steve

Feb112011

Valentine’s Day: We don’t celebrate

We’ve been married for 4 months, dated for 3 years and I finally told Steve a few days ago that I don’t care about Valentine’s Day. Like, at all. I never really saw the point of taking a single day out of an entire year to profess your love for someone. Really? What about the other 364 days? What is so special about a single day? Show your loved ones year round bc it just makes sense!

Also, why do women insist upon making their significant others feel like crap if they forget to buy them flowers, candy and jewelry? Another thing I never understood. Early on in our relationship, I did get a big bouquet of pink roses (I’m so not a fan of roses!) and daisies and a really pretty necklace from Steve. And I always make a nice dinner – not that it necessarily has to be on the actual date. I like to cook. Hell, I might even bake something. I made the above cupcakes a few years ago mostly bc I was on a major cupcake fix and also bc Steve brought home a bag of conversation hearts. =)

A single woman in our office is making a huge deal out of this “holiday” by telling all the men that forgetting to buy their wives/ girlfriends lots of gifts is grounds for a divorce. I just shook my head in disgust.

Sure, it’s nice to get the carnations in high school and dole out Scooby Doo valentine’s as a child, but is it really that big of a deal? I, personally, would much rather show my amazing husband how much I love him throughout the entire year.

Steve made a comment the other day (when I informed him I didn’t want anything) about how we’ll be lucky to even see each other on Monday. He works at 9pm and I typically don’t get home until 7-7:30pm. We barely have any time together on the days when I do work.

What about you? Are you a hard core Valentine’s Day supporter or is it just another day?

Nov252010

Happy Thanksgiving!

I may complain and be overly paranoid about having children “this late in life,” but I know I am truly thankful for what I do have.

I am thankful for, in no particular order:
… my family
… my friends – strictly online or real-life
… my best friend and my 2 amazing godsons
… you, my blog readers
… having a puppy snuggle my belly and a fat cat snuggle my feet every night while I sleep
… the few hours a day that I get to spend with Steve
… our weekends together
… my creativity
… my ability to walk, talk, and breathe freely
… having a roof over my head
… not being subjected to sheer misery on a daily basis at my previous job
… my health
… so much more!

And certainly, I am the most thankful for my fantastic husband. We are celebrating 3 years together this Sunday, the 28th (though there is debate about that) and I couldn’t be more thankful and lucky that he came into my life. This is truly a case of kissing a lot of frogs before finding my perfect match. No, not “prince” because I, quite frankly, never wanted a prince. I wanted an equal in my life, someone that respected me, loved me, cherished me and had fun with me exactly as I am. I received all that and even more the day I agreed to meet Steve after months of emailing and IMing.

The date of our anniversary is under debate as our first date had some pretty major hiccups. My friends Nichole and Miles started texting and calling frantically before I was done with my first course. It turns out their apartment complex was on fire so our date was cut majorly short. We had our second date 3 days later and that is when Steve thought the official date was. To me it will always be November 28th. <3

OK, so this turned into an anniversary-type post as well. I’m still a newlywed!

Apr222010

Hello Lovelies!

I am still alive! Things have been crazy hectic in the last few weeks between packing, writing 2 huge papers, working on finals, wrapping up my old job, preparing for my new job, and moving to Homestead! Yes, that’s right, we uprooted our lives and already moved down here. The drive was about the longest on the planet. Seriously, it should have been about 13-14 hours max and we managed to turn it into nearly 21 hours….. but way more on that later.

Graduation is in a few weeks. And, thankfully, we’ll have 5 months until the wedding after graduation. I will be so happy to have a break from huge life events right in a row.

I also need to start planning the wedding reception party and am contemplating mid-January as a combo reception/ Steve’s 40th. Oh dear, maybe I shouldn’t advertise that… 😉

Anyhow, I am writing this super quick post so y’all don’t forget about me. 😉

Cheers!

sent from my BB Bold… sorry for any typos!

Feb132010

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Happy valentine’s weekend. Normally I despise this day. Not for not being in a relationship as I have been for the last 3 valentine’s days, but for other very personal reasons. Steve has changed my viewpoint on this commercialized Hallmark holiday. He’s very lucky that I hate roses (yeah, I said it!) and would much rather have daisies or carnations or whatever else. I don’t demand flowers or jewelry or chocolate. All I want is to spend the evening with him with a home-cooked meal and just relax together.

The last 2+ years have been amazing with my fabulous fantastic fiancé. I cannot even begin to put into words how lucky I am to have met him and have him in my life. I cannot wait to spend the next 40-50 years (hey, we’re old) with him and our children and our pets. We have a life plan and are just waiting for the first domino to fall into place. The rest of the dominos are set up ready to go.

He is amazing and romantic and has the most amazing heart, similar ambitions and dreams, and goals… the man has goals! He loves me for who I am and doesn’t care what I look like or how miserable I am with myself. He loves me unconditionally and I am ridiculously lucky.

This year, I drew him 2 cards. One was a wedding/ Vegas scene with us standing in front of the Luxor pyramid with the Welcome sign in the background. Below is my actual valentine’s card to him.

What do you like to do on Valentine’s and who do you like to spend it with?

Aug232009

the last 24 hours: the amazing and the horrendous

the amazing
last night after checking times and temperatures, i reserved our wedding date. yep, it’s official, we are getting married on 10-10-10 at 2pm in Las Vegas. next, we need to pick locations. well, here, this is the wedding deets copied from SLVW‘s site…

Las Vegas Strip, package 2 – $399

Get married in any hotel suite, room, or condo. Ceremony and some photos will be done at one location.

Minister – traditional or civil ceremony

Professional Photographer – minimum of 30 high resolution pictures on a photo CD

DVD of the Ceremony (High definition widescreen 1080i video quality and Slideshow of all photos added to DVD with ceremony)

Witness, if needed

Option to get married at the world famous Las Vegas sign, hotel suite, room, condo, or select public locations on the strip

1 additional public location on the Strip for 25 of your 50 photos (a minimum of 50 photos)

A small hand tied 6-rose bouquet for the bride

Groom’s boutonniere

Courtesy Limousine transportation to and from the ceremony for the bride and groom and up to 6 guests

We are also getting 20 extra pictures for not using their flowers, and 30 extra pictures for entering a contest they have. so, a total of 100 photos minimum.

this morning, we slept late and then, as usual, he raced to work. i putzed around the house, showered, walked Lola, and prepped the steak and potatoes for dinner tonight. then at like 2:40 i headed to the Y for belly dancing class.

…and the horrendous…
we were walking out of class and my friend Carrie said something along the lines of “what are you doing here?” and i looked, and my heart sank. i knew immediately something was wrong. it was Steve. Steve who raced to get to work by 1pm. Steve who doesn’t get any breaks at his crappy job, and certainly not enough time to come all the way back to Chapel Hill to sit outside my class and read the New Yorker. yeah, *sigh*

we went out to the parking lot and he told me what happened. after a few near misses with boxes flying out of his GM’s hands and getting up close and personal in his face yelled at, he just handed in his keys and walked out. that’s the very concise version of it. hopefully he’ll have something new soon!

so now instead of the steak and mashed potatoes with lemon cupcakes just as a meal, it’s a celebration of sorts. he’s not going to be beat down at work anymore and can actually come with me to Pittsburgh in 3 days. yes, even 3 days away, his GM was still dragging his feet even though Steve’s been constantly asking for the time off for the last few months.

and no, we can’t afford our life on my salary. we can’t even afford my half of our life on my salary.

i, for reals, hope that all y’all are doing better!

Both image sources

Aug182009

Pittsburgh Wedding

In case you haven’t noticed, there’s not a whole lot of wedding planning going on right now. We’re gearing up for one of my best friends weddings in Pittsburgh next Saturday – holy hell it’s close enough that I can now say “next” – so that’s been the focus lately.

I have my bridesmaids dress. I am debating between 2 dresses for the rehearsal/ dinner. I’ve started working on my Maid of Honor speech. And I’ve already mapped out the trip from our house to the hotel; 470 miles on the nose. That’s going to be a seriously long drive, especially if I have to make it myself. Lola has been booked at “camp” starting Wednesday night till Monday morning to give us ample time to take care of trip stuff and leave at 4am.

Yes, you read that right. I love my Kimmie so much that I am getting on the road at 4am to drive to Pittsburgh, just in time for a pedicures & martini’s lunch session with her and the girls. Trust me… I will be a napping fool as soon as I drop Lola off at camp. Plus, I’ll get to see Virginia and West Virginia, and possibly some other states I’ve never seen. Needless to say, I’m super excited about their upcoming wedding. And I get to see 2 of my favorite girls as well!

Steve is still being screwed over at work as far as his vacation goes. He’s more than earned a week off, but apparently that doesn’t matter. Seeing as he said he needed this time off for months and, surprise surprise, he’s scheduled to work next weekend. I am going to be livid if he can’t come with, considering that his job has know for months that he’s got to go out of town. Whatever, they suck.

The picture is the inside of the Heinz Memorial Chapel on the University of Pittsburgh campus. This beautifulness is the location of their wedding! Can you just imagine the gorgeous pictures?!

Image link

Aug062009

Booking the Wedding

I just spent a good chunk of my lunch break trying to convince Steve that we should book our date with SLVW already. He doesn’t see the point seeing as it is over a year away and things could still change. Plus, he wants to get Rosetta Stone so we can both become bilingual (Spanish) to improve chances of getting higher pay. The wedding/ photographer/ flowers/ limo/ minister/ everything else costs the same as the full Rosetta Stone package. Great! He can buy RS, and I’ll pay for the wedding. Win-win, right? 😉

I will continue to work on the booking after work. Especially because he tipped the waiter $10.10 “in honor of our wedding date.” Yeah buddy, I know that’s our date, but can’t we make it official? Not that I have the 35% down payment yet, but I will in a few weeks! After all, it’s less than $175 to guarantee the date and time we want to be forever tied to one another.

I love my crazy fiance.

Jul312009

Random Wedding Related Stuff

There was much to discuss last night in the Benaim-Fletcher household. And discuss we did! He doesn’t think he’s cynical, just a realist. He knows I am nothing like his ex’s, and that I am so totally different from them. I am different from every woman he has ever dated. He is different than any man I have ever dated.

We discussed the wedding events, time frame and more. We also discussed the wedding I am in at the end of August. While he is obviously invited to it, he doesn’t want to wear a suit (but really, what man does?) since it is in August and hot and and and. I assured him that for our wedding, he can wear flip flops and shorts for all I care, but for this wedding, he needs to have a jacket and tie be a part of his wardrobe. Sadly, that’s a big reason why he doesn’t want to go. But I do know a thing or 2 about being unhappy to be forced to wear something I dislike. I’ve been in tons of weddings and haven’t always liked my bridesmaids gowns.

<--- the dress for the August wedding. Hopefully it looks normal on your screen and not squat like it does on mine!

A friend of mine tweeted me a link from the Church of the Flowers website. They are apparently casting for a new TV show about Vegas weddings (go figure):

Happily Ever Faster – Casting Questionnaire: Happily Every Faster is a new wedding series on TLC that documents the love stories of different couples and their journey to matrimony at the Chapel of the Flowers.

Any other vegas brides out there? And really is anyone actually reading this thing?

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