How to Organize a Wedding

Last night I was up until 2am “playing with money” and trying to ensure that I was following my budget to save $$ for the wedding. Then I was up until after 3am freaking out about the wedding, money, picking my clothes that have exploded in the closet, etc.

On the money front, I’m fine.  Really, I just hate not knowing exactly how much this will cost (since we don’t know our menu or our final numbers).

On the wedding front, I think I’m freaking out, because I actually don’t have anything to do.  The big things are booked.  There are tons of things I could be doing.  And then there are tons of things that need to wait until we go to Cincinnati or wait until I have accomplished XYZ, etc.  At tap the other night, I spoke my friend who got married in October.  She recommended doing as much as you can now, so you don’t have to do it last minute.  That is why I am on this crafting kick (plus I love arts & crafts).

Therefore, I made an Excel spreadsheet of everything that needs to be accomplished in the next 7 months, and organized the tasks by when I will/need to do them.  Aren’t I dork?

So not much to do in November, but there are those “ongoing things” that have to be done at some point, right?

Much of my list is based off of the checklist given on The Knot.  Obviously I tweaked some dates for when they are relevant to me.

WEIGHT LIFTING

Of course one major thing NOT on my to-do-list is GETTING IN BRIDAL SHAPE.  That is an ongoing process, perpetuated by my weekly visit with the personal trainer today.  Major move of the day: seated rear deltoid lifts

Holy cow were those hard.  I was only using 8lb dumbbells, and barely made it to 12 reps.

I hope I’m really sore tomorrow!

Cleaning and Cruising?

Well, check a few things off the list.  I bought some stamps and I cleaned my desk at work!!  TA-DA!

It may not look like much but it represents hours of work, like printing 1500 pages and putting it into binders and then organizing marked up calculations to dead file them.  Isn’t engineering exciting?  This is where the magic happens!

I also feel like working/living in a clean space just frees up my mind.  It’s so much less stressful, and I feel like I can actually get things accomplished.  If only I remembered this all the time and kept my apartment clean.  Of course that’s why I have M, right?

In other news, I spent the evening picking up our house and researching my credit report.  I had been receiving some text messages about a random bank credit card (that I DON’T HAVE!) and wanted to make sure that my credit report was in order.  It was, and after a little bit of research, my suspicions of the text message being a part of a phishing scam were confirmed.  BEWARE!!

And finally, the other night, M and I were discussing how we’ve never been on a vacation just the two of us.  This needs to be corrected.  So I gave him a proposition, “Let’s go on a vacation!”  M went all over the US with his family growing up, so finding a place that neither of us has been to is hard.  Also, he wants a more relaxing vacation, like lying on a beach.  I think he just got sick of spending three weeks in a car seeing EVERYTHING.

So after a bit of discussion, I think we have determined that WE WANT TO GO ON A CRUISE!!  Preferably in April/May right after the test (it’s cheaper then, too!) as a bit of a reward.  Also, maybe the thought of being in a swimsuit will motivate me for the next four months!  The cruise sounds like a good option in that they actually don’t cost too much, and you might not have to think for a week.  We are looking at the Caribbean.  I called up a friend of mine who was a dancer on multiple cruise ships around the world, to get his opinion.  He gave some wonderful recommendations and a few things to think about.  Now just to do some research.

Does anyone out there have any Cruise recommendations?  Cruise lines? Locations? Good relaxing cruises?

And for a bonus picture, I was noticing that a picture of mine from my Always a Bridesmaid page looked eerily similar to my picture on the right:

Anne at 7 and Anne at 27 . . . some things never change!  I just can’t keep my mouth shut!

Can you ever just be whelmed?

“You can be overwhelmed, and you can be underwhelmed, but can you ever just be whelmed?”

“I think you can in Europe.”

Name the movie!

I am feeling totally overwhelmed right now.  I feel like everything is hitting at once.  First of all, I am taking the Professional Engineering exam April 16, 2010.  This is a MAJOR undertaking, to say the least,  similar to the bar exam. And recently the pass rate has been decreasing, causing my company to be very concerned with how people study.  There is also some personal/life goal stuff that is being affected by my brother’s deployment.  I just feel like I have no control over my life right now.  It (and my family’s lives) are in other’s people’s hands.  

I just need to remember to focus on what I CAN control, and not what I can’t.   

I’m a list maker.  I love lists.  I used to make grocery lists in class when I was bored.  (I mean, I also totally paid attention and took notes . . . .)  So when I’m feeling overwhelmed, I make a list.  Inspired by Caitlin’s recent post, here is my to do list for the short term:

I actually had it written down on a piece of paper, but M has borrowed my camera for work today.  Also, another thing would be crossed off, but I realized that I’m out of stamps (thus I added “buy stamps” to the list).

Another strategy of mine is to make a schedule.  I did this when I was studying for the GRE.  Of course that was only about 2 weeks, whereas the PE will go over 4 months (15 weeks actually).  So I have made a study calendar (typical week):

If I follow this schedule for 15 weeks, I will have studied EXACTLY 300 hours.  The current recommendation is 300-500 hours.  I must also mention, that I am going to a reduced schedule (4 days per week), upon the recommendation of my supervisor.  I can afford this (although notice that “budget” is on my to do list), and decided that something had to give for me to accomplish my studying.  That “something” was work.  I am choosing to maintain my personal life throughout this process, and so work (and my paycheck) will be sacrificed.  I like to say that “I 20% quit my job!”

My other concern regarding this schedule is “Where do I exercise?” I have tried to add in tap and jazz (ballet will probably be put on the back burner).  M and I (he’s studying for the exam as well) are NOT morning people.  So we have decided to study in the evenings.  We could perhaps add gym in after studying.  Or I could add a morning workout here and there.  That might be the best for me.  At my office, it’s a lot easier to come in late than leave early.  Hmmm . . . where do we study and how do we eat food?  SEE OVERWHELMED!!

As far as where, we are looking into using the study rooms at the library.  Our home will remain our home, and thus we need to study elsewhere.  We could also use small conference rooms at work.

For food, I’m very much considering buying a crock pot.  We could have dinner waiting for us.  I don’t want to rely to heavily on frozen prepared foods and/or fast food.  That’s just asking for fat to be added to my waistline.

What are other people’s studying or time mangement strategies?  How do you handle feeling overwhelmed?

P.S. While I was at my mom’s, I found some pictures of me when I was little in other other weddings.  So I’ve updated my Always a Bridesmaid page.  I just like showing how cute I used to be!

P.P.S  Our receptionist just stopped me in the hallway to tell me that I’m looking good!  And all of that running is really working for me!  HOORAY!! “Remember the compliments you receive; forget the insults”