The C Word

Our family received some tough news today. My mom was diagnosed with skin cancer. ‘They’ say if youre going to get cancer, it’s the best kind to get and if its skin cancer, basal cell is the most common and therefore has the best and highest treatment rates.
Does anything else matter when its your parent and the word cancer becomes attached to their health?

We don’t know much yet- I will be going with her to see her dermatologist tomorrow. Well learn more about her diagnosis as well as her prognosis and discuss treatment plans. I only hope I can keep it together as well as she has so far.

More Macey- Wordless Wednesday

Birthdays Galore

Happy belated birthday to both my future mother and sister in law! We had an amazing (food filled) weekend together. I am so grateful to be joining in this family and couldn’t be more proud to have celebrated with them!

Engagement Pics As Promised

Anyone Need a Photographer?

I wanted to take a moment to give a little shout out to my engagement photo photographer and real life love, Ashley Andreano.

All you Austin brides and brides to be- save her to your lists, your favorites, shoot her an email or send her a carrier pigeon. Whatever. Even you moms to be, save her name. Parents of graduates? She photographs that too. She does it all. And shell make you feel like it’s the most natural thing you’ve ever done.

Cant say enough wonderful things about her. Check her out!

Im BAAAAACK

I am alive. I am.

As you can imagine, I took a break from blogging to plan wedding stuff. All important decisions have been made. The last tasks we stare in the face- finishing up our registries and deciding on invitations. All in all Id say being engaged and planning a wedding can either consume your life or you can get it done at a neck breaking speed. Its just a choice in my book. Im a planner and I planned. Done and done.

We had our engagement pictures taken on Monday and I suspect my dear Ashley will have them done and ready for viewing tomorrow. I. CANT. WAIT.

Work has picked up lately and its been pretty busy.

My knee is slowly but surely working again- I am finally crutch-less.

I have MISSED all of you- I spent a good chunk of the afternoon catching up on all your lives and attempted commenting but my computer has not been behaving at all and I lost patience. So much good news out there. Erin and Aaron are with child and a beautiful baby girl is in remission. Praise God!

Whew!

I cant believe what Im about to say.

We booked our church. We booked our reception location. We booked our caterer. We are getting married on 1/1/11.

The Deets:
-Immanuel Lutheran Church- Pflugerville
-Bella Lago at Forest Creek- Round Rock
-Catering through a well known expert and family friend in Pflugerville (will be used for rehearsal dinner and reception)

Its been a whirlwind of a few days- but those that know me know this is not all that shocking. Im a huge planner and leaving loose ends is one of my biggest pet peeve. Naturally the decisions we have left to make are very important and should not be rushed into. We have nine valuable months and I want to take my time but remember, we are planning to be married on New Years Day and will need as much time as possible to lock in these vendors.

I am reaching out to you, dear bloggers- for some suggestions. I have vendor lists consisting of companies/vendors I found myself, some that came as suggestions from other brides and then of course we have family friends were going to consult with.

I am still in search of a DJ, Photographer, Videographer, a Cake and flowers. As I mentioned we have names and numbers to go from but I wanted to know your experiences- good OR bad.

If its easier to email me than comment PLEASE DO! Your help is very very much appreciated.

He Did Me Proud- More Ring

Breaking My Silence

I suppose I owe all of you a story. Im sure as many of you know and can imagine its been a whirlwind the last 24 hours! I cant believe this moment is here and I couldn’t be more excited to share the details with all of you!

I got an email from one of Dereks best friends on Thursday asking if we would come to dinner at their house Saturday night. She specified that they would be celebrating their wedding anniversary so wed all need to dress up a little more than usual.

I was hesitant to immediately agree as I had a bridal shower for one of my best friends Saturday afternoon. I replied to the email saying wed love to make it to dinner but was unsure about the timing and assured her we would keep her posted on our attendance. Because she is so important to Derek I really wanted to make it work but didn’t want my friend to be hurt if I sketched out early. There cant be a worse feeling that people leaving you high and dry cutting your bridal shower short.

I came home around 5 PM to ice my knee and promptly fell asleep. Id be willing to bet it had something to do with the 5 mimosas I had at lunch that day but that’s neither here nor there. I would later be very grateful for the extra rest! Derek and I got up and moving around 630 and as luck should have it, I had a brand new dress Id purchased that day on hand so I threw it on and out there door we were.

When we walked outside there was a limo waiting for us and I started to wonder what he was really up to. I asked if the limo was for us and Derek wouldn’t give me ANY answers. When I got in the limo and he climbed in behind me, champagne in hand I really got suspicious. I asked where we were going and Derek stuck to his story and assured me wed still be going to dinner at our friends house, only this time, wed be riding in style.

We got about 10 minutes down the road, the champagne was opened and Derek told me he had something to give me. He reached in his pocket and handed me a penny. You can imagine how confused I was when he told me it was his ‘lucky penny’ and he hoped it would bring me as much luck as it brought him. I laughed and tossed it in my purse. Now I was really onto him. About five minutes later he got down on his knee (slid off the leather limo seat) and said he had something else for me. He pulled the small box out of his pocket and we both started to tear up (I don’t think hell like me telling the blogging world about that, but it was so sweet). He asked. I obviously said yes.

At this point I assumed the cat was out of the bag and hed let me in on our actual destination. I was wrong. It wasn’t until we arrived at Cool River that he let me know we had dinner reservations. He asked me to walk over to one side of the building so he could use the restroom before we ate and only then did I notice the most massive gathering of all our friends waiting for us. They were cheering, screaming and clapping and I- was SOBBING.

Derek had set up the most perfect guest list for us. Our best friends, families, parents of my best friends, drinks, flowers and cards awaited us. It was the most amazing night and I could not have asked for a better way to celebrate with all our loved ones.

I am thrilled to take this journey with my best friend and soon to be husband. I feel like the most blessed girl in the whole entire world and am looking forward to all of your wisdom while planning.

Silent Sunday

Dog Grooming: Con

Despite my first born (dog) being half poodle, I DESPISE when she resembles one. I like her hair wild and as curly and long as she will allow. Because her hair is so curly, I typically end up having to have her shaved about twice a year. Allow me to show you why this is a sad day in our home.

Sure, she looks a little homeless and ratty, but that’s how I like her!

And this, she looks more like an old lady! And the green bows that look like her hair was dyed? Yeck!

Wahooo

I had my first physical therapy appointment yesterday and Im pretty excited to point out the obvious. Im still alive.


I think I was justified to be afraid of what the appointment could have entailed but was pleasantly surprised when it went smoothly, no tears were shed and I got an A+ on the healing I have done thus far. I still have a way to go but I was assured that Im on track to walk normal again and will, in the near future, regain my independence.

My physical therapist said that if I worked VERY VERY hard over the next few days she believed I could once again drive come Monday. Cue the singing angels.

I refuse to think of any outcome other than the desired one- I want to drive and I want to return to work and I intend to make that happen!

Another Thrilling Post Brought to You From My Couch- Yard After Shots

As promised, here are some ‘after’ shots of our yard work. Its pretty hard to tell that weve majorly overloaded what we had, but trust that in person it looks very different and will continue to do so as our hedges grow and we finish off the last of our planting. I also dont think we chose the best time of day to take these pictures but when youre sitting down 20 hours a day, you dont have much of an option. Deal.

One thing I learned is how amazingly cheap builders can be when planting at a new home/lot. Dont get me wrong, it helps to start with every little bit, but youd think they may set you up a little better when you sign your life away to one of their houses!

We need to remove the excess dirt created while digging holes and we also need to lay mulch around these hedges pictured below-but, hey, it’s a tough job! Baby steps, right? One thing at a time- and I cant complain since I havent lifted a finger.

(a closer, more detailed picture- not that it helps much! These pictures are pretty misleading)

This is a plant I found and potted for our patio table. Its cool. Thats it.

And lastly we plan to dig out this entire mess and place one taller tree like plant right at the edge of the house/ driveway (in front of our house number) with shorter shrub like plants surrounding it.

Anyway, not too much else going on here. Just thought Id post pictures for you all- I know you were dying to see our their work. So there you have it. I kept my promise. Cant say I failed you there.

Monday Mumbles

Hello old friends. Sorry to have dumped all over you then disappeared! I was a bit sick of being so down in the dumps and having nothing else to talk about.

Im happy to report my knee is getting much much better- in fact, today I went without any serious pain meds and only stuck to my ibuprofen used to help with swelling. I am getting around much better and can even begin to bend my knee a little. Tomorrow my physical therapy begins so Im sure I will be singing a very different tune. Im a little afraid of what they may ask me to do or positions they’ll make me get in.

Derek and my Mom have almost completed their planting and landscaping projects in both our front and back yards. As promised I will post ‘after’ pictures but it rained all night last night and has been raining all day long as well- its not very pretty at the moment. We have one more plant to get in the ground near our driveway and as soon as the ground is dry again I have a lot of faith itll get done with no problems. I am so grateful to have such a task completed in such a short amount of time and even more grateful I didn’t have to take part in any of the manual labor.

In addition to the yard pictures, I wanted to post some of my knees healing progress but I have it in my compression sleeve, under an ice pack and am all alone. Perhaps Ill schedule a photo shoot with my Mom tomorrow after my physical therapy. See if any miracles happen on that front. Unless youre all sick of gross swollen pictures of my mangled appendage- if so, just say the word and Ill spare you!

To help pass the time I have been watching 30 Rock on Netflix and its safe to say Im hooked. I have heard nothing but rave reviews but already watch so much TV I was hesitant to add to my already long list. In recent days I have also watched The Invention of Lying, According to Greta and Everybody’s Fine. The Invention of Lying was really cute and provided lots of laughs. According to Greta was pretty decent but I have a strong feeling that’s mostly because I have a girl crush on Hillary Duff. Everybody’s Fine, however, was a much more depressing story line- skip it unless you need a good cry. Today I got Food Inc. in the mail as well as Duplicity.

Long story short, its safe to say if youre looking for me, its on the couch or in my bed that you will find me; mindlessly watching the tube shoveling oreos into my face and undoing a very hard months worth of work at yoga. Heres to hoping I can get back in time to shed some last few pounds before we leave for Mexico in April. The very thought of putting on a bathing suit makes me feel ill.

I think that’s about as exciting as it gets for now. Cant wait to be on my feet and functioning again. My posts have gotten a bit boring- and by a bit I mean insanely tough to get through from sheer boredom alone.

Pretty sure even my dogs have cabin fever.