Happy One Year Anniversary Baby!

One year already. I simply cannot believe it! It seems like just yesterday when we began talking, first met and started dating. It is unimaginable to me that in just one short year I have found you...the love of my life! And to think, we're engaged and will be getting married in just over 9 months! Before we know it, we'll be married and celebrating our one year marriage anniversary. I cannot imagine spending the rest of my life with anyone else by my side. You are incredible and I love you more than I can possibly begin to say. As corny as it may sound, you truly do complete me! Happy anniversary sweetheart, I love you so much!

Job or No Job?

That is the question. And right now I just don't know the answer. Due to some very unexpected circumstances at work we no longer have offices to work out of. (At this time I cannot go into more detail.)

As I sit here at home and type this I'm still in disbelief that this has happened. If I do end up losing my job, I have no idea what I'll do. And I have no idea how I'll pay for this wedding I'm in the middle of planning. I was already going to go into debt a due to wedding costs and if I lose my job that debt is sure to grow.

As a result of all this, I will not be online much. I no longer have access to high speed internet. Where we live - in the sticks - nothing but dial-up internet is offered. And it is just way to much of a pain to even check my e-mail!

On a positive note, I have the most incredible fiance in the entire world! Yesterday evening once the job news finally had a chance to sink in Charles was right there with me. Letting me cry in his arms, kissing me on the forehead, telling me I'm beautiful as black is running down my face from my mascara, comforting me, praying with me, assuring me things will work out, just holding me tight and telling me he loves me. I really don't understand how he can tell me I'm beautiful when I'd been working for hours packing things up and was so gross and sweaty and then once the tears started to flow and I had mascara running down my face. He truly is incredible and I'm so thankful that I get to spend the rest of my life with him.

So anyways, those that pray please keep me and my job situation in your prayers.
Thanks,
Kristal

Solution?

(Source)

I think I may have found a solution to the S&K Menswear saga!

There's a company called Jim's Formal Wear that carries the EXACT SAME suit that we were wanting from S&K! They don't have their own stores, instead they have authorized retailers. I did a search for retailers and was floored when my bridal salon A Joyous Occasion was listed as a retailer! Woo hoo!

Now, I still have to call and get some information and make sure they do rentals with the suits and stuff but I'm so glad I've already found the suit somewhere else! Oh and it's not just the suit, they have the shirt and the shoes we want as well! Score! So this afternoon I will be calling Joyous to get the details!

Oh and I have other good news regarding my Not Enough Time post! Much to my astonishment, yesterday while Charles and I were texting just before I left work he surprised me by saying that he's going to stop going to church on Wednesdays so we can have Wednesdays for wedding planning!! Yay!!

Now please understand that church is extremely important to me and him as well. Our church background is different, he's been going to Sunday service and the Wednesday evening service for years at his church. I however, was not brought up in a home where we attended Wednesday service. I'm not saying it's not needed or anything like that, it's just not something I attend. Anyways, I was very thankful of this news and am so glad we'll have a day set aside for wedding planning now. Oh and it means more time with my sweetie too!

Were you able to find solutions to unexpected problems quickly?

Not Enough Time

(Source)

This little update might get on the long side so get comfy!

I feel like I'm falling behind in my wedding planning blogging (and planning itself) and I don't like it one bit! I realize that the wedding is 11 months away. Some of you I'm sure are saying why in the world are you worried? 11 months is a long ways a way. Unless you've planned a wedding before you have NO idea what all it involves. And when you're planning on doing as much as humanly possible DIY (as I am) that complicates things so much more complicated and time consuming. Not to mention that the 11 months till the wedding will FLY BY and will be here in the blink of an eye. Wedding planning is a full time job (I already have one so I'm now I'm working two).

I have been uber busy...with non wedding related stuff. As mush as I'd like for it to, life goes on while you're in the middle of planning the most important day of your life. Laundry still needs to be done, dishes still need to be washed, the house still needs to be cleaned, the dogs still need to be walked.bathed.given hair cuts.fed, I still have to show up at work 5 days a week for 8 hours, church is still every Sunday morning, and the list goes on and on and on! Now, thankfully I'm still living at home with my mom and we share all these responsibilities, so that makes it a bit easier.

For weeks I've been needing to take pictures of our toasting flutes, cake serving set, the guys socks, and the gifts for the flower girls. And yet they still haven't been taken. I just haven't had the time. I was hoping to already have the save-the-dates e-mailed by now and that hasn't even happened. Today was the first day I was even able to begin working on a rough draft guest list. And that list is only for my side of the family and my friends. Charles and I haven't been able to sit down to work on his part of the list yet. And we won't be able to do so for at least two more weeks because he's getting ready to go out of town! Ugh.

We have so much we need to work on together (example: getting ideas for our registries...more on that another time, guest list, invitation wording ideas, etc). But we have literally NO time to do it. I feel like I'm planning our wedding without him and I don't like that feeling at all. I've tried to include him in the decision making process up to this point but when you have less than 8 hours a week (yes...LESS THAN EIGHT HOURS A WEEK) with your fiance that makes it nearly impossible.

I feel it's time to share one of my big stress factors with you all....
Charles is a Police Communications Officer (Dispatch Officer) for one of the local police departments. He works second shift (1:45pm - 10:15pm). Doesn't sound so bad does it now? Well, factor in this stuff:
1) he works that schedule every week from Thursday - Monday (he has Tuesday and Wednesday off)
2) I work Monday - Friday 8:30am - 5:00pm (and have Saturday and Sunday off)
3) both our schedules are set and never change.
4) Wednesday nights he attends the evening service at his long time church (Sunday he attends with me...well he will be within the next few weeks)
What does that all equal:
1) Tuesday is our date night.
2) I get to his house at around 5:30pm on Tuesday evenings and leave that night at various times depending on how tired he is/I am. (It's probably an average of 5 hours we have together.)
3) Wednesdays I get to his house at 5:30pm and leave at 6:30 so he can get to church on time. (That's just one hour together.)
4) Sunday's for church I won't really count. While we are together and we are learning, worshiping and growing in the Lord (the most important things we could be doing), it's just not the same.

So that gives us a grand total of roughly 6-7 hours together a WEEK! Adding church on to that would still only bring us to 8-9 hours together tops.

I'm sorry but that's just not enough! This fact of us having so little time together is really wearing on us both. In the very beginning of our relationship, we both agreed that the limited time was a blessing in disguise (yeah it totally sucked but we felt it was a good thing). Having limited time in the beginning allowed things to move at a slow and steady pace, it kept us from moving too fast, kept us from getting too physical, etc. However now, it is killing us. I suppose it could be worse than this but it's just so hard.

He is the man I want to have children with, grow old with, have grandbabies with, I want to go to sleep next to him and wake next to him and so on. I want to be with him as much as I possibly can. But because of our schedules, that is oh so limited. Sometimes I seriously toy with the idea of going down to the court house to get married so we can really be together. See, we are what is now considered old fashioned in the thinking that we should not sleep together let alone live together before we are married.

Anyways, I think I'll wrap this up now and stop boring you with all my whining. Needless to say, it's extremely hard not to have more time with my love, not to have more time to plan our wedding together and so on.

Is the time you have with your fiance limited and out of your control? How does it play in to your wedding planning?

One Year!

Exactly one year from now I will be marrying that man of my dreams and love of my life! I am so excited and cannot wait! I know this year will fly by though and our day will be here before we know it.

I sure hope that the weather on our big day is MUCH nicer than the weather this May 1st. Start praying about it now!