MARRIAGE

It's kind of becoming more and more surreal that in 8 weeks I will be a Mrs. :) woo hoo!

I'm beyond excited and just want to share something I experienced today.

I was in line at my local post office to purchase the much needed stamps ($ca-ching$) for our invitations - going out soon! There was a lady in line for her passport. She was of Hispanic decent and only knew limited English. She was confused by the "check here: Divorced/Married/Single/Widowed" section of the application. The post office worker explained that she wasn't divorced.... she wasn't single or widowed.... that she was "STILL" married. (quotations for my emphasis).

That one word STILL could mean many things... but I took it to heart. I thought "oh my gosh, how sad that you have to say STILL married, like if she's not going to stay married!" I know nothing of either ladies - the worker, or the customer - but it just made my heart break at our world. That we have to think that something would happen. She could just have easily said "you checked right, you're married" and I think it would've made a world of difference to my ears. But to say you're STILL married means that you don't believe that the marriage (marriage in general) is staying.

do you get what I mean? I believe that marriage is FOREVER!!! God says it is and I know it is. I'm sad to say that our world looks at marriage as a certificate that has an expiration date... breaks my heart. It's like... lets try this out and if in 6 months I feel uncomfortable, I'll just get out!

I'm not trying to say that divorce doesn't happen... it does... I wish it didn't. In some cases it may be much needed for various reasons... but I hate that it has to exist.

I know marriage is hard... but it's definitely something worth fighting for and that I will fight for when it does get hard. This song is a new favorite of mine and D's. Goosebumps EVERY time! It's off of the movie "Fireproof" - if you haven't seen this yet - SEE IT! I highly recommend it and have heard that it is changing marriages and lives all over our country! I LOVED IT!

"Love is not a Fight" Warren Barfield

Warren Barfield - Love Is Not A Fight from PLG Videos on Vimeo.

Love is not a place
To come and go as we please
It's a house we answer in
And then commit to never leave

Lock the door behind you
Throw away the key
We'll work it out together
Let it bring us to our knees

Love is a shelter in the raging storm
Love is peace in the middle of a war
If we try to leave, may God send His angels to guard the door
No, love is not a fight but it's something worth fighting for

To some, love is a word
That they can fall into
But when they're falling out
Keeping that word is hard to do

Love will come to save us
If we'll only call
He will ask nothing from us
But demand we give our all

I will fight for you
Would you fight for me?
It's worth fighting for

Just wanted to share something that was close to my heart to all you newlyweds and soon-to-bes like myself :)

2 MONTHS!!!

What in the World!!! How can it be that in 8 Saturday's I will be Mrs. Melton!!!!

SO MUCH FUN!

Invitations are complete :) I will post a pic sometime this week... It was actually pretty relaxing putting them all together :) D laughed when I said that...

tomorrow I have my hair appointment and I'll be chatting with the stylist about hopeful haircuts for my bridal portraits and of course for the BIG day :)

Sadly, I can't pick up my dress tomorrow and I am BUMMED out! The alteration lady has been out of town and wasn't able to work on my dress :( I can't pick it up until next Wednesday! BUT - it's ok, because I don't have to have it ready until Saturday. I'll just take it to get steamed after I pick it up :)

Oh and I've had a bad case of register-stalking. If you've never heard of this... well... it's just too easy. We've already gotten some things off our registry :)

- crock pot - CHECK!
- coffee maker - CHECK!
- couple of place settings - CHECK!

YAY! Shower on Sunday :)

DRESS... Hello!

How in the world could I have forgotten this off of my list from yesterday's post!!!!

I'm picking up my dress after my hair appointment on TUESDAY! What in the world!

That's pretty bad if I've forgotten about my DRESS! :)

HAPPY FRIDAY! thank goodness!

Things lately...

Is it really and truly almost 2 months away! OH MY GOSH!

We have a lot to do before then! ahhh!

Here's next week (and this weekend):

Saturday: helping a friend with wedding photos - fun :) and also FINISHING invites :) Once they are all put together I will for sure put a picture on here :) They are beauts!
Sunday: Probably still inviting it up :)
Monday: appointment with dermatologist and getting organized (OFFICIALLY 2 MONTHS!!!)
Tuesday: Hair appointment to get a fresh cut and also some subtle highlights for the big day (may do it once more before the actual day though)
Wednesday: another appointment scheduled and I need to think about my bouquet for the portraits... make a simple one or have my florist make one?
Thursday and Friday I don't have anything planned right now, but I have a lot to knock off that list! I'll probably go price out candles and talk with a wedding coordinator that we know (family friend) about some vendors she can hook us up with for decor. I also need to start figuring out our wedding day schedule for programs (and for my sanity)
Saturday: I have a Senior Portrait Session scheduled for my side photography business and we are meeting with our Reception Venue coordinator to have a taste testing and also to nail down more details about seating and table placements etc.
Sunday: BRIDAL SHOWER!!!! :)

I can't go to the next week because I'm already tired :) BUT - I do have to mention that I'll be getting my bridal portraits taken in about 2 weeks :) how fun!

Can't wait for this next week to start! Come on Friday :)

to Mexico or not to Mexico???

We purchased our honeymoon package back in October!!!

Yes I know - early for May, but I thought we'd pay a better deal then than now. Boy, am I wrong. I found our trip EXACTLY (flight and all)... it was about $500 less now than then - on the same website!

Plus, with all this "stuff" going on along the Mexcian border (if you haven't heard - read/view here and here) ~ some of this is very grueling so just forewarning ~ we really were worried and didn't know what to do.

We called our rounds (the website we purchased it from, the airlines, the resort itself) and the resort actually gave us the most information. Read here.

We are still a little worried... but we feel that it is safe now that we've heard it from the resort itself and read the news update. We were thinking about changing our trip altogether!

So, going back to the $500 less thing... we called the website again. They told us that we have to pay our trip in full to make any change. Ok... we reply with "so when we pay our trip in full... can we then make changes?" and then she says - "no" what are we supposed to do?? I guess we'll have to forfeit our $500?? Her reasoning was that that rate is locked in when you book... so, for example, if you purchase your trip in October and it goes up... you don't have to pay the difference... so for us (since it went down) we cannot recieve the difference.

D thinks we should cancel our hotel/resort and rebook. We already have our flights, so it's just cancelling the hotel... what do you think?? will it work??

have any of you recently gone to Mexico or are planning on going soon? what do you think of all of that's going on??

The Knot Contest

Check out this story in the Kohl's "we really want..." contest on The Knot!

Who doesn't LOVE saving Money?

Have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE Retail Me Not???

Oh my gosh... it's wonderful. There are all kinds of coupon codes that you can copy and paste into tons of online websites. SAVINGS!!!

For all you brides-to-be... how wonderful would it be to get money off your honeymoon attire. (both day and night) :) They have coupons for "VS" for Old Navy... Gap... etc.

All you have to do is type in your store's website... and it will show you all the coupon codes that they have. Some are not current, so just be sure to check if there's an expiration date etc. Most work. I saved $20 off my $100 purchase for 2 bathing suits from VS. I also saved about $15-20 on my save the dates with a coupon code I found for Magnet Streets

Check it out!!!

Another fav is Beat My Price all you do is enter in the item you are looking for. Where you found it first (web page) and how much it is on that site. It'll give you a dozen other options of cheaper prices from other sites...

ENJOY!!! :)