Lisa Lisa Bo Bisa

It almost seems fitting that on my drive home tonight I saw two hot air balloons ahead of me.  The same two balloons that launched with ours that wonderful day last October when my life changed for the better.  Only 2 days away from when we say "I do," seeing the balloons reminded me how all of this started.  It's amazing to think that we've been planning this wedding for almost 11 months now.  I don't think I've ever focused on anything so consistently for so long in my life.  College was 4 years, but let's be realistic - the focus was never consistent.  Costa Rica was almost 3 years, but it never felt like it required much focus.  My trip to Peru was about 8 or 9 months of planning, but still weak in comparison.  So it feels good to be at this point.  Really good.  I should probably be freaking out, in a nervous panic, biting my nails and running around frantically.  But what am I doing?  Blogging.  And far fro...

We are down to the single digits - only 9 days to the big day!  I couldn't be happier, though I can't fool myself that these next 8 days won't be insanely busy and probably a tad bit stressful.  But both Jon and I have out-of-state siblings flying in this weekend, plans for the State Fair with them all, and even a date night for just the two of us this Friday, so we have a lot of fun to look forward to amidst the craze. As a typical bride, all of my focus has been on the day itself, how to throw a most wonderful event that lived up to my dreams and wouldn't be a bore to our guests.  I successfully avoided becoming a bridezilla (at least I think I have), and I am quite pleased with how Jon and I have put together this little shindig.  We're hoping it will be a fabulous day! Today, however, I realized everything that would be new  after we say "I do."  Oh man! New Name:  Holy moly, this one really baffles me.  I will have a new last name...

Since my last post, Jon and I have been coming up with our game plan.  How were we going to approach this issue with insanely expensive photos that we could not really afford?  So, we did our due dilligence and researched other competitive photographers in the area that we had originally met with way back when, talked with friends who had their own photography experiences, and came up with our strongest arguments.  (Thank you all for your perspective and great points you shared on my post - it was so helpful!)  All along we kept in mind that the last thing we wanted to do was harm our good relationship with him.  He DOES still need to take our wedding photos, afterall, and I do not want him to have a bad attitude about us or our photos.  Oh, how sad that would be. And so, tonight was the night we were going to call and chat with him.  I was nervous that we would get nowhere with him, but Jon and I had agreed that we would either get them if he d...

Less than a month to go and things are finally starting to really come together!  Thank goodness.  We have definitely had our fair share of surprises in planning this wedding, but nothing compares to the doozy we got yesterday.  We finally had our engagement pictures taken.  I know I know, most people get their engagement pictures taken when they are somewhat newly engaged, not 29 days before the wedding.  We intended to have them taken in early June but hesitated to set up the appointment as it seemed rain was in the forecast every day.  We really really wanted some nice pictures outside.  July just got plain busy, and a couple of those weeks I was consumed in panic that our photographer would not actually live up to my expectations of the style we wanted.  Fortunately my concerns were mostly short-lived, as he showed us examples of his photography that reassured me he was still a good choice for us.  And so that brought u...

My life has taken a turn for the busier, where I have to rely on my pocket calendar to keep track of what I have going on each day.  But it's mostly all fun and full of wonderful moments and great laughs, so who can complain?  A week ago Friday night Jon and I played golf (which we have had little time to do lately), and even though it was literally 90+ degrees well after 5pm, we had a great time.  And I received a very sweet compliment from the ranger on the last hole that made my day.  I've grown so accustomed to strange looks when I step on the same tee as the other men.  You know, because I'm a woman and should be playing from the red tees way up closer.  But then they see my tee off, which is usually decent enough, and then only sometimes give me some credit that I actually know what I'm doing.  But I digress.  So that night the ranger told me tha...

This weekend has been good to me.  Nothing super exciting or special occurred, but it was the last calm weekend of the summer so we made the most of it.  I love keeping busy, but there is nothing better than waking up, on my own time, and having the whole day at my disposal to do whatever I want.  So, here's what I did: 1. I finally caught up on sleep - hallelujah!  I'd been running on 6 hours of sleep or less for quite some time and it was starting to really get to me.  I felt like I was stuck in this zombie-like state where I couldn't think clearly and had to muster up the energy just to do the simplest tasks.  We have had plans every single evening and weekend for a couple of weeks now, so I have had no choice but to stay up later than I know I should.  I'm sure there are plenty of people that can function just fine on 6 hours of sleep a day, but I need at least 7.  So Friday night I got over ...

I don’t know if anyone else ever feels this way, but I hate lunch during the work week. Yep, only Monday through Friday. I hate trying to figure out what I’m going to eat for lunch, and because I appear to have a “healthy” appetite (as my grandmother would say), I’m starving by 11am and already have food on the mind. Thoughts of both dollars and calories spin around chaotically in my mind, causing a feeling of guilt no matter what I decide. Do I spend a crazy amount of money on a salad from Lunds to be healthy? Or do I forgo the calorie concern and get a $2.99 snack pack at Culvers because it won’t hurt my bank account as much? Either way I lose. Subway has been a source of comfort for me, being relatively cheap AND healthy, but I’m no Jared. I cannot eat it every day! I could avoid this stress altogether by bringing a lunch. Though that in itself creates stress. That would mean I have to go to the grocery store on a regular basis (which has not been occurring with the ridiculously b...