{distracted} is an understatement

To say that I have been distracted from life around me the past 2 months is a bit of an understatement.  The weeks before Connor proposed, I actually lamented to him that I was a bit bored.  I had run out of 'projects'...and if you know me well, you will know that I always have a few projects in the queue waiting to be completed.  After the proposal though, life went to 125 speeding miles per hour: a wind in my hair, bugs in my teeth, don't even bother stepping on the brakes kind of speed.  All of a sudden, life was all about wedding planning!!  Which was really perfect because this was the ultimate project for me...crafts, organizing, researching, creating, and food!  Woo hoo!!  And my super mom and I jumped right in.  Within 3 weeks we had the church, the hall, caterer, florist, theme, photographer, and honeymoon set.  And its *possible* that I had a secret Pinterest account (this was before they created secret boards!) that was all things wedding that might have helped out a bit with the vision.  After all of that came Engagement Photos in San Diego less than a month after our engagement since I already had a trip planned to see Connor.  And then the photos were done so I was able to design our Save the Dates.  And they were printed really fast so I was able to address and stamp them all tonight.  In two weeks I'll head to Texas where I'll meet up with my mom and future mother in law to dress shop, meet with the caterer, florist Missy, and see the hall.

A huge part of me wishes the wedding was in 2 months instead of 7 months...we are both just ready to get the show on the road.

Of course, in the midst of all of the wedding excitement, Connor and I find out that we will be moving back home to Texas!  This is hugely exciting as I'll be close to my family again for the first time in almost 7 years.  This is hugely terrifying because I'll be changing careers in order to make the move and we'll have very little time to apartment hunt in a brand new city before we make the move.  Jokes on me for complaining about being bored!

Oh, and lets not forget that on top of my regular job, I'm co-designing costumes for a production of Go Dog, Go! at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park.  Its SUCH a fun show and I've loved working with my co-designer but the timing laughable.  I had no idea when I accepted the job last summer that all of this would be happening simultaneously.  Hilarious, really.

And finally, to top it all of with a nice juicy cherry, I'm in the final month of training for the Flying Pig 1/2 Marathon!!  This little training adventure has been such a great experience for me.  Each week that we run a longer distance is just so exciting, to see my pace drop as the miles increase.  I'm shooting for a 9 minute/mile pace (but hoping for a bit faster).  I run once on my own and twice with a running group coordinated by a local Running Equipment Store.  The group runs are pre-planned so I just get to show up and run with  my pace group.  This is my third 9+ mile race but the first one that I'll be truly trained for thanks to the running group.

I will be leaving Cincinnati in late May and Connor will be following behind in mid June.  I'm going to be terribly sad to leave Ohio (words I NEVER thought I'd utter) and I know Connor feels the same way about San Diego.  The one thing getting me through the next 2 months being away from my fiance and facing all of these distractions is knowing that this next move finally brings Connor and I together.  Forever.  foooorrrrreeevvvvvveeerrrr.

Can't. Wait.

Have you ever 'accidentally' overbooked yourself?  Am I insane for running a half marathon in hilly Cincinnati?  Do you have a magic way to move myself and my possessions to Texas for me?  Leave me a comment and let me know!!!

Registry Race Results

When we originally planned my end of February trip to San Diego, it was to be centered around a nice relaxing camping trip and time with a few friends.  Once the engagement happened, there was suddenly a great need to get as many items crossed off the list as possible while we were in the same city!  And, let me tell you, there was a huge list of things to do.  Connor was SUCH a trooper and we ran all over San Diego (I think we drove over 200 miles in 3 days) completing our tasks.  One of the biggest things I hoped to get done was working on our registry.  I knew that the next time we'd be in the same city long enough to do this would be way too close to the wedding so it was crucial--at least to my wedding planner brain.

Connor and I really are building our home from nothing, unless you count our mismatched college hand-me-down dishes and Ikea pan, so registering was a bit overwhelming at first.  Neither of us has ever furnished an entire home, always using second (or third) hand housewares or living in a furnished home.  Not knowing where we even wanted to register, and hoping to keep it to three locations, we did a walk through of Macy's, Target, Bed Bath and Beyond, Crate and Barrel, Macy's, and Sears before we narrowed it down to the first three.

I knew Connor would love the clean modern aesthetic of Crate and Barrel so we started there.  Sure enough, he fell in love with a fun set of white square shaped plates and we were on our way!  He informed me that any food looks fancy if its on a square plate and, well, who am I to argue?  As you can see he was a big fan of the scan gun.  I did manage to scan a few things but I left most of the fun to him.

This is a man with a plan

We also successfully "finished" registries at Target and Bed Bath and Beyond which was a huge weight off my mind.  We had a bit of a 'scan now, think later' sort of attitude because of our time crunch.  It was quite handy to go back to the websites and make changes after we had time to think things through.   Target was the only store with an actual 'gun' (major criteria for Connor) but beyond that, all three locations were accommodating, easy to use, and fun.

Registry Race Results According to Megan:

Oddest thing on registry: Rice Cooker.  Connor has lived in a house with one for years and his life won't be complete unless he has one.  My mom looked over the registry and made a comment that there was something that she thought sort of odd but did not say it by name.  I knew it was this.  Later on she mentioned the rice cooker and I had to laugh.  Yes, its odd, but I is His biggest 'want' so I couldn't say no.

Most difficult item to choose: Bedding. We both have such different tastes when it comes to...everything...but this was extra tricky.  He likes neutrals and no pattern.  She likes color, prints, and texture. Went with a nice textured charcoal duvet that we can accent later with other (fun loud) colors and prints.  A nice compromise I think.

Most excited about: KitchenAid Mixer in Cobalt.  I've been the baker in the family since I can remember and I always coveted my mom's stand mixer.  Though Connor was nudging me towards a 50s Sky Blue color, in then end I've settled on a nice Cobalt that makes me smile every time I think about it.

What a beaut'

Longest Analyzation: Who knew coffee makers were so complicated?!  We are very casual coffee drinkers though I very much enjoy tea daily and coffee on the weekends.  We chose a Keurig model but it took us about 20 minutes of comparing to come to that conclusion.  

I have to say, overall, we had a really great experience.  It would have been nice to spread it all out over a few weeks, but I'm so glad we got to do it together.  There was lots of high fiving when we agreed on something and a bit of lobbying when we didn't.  

If we can live our lives high-fiving (and sometimes lobbying) I think we'll be alright.

Did you register for any crazy items?  Did you even register? Who started this tradition anyways (though I feel like I should give THEM a high five)?  How many times a week will Connor cook rice?