More blog love!

So thankful to Bicoastal Bride, Miss Pug, New Mexican Bride and NuFlaiir for recognizing me on their blogs with a lovely new award.  I hate to admit I received it a while ago and have not gotten around to posting it, but here goes.

Rules: list 10 things that make you happy. Then, pass it on to 10 bloggers that make your day a better one!

1.  My daughter, Jordan Kaylie. 

That is a horrible pic of me but a super cute one of her from when she competed in the National American Miss Pageant this past August.  She's 14, a freshmen in  high school (God help me) and super athletic and smart.  I am so blessed and so proud to have such a beautiful, fun and talented daughter who loves Jesus!

2.  My fiance, Mr Fix It.

I am so blessed to have this man in my life and am thrilled beyond belief that he has chosen to make me his wife just four short months from now!  It's so crazy to think that after 37 years, I have finally met someone who is everything I ever needed but never would have expected for myself.  :)  Funny how the Lord works in mysterious ways.  I can't imagine my life without him...the thought of that just makes me nauseous. 

3.  My family.

 

My mother and my baby sister are daily parts of my life.  If we do not see each other, we speak on the phone.  We live within 15 minutes of each other and are constantly together.  My sister keeps me laughing always and my mother makes me feel grounded and established.  The three of us 'Campbell' girls have been a strong unit for our entire lives and happiness just isn't the same without them contributing to it.

4.  My job (and my boss).

No pic for this one...just the recognition that I am truly blessed by an unbelievably amazing boss and a job I have been at for 7 1/2 years now.  This job came to me via some serious hardships but God was so good in how He worked everything out for the best for me.  Because of this job, I was able to finally gain financial independence as a single mom, pay for this wedding without going into debt, take family vacations for the first time each year, work only 4 1/2 days a week and have the freedom to leave when I need to so that I can be at my daughter's school and sporting events and just overall live a stress free life without the worry of overtime and anxiety.  This job is what allows me to blog and read all day long and to plan our wedding without the stress of not having enough time for everything.  :)

5.  Jesus and the Bible.

Ok, this one should be number one, but God knows that without Him, nothing would be possible in my life.  For all of my fears and failures and faults, Jesus has been right there through every one of them correcting me, encouraging me, loving me...I am by no means perfect but I am perfect in His eyes.  I thank Him daily for what I don't deserve but am blessed with and remind myself daily to live my life in a way that honors Him.  My biggest hope for our wedding is that it will overflow with the name and love of Jesus and that our guests will know Him more personally through the ceremony and elements of our marriage and vows.

6.  The blogosphere

When I found my way into the blogosphere just a few short months ago I never would have dreamed of having 74 fellow blogger friends following along with me as I spill out my thoughts and ideas.  I am so grateful for this new medium and how happy it makes me to know I have 'someone' out there who can relate to me on some level. 

7.  The internet.

What would I have done without the internet?  Thanks to my job, I am able to browse online all day long and have made almost every one of my bookings and purchases for the wedding based on web sites I found.  I do all my Christmas shopping online and have everything come to me!  I am able to keep track of everything with e-mail and come up with all kinds of inspiration and ideas just from typing in a few words into Google.  Love it!

8.  TV.

I hate to admit I am a tv addict in many respects.  The funny thing is, I don't really watch a ton of tv when I am at home.  I actually watch it mostly at work!  Isn't that bad?  But my job (my amazing dream job as I mentioned above) is not really a full time job even though as an executive assistant my boss requires me to be in the office for 4 1/2 days a week.  So most of the day, I am just sitting around by myself in an empty office without anything to do.  Therefore, I do most of my tv viewing from the internet thanks to the networks new web sites that offer full episodes online.  I admit that I watch shows online I would normally never watch at home.  Things like the City, the Hills, Desperate Housewives, etc. But my absolute faves that I *do* watch at home are probably Lost, the Colbert Report, How I Met Your Mother, anything wedding related, and Bones.

9.  Cooking.

I love to cook and am a self taught chef thanks to the Food Network!  With the internet and cable in today's day and age, just about anyone can learn just about anything and DIY.  Cooking included.  My fiance thinks I'm a great cook and my mom refers to me as a 'gourmet' cook...that's a little overboard.  She's just shocked because I cook with mostly fresh ingredients and not things out of a can like she did when we were growing up.  :)

10.  Sleep!

Sleep makes me SO happy...unfortunately, in my late 30's, my body has decided it doesn't need much sleep and I am usually not in bed until 11 pm or later and then I usually cannot sleep past 5 or 6 am regardless of whether or not I set an alarm! UGH!  How I miss the days of my twenties when I could sleep until 11 am!  That is until my daughter was born of course.

So there you have it...10 things that make me truly, utterly happy.  As far as passing this award on, I would like to give it to my 10 most recent followers as every single follower makes me so so happy!  I love finding new blogs to stalk and knowing there are some out there who find I have something worth reading as well.  :)

The fiance finally loved something about the wedding!

So as I have mentioned in previous posts, my little honey is not overly thrilled about much when it comes to the wedding details and planning.  He thinks our colors (an aqua/turquoise and cranberry) are too 'red, white and blue' a la the Fourth of July.  He thinks I am going overboard with things like favors and such.  And previously, he said he thinks I'm going 'over the top' with the wedding shopping and plans.  My response was "Hey, over the top is what people use to describe something amazing so that means I'm planning a fabulous event!"  :)

However, we did sort of agree on our venue.  When I took him there for the first time his response was "We don't even need to look anywhere else...this place is amazing."  He's really happy with the caterer we selected and seems satisfied with the invitations.

The funny thing is, he typically fights me at first and then comes around and admits that the things I have been buying and planning are in fact pretty cool.  Like when I showed him the favors I bought for our teenage guests this weekend (flashing mouth guards that make their mouths flash different colors when they slip them onto their teeth), he laughed and said the kids will love them.  But of course, everything is followed with "And how much did that cost?"  (sigh)

Needless to say, I was thrilled when he came over this weekend and saw the samples of the labels my sister had created for the escort cards.  I found these cool little favor boxes in the shape of chairs that we will fill with the personalized M&M's (they will have our picture on them - but not quite as this sample below along with a little message): 

I am also including some red Jelly Belly jellybeans in the favor boxes.  And on the front of the favor box will be a sticker in our cranberry color with the graphic design from the invites and the table number. 

On the chair back, you slip in a vellum paper with the guests' names on them.  We will line all these up on a table and then have little signs on the table that say "Please take your seat" 

A little play on the words as they are picking up a chair to discover what their table assignment is.  And inside they are gifted a little sweet chocolate favor.

Anyway, my point is...when I showed them to the fiance since he asked what the labels were for...for the first time since I began sharing wedding plans with him, he actually said "Those are really cool...that is actually very nice."  Wait a minute.  Hold up.  You mean to tell me that the fiance actually likes something I have planned for the wedding?  Ah-mazing!  Now don't get me wrong, he followed it of course with the cost question and went on to say we could have put out little pieces of folded card paper and saved ourselves the $80 it cost to buy the chair favor, but seriously?  Is he kidding me?  These are the small details our guests will love and realize that thought was put into every aspect of the wedding.

Here is a sample of the boxes which we will modify as I mentioned by replacing the monogram sticker with our own label that will have a table number and printing the names on vellum in cranberry font:

So what are your ideas for escort cards?  And have you found your honey fighting you on things you have dreamed of for your big day?

From food to animal: My new last name

So my last name is Campbell...soon to be Beever (with an e). 

My entire life I've been referred to by nicknames such as Campbell Soup, Soup, Sopita, etc.  It's kind of a no brainer that my last name is pretty famous, common, but still famous.  I love my last name.  My sister loves it because her initials were JC growing up (like Jesus Christ - not in a blasphemous way...she just liked having that connection).  I actually have two middle names (Lee Ann)...thus my initials were always SLAC.  Kinda silly but whatever...until now.

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I am now going from a 'soup' to an 'animal' (beaver) as my friend, Kristin likes to say.  Even though the Beever is not spelled like the animal, the name still gets referred to as such.  Now my initials will be SLAB...I don't think I like that.  And I know I don't like Stacey Beever as opposed to Stacey Campbell...this has been my name for 37 years afterall! 

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I'm scared...I say my new name...have not practiced writing it yet...but I say it.  It scares me.  But I am a traditional woman who will take on her husband's last name.  Ugh!  Beever...

I do however love my blogging name "Born to Be Mrs. Beever."  Something about it just speaks to me :)  And now you know the history behind my handle. 

So...do you have any little stories, thoughts or ideas about your blogging name, your new last name or the dilemma of whether or not to keep, hyphenate or take on a new last name?

Diamonds are a man's best friend?

We started shopping for Mr. Fix It's ring about 3 weeks ago.  He was all over the place on this one.  We knew he wanted something different and not just a plain band.  And since he's in construction, he can't really wear his wedding ring all the time...not to work at all - it could end up costing him his finger if it got caught on something :(

So when we started hitting the local mall and some jewelry marts we saw price ranges from $100 to $1500 - of course.  I had budgeted a certain 'high' amount but it wasn't what I expected to pay because Mr. Fix It was leaning towards Titanium which is a little less expensive, durable and had some unique options.

The one thing I wasn't prepared for was the fact that he wanted diamonds in his ring!  At first I thought he was joking, but once he showed me some styles, I knew he was dead serious...and I didn't mind because I actually kind of liked some of them.

The search was on and these are some of the contenders:

   

We narrowed it down to two rings, this one:

And this one, which is actually my favorite! 

It's hard to tell from the photo but it has a two toned yellow gold tint to the 'elevated' part in the middle but we are going to have the entire thing made in white gold and then have the lower outside portion polished with a high gloss and the wider part of the band will be in a more satin finish so there is a contrast.  What I love about it is that it has 2 princess cut diamonds in it - the same kind of diamonds that are on either side of my own wedding ring :)  So we almost kind of match.  The good news is that we got the quote 3 weeks ago and had the owner write down the price on a business card.  I don't know if you follow the markets, but gold just shot up this week and so we are probably getting it for a steal right now.  We should be purchasing it this Saturday and get it in within 2 weeks!  Another thing to check off the to-do list!

Have you bought your groom's rings yet?  What was the experience like?  Did he go for classic and traditional band or for something blinged out?

Is that your budget or are you just happy to see me?

Yeah, that's right...I said it.  Our budget has gotten out of control in Mr. Fix It's opinion.  But a quick bit of background:

I came up with a budget quite a while ago right before we were officially engaged.  Once I had the official proposal and after we visited many venues and narrowed it down to our few choices, I showed my budget to Mr. Fix It.  He flipped out.  He said that I needed to stick to a budget of $25,000 for 200 guests and that was it.  Well, I reluctantly said I agreed...though I really didn't.  Afterall, I was the one paying for pretty much the entire wedding!  And as I mentioned before, I didn't have to go into debt to do so. 

A few weeks later I began showing him some things for invitations and other ideas.  He didn't like most of them and said some of them even looked 'cheap.'  To which I responded "Well, if you want me to stick to $25,000 then some stuff is going to have to be cheap!"  To that he agreed to bump our budget up to $27,000.  (Wow, that extra $2,000 was going to do a lot for what I was going for - sort of.)

As of today, I know almost exactly how much I am spending on this wedding.  And let's just say, that while I am not at the figure the honey asked me to stay at, I am in fact at the figure of the budget I originally showed him.  :)  So here's the final breakdown:

I don't personally mind talking about money but I know some people are put off by this or are easily offended and form many a personal opinion regarding such issues.  So rather than giving a breakdown by specific dollar amounts, I will simply say that my budget is pretty firm at $36,000 for 200 guests.  I will give you the breakdown by percentages and would love to hear how you fellow brides compare with your own expenses as far as what you put the most money towards or what your priorities were for spending.  That way, a $5,000 bride can share that she spent 20% of her budget on the photography because that was like the end all be all of her big day for her.  :)

Venue:    18%  (Rancho Las Lomas - post coming very soon)  This was like the one thing I absolutely had to have on wedding day.  Mr. Fix It caved a bit on this one for me as he thought it was too much money even though he loved it, too.  Unfortunately, the 18% is strictly the rental fee of the venue and does not include anything else...with just the venue, the guests would be standing around with no place to sit, no decor (other than it's gorgeous natural surroundings) and no food!

Catering:  34%  I threw in the cost of all the rental items in this figure.  They include tables, chivari chairs, dinner/serving wear and glasses, satin linens in aqua/turquoise and cranberry, amalfi benches for the cocktail area, ceremony chairs, cocktail tables, space heaters, etc.  Because we booked on a Friday (off peak day) we were able to bring in an outside caterer.  This was the only way we could afford the venue because their exclusive caterer on Saturdays quoted us $24,000 for only 180 guests with way less included than what our caterer is offering.  Our final figure works out to about $60.00 per person for a buffet meal (each guests gets tri-tip AND chicken entree w/salad, rolls, and 3 additional sides).  Also included in our catering was the cake, fruit and cheese/cracker display, two hot appetizers for cocktail hour, a chocolate fountain, unlimited soda and punch/lemonade, coffee service after the cake cutting, champagne and cider toast, 20 kids meals, 5 vendor meals and two bartenders for 8 hours for the cash bar.  While we were amazed at the deal we got compared to the five or six other catering companies we'd contacted, we are a little concerned about this caterer being familiar with our venue.  The venue truly is a blank slate as the kitchen has counters and a sink with unfiltered water, but no fridges, no ovens, no stoves, no microwaves...nothing!  The caterer will need to handle all of this.

Florist:  7%  I love my florist!  I am meeting with her in a few weeks for our first design meeting and will share all the lovely details with you.  She is providng me a combination of high and low centerpieces for 20 tables, 7 cocktail table centerpieces, my bouquet, bouquets for 6 bridesmaids, boutonniere's for 12 men, 3 corsages, ceremony aisle decoration, flower girl wand, toss petals for ceremony, cake table decor, etc.  She is known for being able to provide amazing florals for weddings in the OC for less than $3,000.  May seem like a lot to some of you but believe me, some florists I contacted wanted you to spend a minimum of $4,000 before they'd even book you!

Photographer:  4.5%  Love my photographer...he gave me a phenomenal deal.  No prints or albums...I just wanted the high resolution images to be able to do with as I please.  I'm getting him and a 2nd photographer for 8 hours.

Videographer:  5%  Love my videographer as well...a key important vendor in my opinion.  He knows what he's talking about and will send me ridiculously long e-mail responses to my fears and requests to let me know that he plans on doing a great job on our big day!  He is offering 10 hours of service and not promising but hoping to bring along a 2nd shooter and some 'extras.'

DJ:  4%  He was the DJ at a friend's wedding.  He and his business partner were perfect for me.  He is super duper detail oriented and professional and his side kick is super funny and energetic and knows how to get people dancing and entertain them.  So I was thrilled to meet with them.  They have an insane web site that allows us to log in and create our online playlists from their vast music library filling in things like what songs we want for the processional, recessional, first dance, bouquet toss, etc.  Included in our contract is the ceremony songs and audio setup of speakers and mics for the officiant, groom, vocalist, etc, cocktail hour music, reception music and emcee services.  I am also getting about 18 perimeter uplights for the reception room, pinspot lighting on the cake table, and a custom GOBO light of our names and date (that I will be designing soon) to display on the fireplace above our sweetheart table.

Stationery:  5.4%  I found a company that creates custom designed invitations and wedding related stationery who is amazing.  The designer, Stacia, has worked with me and my many revisions to come up with our personal invitations.  We will use the design on the invites to create ceremony seating cards (10), menu cards (5), place cards (200), table markers (20), programs (200) etc.  Also included in this budget item are my DIY STD's, stamps, thank you cards, escort card/favor boxes, guestbook, favor tags (200), etc.  My sister helped me out with the DIY items so this was a mix of both professional and DIY projects.

Attire:  5%  This includes my gown, shoes, jewelry, alterations, the groom's ring, my daughter's dress/shoes, and garters.  Mom helped offset the cost of my gown by paying 2/3 of it for me (not included) and my honey offered to pay for my professional hair and makeup artist for me and my daughter as a wedding day gift.

Photobooth:  3%  This was a must for me and part of the reason Mr. Fix It doesn't know that our budget has gone over a bit...it's a surprise for him (and the guests) and also is incorporated into my guest book which I will be posting about soon. 

Wedding Day Coordinator:  2.8%  Another must for me and also another thing Mr. Fix It didn't know I snuck into the budget.  She brings two assistants and runs the rehearsal the day before and the entire wedding the day of.  She deals with the vendors, runs the ceremony, sets up all my favors and extras

Valet:  1.8%  Required by our venue and actually kind of needed.  Turns out Mr. Fix It knows the owner of the required valet company (a former customer of Mr. Fix It's).  They bartered for half the service so I paid half and Mr. Fix It paid the other half in services.

Cocktail hour entertainment:  1%  We hired a magician to stroll around the guests at our cocktail hour and entertain them with card tricks, slight of hand tricks, etc.  See my previous post about how we found Jeff Ezell and how cool he is!

If you are still reading this, you may notice there is about 9 % of my budget missing.  This amount was spent on various miscellaneous things including but not limited to:  marriage license, dance lessons, flat screen tv rental for slideshow, gifts for wedding party, memorial candles/vases, votive candles and decor, favors, officiant's fee, OOT boxes/items, cake topper, kids favors, flip flops (see future post), and web site. 

Not included in *my* budget is the rehearsal dinner (being paid by groom's parents), honeymoon (being paid by groom), my engagement ring (obviously), and groom's tux (will be free).

There you have it - please don't slam me for basically spending a down payment on a house on our one day event.  The truth is, I never in a million years would have thought that I would be able to afford something like this on my own without maxing out credit cards but by the grace of God I am able to bring all of our family and friends together to celebrate the main purpose of all this craziness:  the love and union of me and Mr. Fix It and our families as we take the step into amazing phase of our lives...that's really what it's all about - not percentages or gowns or how nice your centerpiece is.

My Mr. Fix It

I've noticed many brides on the blogs have nicknamed their future hubby's rather than use a first name.  I think this is cute and want to jump on the band wagon.  So I decided to term my honey Mr. Fix It. 

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I know it seems kind of stereotypical...but it is who he is...both literally and at heart.  And to deny him that name (as corny as it may seem) would be to deny the essence of his very being. 

When John (now Mr. Fix It) was right out of high school, he began working for a large department store installing carpet and flooring.  Over the many years, he became more skilled at his trade and picked up a lot of other useful abilities.  Eventually, he started his own company and now does everything from installing all types of flooring to remodeling bathrooms and kitchens, countertops, etc.  Hopefully one day soon he is going to get the next step up the rung in licenses so he can be a GC.  But that takes some schooling and time.

Anyhoo, he bought his house as a foreclosure and since he's owned it he has put on a new roof, installed all new flooring, counters, bathrooms, a garage door, recessed can lighting, a new garbage disposal, new windows, doors, water heater, telephone wiring....I could go on but it's just crazy.  On top of that he can change the hoses, brakes and filters in my car.  Woohoo-screw you rip off, mechanics!

But beyond that...it's not just that he *can* do all these things for me and whoever else might need them...it's that he *wants* to do them.  I learned early on in our relationship that Mr. Fix It's best way of displaying his love, care, and affection for friends and family is to offer them assistance in whatever way possible.  (Once we were driving down the street and a poor older man was trying to push his broken down car off to the side of the road - Mr. Fix It immediately jumped out of his car and began pushing the vehicle and told the man to jump in the car and steer.) 

When he talks to a neighbor and finds out that they have a problem that needs repair, he is the first to offer his services.  He would give you the shirt off his back.  And that's why I love him...he is a servant, loyal, giving, kind, funny, sweet and sexy man...oh, and ever so handy around the house!  :)

Tell me all about you and your fiance!

So Miss Mojito had this posted on her site and I just loved reading about her and the honey's details of their lives and such.  Thought I would do the same and post my own answers regarding our relationships.  Feel free to copy and paste into your own blog and let me know if you do so - I want to come check it out!

1. What are your middle names?

Lee Ann and David  (He's named after his grandfather, mine is sort of after my grandma's middle name - Lee)

2. How long have you been together?
5 1/2 years! 

3. How long did you know each other before you started dating?
We met on match.com - talked on the phone for a week and then went on our first date...so we didn't know each other at all when we started dating.  :)

4. Who asked who out?
He found my profile and contacted me...then he asked me out to dinner.

5. How old are each of you?
I am 37 and he will be 47 soon...I preface this with the fact that no one believes he is 47.  He looks like he is in his late 20's early 30's and acts like he is a teenager.  He is super fit, active and young at heart.  :)

6. Did you go to the same school?
Actually, we went to rival schools!  My school (Orange High) referred to his school (Villa Park High) as the 'weenies on the hill.'  Villa Park bordered our city and was known as a snobby rich neighborhood.

7. Are you from the same home town?
I grew up in Orange and he grew up in Villa Park which borders Orange.

8. Who is the smartest?
Ha!  Depends on the subject.  Probably equals.

9. Who majored in what?
He didn't attend college.  Went straight into his trade after high school and now owns his own flooring/contracting business.  I graduated from Biola University with a bachelor's degree in business and organizational leadership development...basically a broad business degree.

10. Who is the most sensitive?
I am definitely the emotional one...he is a 'man's man'!  (Matter of fact, never once seen him cry - is that a good or a bad thing?)

11. Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple?
Up to now, we've been to Cabo San Lucas, Las Vegas and Yellowstone (Wyoming) and Northern California and Oregon together.  But we will be leaving the continent on our honeymoon - more to come.

12. Who has the worst temper?
Definitely him, but we both know how to push each other's buttons.

13. How many children do you want?
Up until 4 months before we got engaged (after 5 years together), we always thought we'd have two more kids (I already have a teenager from a previous relationship).  But right before we got engaged, he suddenly said that he realizes he is much older and doesn't want to feel like a 'grandpa' at his kids' high school graduation.  So now we are pretty sure that we will opt for savings and travel and enjoying our hopefully future grandkids one day.  Besides, we have 7 nieces and nephews all under 5 years old right now between the two of us and I am sure there will be more on the way.  So it's not like we don't have children to enjoy :)

Update:  Last night while holding my 6 month old niece on Halloween, he suddenly says he thinks we need to 'have one of these.'  (sigh)  I looked at him and said, I thought we said we weren't having kids...we need to talk about this.  :)

14. Who does the cooking?
I do most of the cooking...he can definitely cook but I enjoy it better and am probably a bit more 'gourmet' than he is.

15. Who is more social?
Absolutely him!  And that is saying a lot because I am pretty social.  But John is the type of guy who will talk to any single person he comes across whether in line at the bank or grocery store, at a restaurant, at a new friend or family member's house...the list goes on.  He is more like a girl who won't stop talking.  But he makes me people feel really comfortable with how friendly he is.  It's what I love about him.  We are sure to make friends wherever we go.

16. Who is the neat freak?
Um, duh!  Me!  He is in construction and is a boy bachelor...need I say more?  He drops socks, food, trash, mail, keys, phone everything anywhere and everywhere and mostly on the floor.  He is so busy he rarely cleans and he has a dog.  It is a nightmare and I can't wait to move in with him and keep our place clean finally.

17. Who is the most stubborn?
It's pretty equal...we're both really stubborn...but ironically tend to compromise a lot with each other.

18. Who wakes up earlier?
We are both early risers.  I can't ever sleep past 5:30 or 6 usually.

19. Where was your first date?
Cheesecake Factory at the Irvine Spectrum center.  We browsed around the shops after.

20. Who has the bigger family?
Kind of funny..he actually has 4 siblings and 8 nieces and nephews whereas I only have 1 sibling and 2 nieces and nephews.  But his family doesn't really have any extended family.  They are big about hanging out with mom, Pops and all the siblings and kids, but he doesn't have grandparents or aunts or uncles that they ever see on holidays or vacations.  I know he has some out there somewhere in the country but he does not speak to them or visit them.  Our family on the other hand has tons of aunts, uncles, cousins, grandma, etc.  And almost all of them are very local so we spend Thanksgiving, Christmas, birthdays, etc. together.  On our guest list, my family is more than double his family. 

21. Do you get flowers often?
I am not big on flowers.  I love them, but I feel like they're just gonna die and then I'll have to throw them away and I don't like that part of it.  John has a large bush in his backyard that has plumeria flowers on it.  Sometimes when we are hanging out watching tv and he goes to let the dog in the backyard, he'll come back in with one or a handful of plumeria flowers for me.  I love it, it's so sweet and simple. 

22. How do you spend the holidays?
As mentioned above, with my extended family usually.  Turkey Day at Grandma's and Christmas Eve at my aunt and uncle's.  John spends the holidays with my family, or Turkey Day he goes up north to his dad's or brother's.  I assume once we're married I'm going to have to start alternating holidays and not getting to be with my whole family every year :(

23. Who is more jealous?
We don't believe in jealousy.  Our motto is, if you think I'm interested in or attracted to someone else, then I would just break up with you and be with them.  :)  There is not an ounce of jealousy between us.
24. How long did it take to get serious?
Funny - he had just divorced the previous year and was easing back into the dating scene.  He was still going on 'first dates' with other women he met online for several months after we had been dating.  But then about 6 months in, he finally called me his girlfriend and made it exclusive.  I don't ever feel the need to rush him.

25. Who eats more?
John

26. What do you do for a living?
He owns his own flooring/contracting business...installs any and all flooring, remodels kitchens and bathrooms, countertops, etc.  I am an executive assistant/bookkeeper to a multi-millionaire who invests in real estate.

27. Who does the laundry?
We live apart so we do our own...it will be interesting to see if he relinquishes this to me when we move in.  He claims I won't know how to 'fold' his clothes.  :)

28. Who's better with the computer?
DEFINITELY ME!

29. Who drives when you are together?
Usually him, but lately I try to drive more because he sucks at driving.  He is so social that he loves to look at people when he talks to them.  God forbid he is talking to someone in the back seat!  And he is a looky loo at everything but the street in front of him!

30. What is your song?
We don't have a song that is 'ours'.  I have a song that I will be walking down the aisle to that reminds me of our story...The Day Before You by Rascal Flatts

Seriously Saturdays (The Are you kidding me's? of wedding planning)

So I'm a huge Grey's Anatomy fan.  But even before the hype of some of their catch phrases, I think I was already using one of the word's that has shaped many a conversation in my life.  If you're not sure what I'm talking about, check this out:

Seriously!  I love that word.  I mean, how is it possible for someone to convey so much thought, attitude, frustration, support, anger, love, and genuine emotion with just the simple tone of a word?  Lovely. 

That said, I have found myself often discussing, dealing with, venting and just trying to understand the thoughts and reasoning behind some of the things people do and offer and say when it comes to my wedding planning process.  Are you with me on this girls?  Therefore, I introduce you to Seriously Saturdays...each Saturday I will post a brief thought or anecdote about something wedding related that just makes me say:

Seriously?

Today's thought:  So when visiting venues we often asked when their peak season is...in an effort to receive  any discounts for 'off season' booking.  (see my post on venue interviews here)  We were originally told by one venue that their off season months are January through April.  Yea for us!  We want to book in April.  Then when we finally inquired about the pricing, they had a different venue rental fee for each one of those months!  And guess what?  The month of April was the highest of course.  :(

So the fiance told me it would be a good idea for us to consider getting married in March because they would let us book any weekend in March for $1,500 less than the several dates I asked about in April.  As silly as it sounds, March is a rain month in So Cal...April not so much (see previous post).  I stood my ground and the fiance agreed to let me book my date of April 16th.  But they told us if we booked the last Friday in March instead (just 3 weeks earlier) they would have given us the $1,500 discount.  SERIOUSLY!?! 

Have you had any experiences like this where it seems almost ridiculous how the wedding industry rapes us as brides? I mean, seriously!  (excuse the bad analogy)

Matt Damon or Kevin Bacon?

So ladies...my honey is often told "You look like an older version of Matt Damon!"  Though he gets that a lot, he sometimes gets "You look just like Kevin Bacon!"  Now to me, the two are polar opposites...but the funny thing is, I see them both in my gorgeous hunk o' man. 

Many times at a restaurant someone will say "You look so familiar...do I know you?"  And then he'll say "I get told I look like Matt Damon."  And they'll scream "That's it! You do!"  So what do you think?  Does he look like Matt Damon, Kevin Bacon or neither?  Use the Your Thoughts buttons below the post to vote as such:

Matt Damon:  Click LIKE

Kevin Bacon:  Click FUNNY

Neither:  Click DISLIKE

 John:

Matt Damon:

Askmen.com

Kevin Bacon:

Source

What I am looking forward to as the new Mrs. Beever (a Series)

So the fiance and I (due mostly to our faith and supported by statistics) have decided that we will not be moving in together until after the wedding day.  He has his own home (a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom, enclosed front yard, big back yard single story home on a cul-de-sac) that my 14 year old daughter and I will be moving into after we return from the honeymoon.  Since for the past 5+ years we have each had our own separate homes, there are many things that I am looking forward to regarding our relationship and home once we are officially married.  I figured I'd share some random thoughts as they arise between now and wedding day in a series as titled above.

So for the first entry of what I will be looking forward to once we are married:  Uninterrupted blowdrys and no missed phone calls while in the shower.

FH and I rarely go a day without calling each other first thing in the morning.  As a mother of a teenager and career gal who has to be at work at 8 am every morning, I typically wait until I am on route during my 25 minute drive to work to phone John and say good morning, have a good day, and so on.  However, he has this habit of calling me at 6:30 am which is usually right when I am in the shower (so I miss his call) or blow drying my hair (where I have to stop to answer the phone).

So this morning when he called me at 7 am as I was running late and trying to dry some of my hair before sprinting out the door, I didn't appreciate having to turn my cell on speaker phone, turn my hairdryer down to low and bend over up to the earpiece so I could hear him while trying to blowdry.  Needless to say, I will be thrilled once we are living together and we can just simply talk to each other in person while he is in the shower and I am blowdrying my hair :)  Ah, the simple things in life.

So future Mrs. (insert new last name here)...what are you looking forward to once you are living together (if you aren't already)?