Glacier and I have had a pretty busy but enjoyable weekend. Friday night my mom and I headed across to Michigan and had a very good supper. Then we went to Joanne's Fabrics in order to buy pew bows and to find something to make them a bit more appealing. White, fluffy bows are neither mine nor Mr. K's idea of interesting, so Mom and I were on a mission to find something to add a bit of flare. Interestingly enough, this task proved a bit more difficult than we anticipated.
At first, we thought we'd get beads, I'd string them together and we'd add them to the bows. The selection of beads was a bit lacking and the one bead that I did fall in love with only had two left. They were these really cool Terra Cotta,   orange suns that we were going to dangle from a strand of pearls into the centre of the bow. We looked at a few different styles of beads, but nothing suited our fancy.
Mom and I visited the ribbon section to see what they had, but were not inspired. There were rolls and rolls of various ribbons, some with sequins others with fake pearls and still others with rhinestones, but we were just not feeling it. We even pulled one of the pew bows out of the box and placed the different strands beside it, but it was a no go. What's interesting to me, is that until we went to a florist to discuss decorating the chapel, I had no idea that people even used pew bows. I didn't even know what one looked like until Mom pulled it out of the box in the store. Being a blind bride has been very interesting  let me tell you. :)
After we vetoed the beads and ribbon, we stopped in a section where they had little glittery bits that you can add to scrap books or sew on to clothing. It didn't take much searching for us to come away with two packages of pastel dragonflies, orange Gerber Daisies and a few packages of purple Irises. The dragonflies are quite small whereas the flowers have different sizes in the packages. We thought we could arrange three dragonflies on one pew bow, or combine a dragonfly or two with a larger flower. Some of the Irises are quite small as well, so a few of those would go quite nicely with a larger Gerber Daisy. I am very satisfied with our new plan for the pew bows. I think these sparkly  accents will be perfect for a spring wedding.
Other than our pew bow excursion, we haven't done much more with regards to wedding planning. Today I am going to sit down and send an email to our new DJ with songs that we must absolutely hear at the reception and songs that may not be played under any circumstance. Mr. K and I have the majority of the special songs picked out. For example, my bouquet toss is probably going to be "Another One Bites the Dust" by Queen and Mr. K's garter toss song is "Legs" by ZZTop. With less than a month to go, things are definitely coming together, despite running into a small glitch where a Groom'sman got a new job and is now not able to come. Mr. K was disappointed, and rightfully so, but we're hoping another of Mr. K's friends is able to step in.
That's all for now. Have a Happy Sunday. :)

Coming Together

It's kind of cool to see the wedding plans coming right along. Small pieces are falling into place and I am really glad I am able to be at my parents' in order to be a part of it. Last night my mom and I put the centre pieces together. I'll try to get a photo of them and put one up. They are so cute, if I do say so myself. We are using cracked glass, round, wide rimmed vases with a darkish purple ribbon about a quarter of the way from the bottom. Where a bow normally would be, we've glued an oval, orange jewel type thing and opposite to that oval on the back, is a tiny, orange jewel-like butterfly. Once on the tables, we will be placing them on top of mirrors and dumping purple stones in the bottoms. We'll fill them with water and have three floating candles in each vase. As of right now, we have two orange, flower floating candles, but we will be scouring the city for purple ones to add some dimension and colour to the piece. We are also going to sprinkle orange jewel-like stars, butterflies, squares and ovals around the foot of the vase. I also cut the stems off of small, purple rosettes that we'll mix into the glittery bits.
I've also been in contact with LDB and they are making five by seven cards for each table that tells our guests that a donation has been made in their honour in lieu of favours. Mr. K and i figured that people just take favours home and pitch them, so why not donate the money to an organisation we can both support whole heartedly? So, that is what we're doing. The woman I spoke to at LDB is supposed to be mailing the cards to my parents' house in a couple of days. It's good to know that we're getting some of these little things done with plenty of time to spare, just in case we have to come up with a plan B.
Lindsay, long time friend and Bride's maid, and I were looking online together at bow ties for Glacier and Roscoe yesterday as well. We're not going to go crazy dressing the boys up, but a nice purple bow tie for Glacier and an orange for Roscoe is definitely in order. We discovered that they really aren't that expensive, which is even more exciting. Mom and I checked for Tinkerbell charms in Walmart last night-I want to add them to my garters, which I bought for three dollars a piece-but it appears we'll have to head over to the Michigan side and check over there as there wasn't any cheeky pixies to be found. That said, we still have about a month to go, so I'm not worried. We also had wine made for our guests a few months back and that should be ready soon as well. Mom heard from our mystery DJ after she dropped the L word (lawyer) and he has agreed to get her deposit to her so that she can pay our new DJ.
So, needless to say, things are definitely coming together and I apologise to everyone reading my blog as of late as it is full of wedding or retraining posts. Variety is the spice of life, so I'll try to ensure that I slip posts in about other topics. :)