Mr. and Mrs. Washburn- October, 2, 2010 (rehearsal and rehearsal dinner)

Our wedding day was more than I could have ever dreamed of.  It went so beautifully, and I have so many memories that I will treasure for many, many years to come.

Friday night was the rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner.  Everyone met up at the church- myself, Brian, Meghan, Kelly, Carl, Logan, Macey, Aubrey, Torey, Sadey, Grandma, Dad, Mom, Terri, Mark, Alan, Shannon, Fah-Pow, Devin, Sheenie, Val, Patrick, Karen, and Sonia.  We ran through the wedding in its entirety two times.  Then we all piled in cars, and headed to Buckley's Tavern.  We had a blast there, just enjoying ourselves.  Dawn (Patrick's wife), Aunt Cheryl and Brent, Mojo all joined us at the restaurant.  The food was wonderful, the drinks were yumyumyummy.  We gave everyone their gifts there.  Here is what we got everyone:

Parents (Mom, Dad, Terri, Mark)
Silver plated double frame with the invitation on one side and an opening for their choice of wedding pics on the other.

Mojo
A Lolita wine glass (Little Black Dress)

Meghan
Lands End Medium Tote, embroidered with MEG
Eliza B. Flip Flops
OPI travel sized nail polishes (5 colors and 1 clear)
Post it notes
Blank note cards
Travel Tissues
Black Clutch Wallet
3 PocketBacs from Bath and Body Works

Kelly
Lands End Medium Tote, embroidered with initials
iHome
Life is Good mug in Purple
Life is Good long sleeved tee in Purple
Black Clutch Wallet
Blank Note Cards
3 PocketBacs

Val
Vera Bradley Bag in Mediterrian Blue
set of 10 Note Cards
Coach Leather Portfolio
Coach Umbrella in Yellow
Coach Passport Cover
3 PocketBacs

Carl
Underdog Tee
6 pack of Killian's
2 Harley-Davidson Beer Mugs

Alan
Camping equipment
(I can't remember what else, I will ask Brian when he's awake!)

Devin
Cars reusable tote bag (from the Disney store, the ones you can use at the grocery store)
Cars mug with straw
Thomas the Tank Engine MegaBloks
Edward (Thomas' friend) MegaBloks
Percy (Thomas' friend) MegaBloks
Ring Bearer Train that we painted

Sadey
Disney Princess clear Tote/Purse
Blue Heart necklace
White little purse
Cinderella doll
Disney Princess mug with straw
Pomander Ball she carried down the aisle

Everyone really appreciated their gifts, which made us feel good- we put a lot of time and thought into them for each of them.  I really did not want to do the across the board same gifts for everyone thing; I wanted them to feel like I really thought about them, thought about what they would appreciate, and put some time into it.  And before you jump to conclusions, we actually did not spend much money.  We tried to get really good deals at many different locations, and that way get more items or nicer items that the person would really enjoy.

For dessert, we did something simple that we both love.  Instead of doing a cake (including the groom's cake- that was at the wedding reception for everyone to see), we went to BJ's and Costco and bought some awesome cheesecake.  It's a little different and untraditional, but everyone loved it.  We did a regular one and a mixed variety one.  Everyone said they enjoyed not having another piece of regular cake (since they would be getting it the next day!). 

Buckley's really was wonderful.  We booked them 6 months in advance, and that is considered late by their standards.  They usually book up 9-12 months in advance; we got lucky!  There was no problem for guests coming into the room; they were able to just walk right in.  They had printed up personalized menus for the night of what we were offering. The food was absolutely delicious (we offered a steak, a crab cake, and a vegetarian option, and the kids could order chicken fingers and fries); it literally melted in your mouth.  The atmosphere was the reason we chose Buckley's; it's laidback but still business attire.  We like to call it rustic semi-formal.  It really feels like an upscale tavern!  The room we were in was in the back, and even though the restaurant was crowded (it always is on a Friday), once we shut the doors it was very comfortable and not loud at all.  The bathrooms were right there, across the dining area right outside our room; we did not have to cross the entire crowded restaurant nor go near the bar to get to them.  The drinks were well done and like I said, yummy.  I had several :)  The service was okay; they had a new server (it was his first day) and he seemed frazzled by it all.  The other guy disappeared for longer than we liked.  By the time we got there, it was late and we wanted to get the kids' food first, but it took a while and they didn't bring them all at once.  They messed up a couple of drink orders at first, though they were corrected.  Overall, the service was okay, but not outstanding.  It's not something so bad that I won't ever go back, nor should it deter you from going.  The only really big complaint I have is their parking.  They have a very, very, very tiny lot, and for as busy as it gets on the weekends, the lot size is just too small.  Street parking is available, but some of our guests had to hike a little ways.  There were no lines in the lot, except for the handicapped spots, and there were only two of those.  There was no rhyme or reason to the parking, and people coming in the out and going out the in- a problem when you couldn't fit two cars side-by-side to get through, and nowhere to pull over to let cars by.  I am of the opinion that they have parties and private events enough that they should have separate parking for people attending those events.  Really, for as busy and as popular as they are, the parking problem is a huge issue.  Overall, I would give them a grade of B+; while everything was wonderful, the parking really was that big of an issue to drop them down to a B+.  We had guests show up 15-30 minutes late because of the parking situation.  If you plan on going here, organize carpools and adjust your schedules for the trying-to-find-a-spot time.

Consider this your first wedding post.  The next one (hopefully tomorrow) will be on getting ready for the wedding (hair, makeup, getting dressed, my only freakout, and arriving at the church).  The installment after that will be about waiting for the ceremony to start, the ceremony, and pictures afterwards.  Finally, I will talk about the awesomeness that was the reception :)  Hey, I have to keep you coming back somehow, right?

One more thing:  keep checking out our photog's site.  Stephanie Glover did an Ah-Mazing job.  I simply can't get enough of our slideshow :)  Oh, and our picture is at the top of her website- that's us holding out the rings :)  If you need a photog, for anything from weddings to life events to family pictures, I really urge you to go check her out.  Switching from our old photog to her a month before the wedding (yeah, that's another story) was the best decision we made regarding the wedding, hands down.

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Or not.  Well, in terms of what this time of year stands for, it absolutely is.  In terms of the cold and extra pain that accompanies it, it's not.

I promise I have been around.  I was working on a blog post for a while, and I still am.  I am trying to figure out the best time to post it, since it deals with a sensitive and controversial topic.

Anyway, What's new in the BLWSquared household?  Not much at all.  We rearranged our living room tonight, and it looks great.  Since Brian did most of the legwork, unloading everything out of the bookcase and TV stand, I was able to push a little bit instead of lift, and we were able to get everything in position.  I then reloaded and organized everything in the display areas, and the books.  We dismantled the 55 gal fish tank, which will go into storage; the fish is now in a 10 gal tank.  The big tank was just too big, and took up too much room in our tiny place.  Once we get a house with some more wall space, we will put the big tank up (and perhaps add some more fish to our lonely ciclid...perhaps).

This now allows for us to put up the Christmas decorations!  YAY!  Christmas is my absolute favorite time of year.  And not just the day, but the period before- Advent, the time of waiting and watching.  It started today, and sadly because of my pain level this morning we missed the first service.  There is just something so mysterious and marvelous about Advent.  Lighting the Advent candles on the Advent wreath, placing the treasured figurines in the Creche...all of it brings back cherished memories for me. 

I love decorating for Christmas, especially our tree.  One of the things that I absolutely loved about our tree at my mom's was that we never had ornaments that didn't have a meaning.  No boring balls, no "kits" from Wal-mart.  Every single ornament that was placed on that tree had a story, a special meaning or event that it represented.  From Meg's and my First Christmas ornaments, to the wooden ornament with one streak of marker on it that I "colored" when I was a baby, to the various nurse ornaments that my mom has received from both us kids and patients, to the ornament for each and every trip we have ever taken, the homemade ones that my mom treasures so dearly, the Hey Diddle Diddle cow and moon ornaments representing my favorite nursery rhyme, the I Love Lucy ones that my sister collected during her craze for that show (she still loves them).  There are so many, and all of them have a story.  Some are worth quite a bit, like the ones my mom brought back from Germany (made in West, bought in East) on her trip there when she was in her mid 20s, and others are just colored paper, like the paper one my older sister Kelly made for me when I was a baby.  When we unpack them, the stories are often told, memories are shared, laughter and smiles abound.  There are certain ones that only that person can put up- like my baby ornaments for me, or the angel getting its wings ornament for my mom (that's a special, personal story).  I love our tree, each and every year, because it tells a story.  There is nothing boring about our tree, and at night, when it's lit up and the house is quiet and you just look at it...it's truly inspirational.  I love how personal our tree is, and I personally think every tree should be that way.  It's one of the reasons I give personalized ornaments to people as gifts- every tree should tell a story.

Last year, when Brian and I bought our skinny little pre-lit fake first tree, we didn't have many ornaments.  He got his personal and special ornaments from his parents, and I brought over mine.  We had some friends give us some old ball ornaments, that we decided to use for color.  We also bought some fun ones- like the Sock Monkey one that reminds me of the Sock Monkey I had growing up.  There were not many, and it looked a little bare.  But it told a story of a new family starting out, and I loved our first tree just for that reason.

In other areas, I am desperately trying to finish the thank you cards for the wedding.  Then I get to start in on Christmas Cards :)  I love sending Christmas Cards- people today so rarely send things in the mail.  The world today has gotten so impersonal with the world of technology.  Yes, an email is quick, but a card of any type shows caring.  That person cared enough to buy it, write it out, get stamps, stick it in the mail box.  We so infrequently get that nowadays, but Christmas and the cards that get sent out take us back to pre-technology for just a wee bit.  They distract from our busy worlds, both as they are being written out and as they are being read.  I love what it all stands for!  We haven't found ones that we like yet- usually we have to go to Hallmark and we haven't made it there yet- but I can't wait to send them out this year.

I was getting ready to type about the wedding, but I figured I would instead do a whole separate post dedicated to that.  I'll go do that now :)