Better Late than Never!

As I mentioned a month ago, I loved Jane's "home tour" and was inspired to do the same. Since this may be my last Christmas in this house, I wanted a way to remember every detail. So, I took tons of pictures and . . . somehow deleted ALL the pictures on our camera, including all the pictures from Christmas eve. Sigh. Luckily, I still had the Xmas decor up and it all worked out.

So, here is my little home tour (take 2!)

Celebrity Shoot-Out

I stayed home sick today and thought I'd catch up on a little blogging . . . over the weekend, we attended the 2nd annual Grand Kids Foundation Celebrity Shoot-Out. This is the education-based organization that Curtis Granderson started to help inner-city students in Michigan. Brook helped set the Foundation up. Friday night, we attended "An Evening with Curtis Granderson" at Andiamo's in Novi. Tickets included a wonderful dinner and improv show at Second City. Seriously, it was such a blast! We made some new friends, enjoyed a few cocktails and just relaxed. (Too bad I didn't bring my camera!)

The next day was the big game, which took place in Lake Orion. Luckily, one of my good friends (Val) from college, lives in Wixom, which was only 10 minutes from Andiamo. So, we stayed with Val, her husband TJ and son Ryan, which saved us hotel expense. Being around Val and TJ is like being around family, they just make you feel so at home. It was great to spend the weekend with them and catch up. And their 1 year-old son is so adorable!

We braved some awful weather and made it safely to Lake Orion for the game. The celebrity line-up included Kid Rock, Miss America, Lloyd Carr and Braylon Edwards to name a few. It was a very intimate affair, as they played in a high school gym, and they took a lot of time to sign autographs for the kids and pose for pictures. Again, I can't express how fun and relaxing this was for us! And it was for such a great cause. We would love to get a group of people together to go next year; so, if you are interested, please let us know.

Oh, I did end up with a souvenir from the weekend - a bum rear! I fell down a flight of steps at Val and TJ's on Saturday! Ugh. It was 7:30 in the morning and I woke up to use the bathroom and was going to go back to bed. Well, after going down the stairs on my rear, on my way to the bathroom, I (shockingly) was unable to go back to sleep. I think I seriously bruised my tail bone and sitting is not exactly very comfortable right now! I hope it gets better soon.

Here are some pics of us relaxing at Val and TJ's:

Now THIS I Can Do!

Over the last year, I have enjoyed getting to know my cousin's wife, Jill. At a family wedding last year, we found out that we work only a few miles from each other and have been meeting for lunch once a month. She is a wonderful woman and I really look forward to our lunches.

It just so happens that she is also a Creative Memories consultant. She had mentioned a few months ago that she would like to give us all the materials to preserve our memories from our wedding. When I hear "scrapbook" or anything that resembles the word, I get kinda nervous. I know how I am. I see other people's scrapbooks, like what Jane has done or my future sister-in-law, April, and I get great ideas, set some lofty goals and . . . don't finish it. For example, I thought it would be cool to make a scrapbook to have at our wedding for our guests to view. I bought the materials probably 6 months ago. I even finished a few pages. Guess where it is now? Under my bed, waiting to be finished.

Anyway, Jill came over tonight to show me what Creative Memories had to offer. We went through many of the traditional scrapbooks. I was thinking, 'OK, I can do this.' Then, she showed me (Drumroll, please!) this. It is called a Picfolio. Basically, it is like a normal photo album, but spruced up . . . each page has 5 slots for pictures, spots to journal or just accents. Now, this is my type of scrapbook! I am so excited to be able to preserve our memories using the Picfolio. What a great gift - thanks, Jill!

In Full Gear

Now that 2009 is upon us, we are in full wedding gear now and I am having a blast!

FLOWERS
Saturday, my mom and I picked out the flowers at Karmays. They did the flowers for my sister's wedding and did a great job. Since the main color of the wedding is Pool and we are doing a beach-themed reception, I decided to do pink and ivory (my dress is ivory) flowers, with a touch of blue. And since each bridesmaid picked her own dress (the one shown above is the one my sister - Hannah - chose) each bridesmaid is going to carry a different kind of flower, then my bouquet is a mixture of all of those! It somewhat represents the different personalities of the women and how each of them plays a different and important role in my life. So, the bridesmaids have blue hydrangeas, ivory roses and each has a different kind of pink flower. I tried to be very intentional when choosing the different flowers for each woman in the wedding and put a lot of thought into what each would like. I am excited to see how they all turn out! Brook, being a wonderful groom-to-be, showed up for about 10 minutes to give his "OK" on the boutonnieres. He thought my mom and I could handle the rest! :) After 3 hours, we had all the flowers for the CHURCH figured out, including wreathes for the doors, garland for the communion rails and a few other arrangements. Who knew picking out flowers took so long?

I went to Michaels last night, to pick up wedding bubbles and ended up spending most of my evening there. The store has a tropical flower section and I found a beautiful array of brightly colored orchids. So, half of the tables at the reception will have flowers in tower vases, with sand and shells at the base. The others will be . . . something that we haven't quite figured out yet! :) My mom found these cute candles that we are going to use. She also bought 3 HUGE (8'x12') beach-themed murals. They are so beautiful and I wish I could find them on-line, so I could show you!

CHURCH
Unless something crazy happens, the wedding ceremony is going to be at St. Mary's, in Jackson. It is a very pretty church, with a European cathedral feel. We are blessed to have so many Catholic churches in the area that opened their doors to us after the fire, even though we were not parishioners there.

OTHER EVENTS IN THE NEAR FUTURE
- We are meeting with the person making our cake on the 20th and our videographer on the 24th.

- Brook's mom and Aunt Vicki are throwing a shower for the Bisonet / Bildner side also on the 24th. The theme of the shower is a surprise and I can't wait to see what they have planned! One of my friends got married a few years ago and at her shower, she said, "I can't believe people buy us gifts just b/c we love each other." At the time, I admit to thinking it was a corny statement. Now, that I am getting married, I totally agree! It is humbling and almost makes me cry to think about how much people care for us.

- Besides the wedding planning, my family has a lot of exciting events in the next month . . . Hannah's 17th birthday is Monday, which is also the same day my brother graduates from college. I am so proud of him for completing his degree - 2 kids, a full-time job and night and weekend classes! I can't even imagine! And in early February, Veronica's and Jaime's babies are due. I can't wait to meet my nieces!

New Dress

Today, Brook and I went to David's Bridal so I could get another wedding dress. Why another dress, you ask? Wellllll, we are going to Italy on our honeymoon annndddd received a letter last week stating that we have tickets for a Papal Audience. You see, if newlyweds come to the Vatican within 2 months of their wedding, in their wedding attire and marriage certificate in hand, they receive a special blessing from the Holy Father. So, we wil be meeting Pope Benedict on Wednesday, April 29th (as long as he is in Rome)! I didn't want to lug my rather large wedding gown to Italy, so . . . Here is the new, much smaller, dress I purchased today. Luckily, David's Bridal was running their $99 gown sale; so, I got the gown for $99! It was funny to watch the faces of the people around me, since Brook was there. They were looking at me, whispering to each other. I heard one say, "The groom isn't supposed to see you." LOL. I wanted to tell them, "Don't worry, he hasn't seen my "real" dress yet." :)

Needless to say, we are SOOO excited about our honeymoon! This is a dream come true for me! We fly into Rome and then will be traveling to Assisi, Venice, Siena and . . . haven't decided yet over 10 days. We have had a lot of fun planning our trip. I am trying to figure out the public transportation over there. If you remember, from my Chicago blog, the unknown of mass transit makes me nervous. Haha. Thanks to the Rick Steves books, I am trying to become an expert before we get there. Brook, being the more relaxed person in this relationship, doesn't seem too worried. I am trying to learn from him. :)

Merry Christmas!

Yes, it is December 27th and I am just sending out Christmas wishes. Lately, I have felt like I have had nothing but discouraging news; so, I haven't written much. Nobody like a Debbie Downer.

We had a nice Christmas with my family in Concord and Brook's in Grand Rapids. Christmas eve, we went to my Uncle Jeff's - most of my mom's extended family was there - all 60 of us! Unfortunately, I accidentally deleted all my pictures from that night. :( Later that evening, we went to Christmas Mass, which was held at the Lumen Christi gymnasium. (The church staff did a really nice job transforming a gym into a worship space.)

On Christmas day, Brook and I opened our gifts to each other and then went out to my parents' house. Usually, all my siblings come over in the morning, but Wes and Jaime stayed home, since they have 2 little ones now. Veronica and Brandon and Hannah were there, though, and we had a fun time with them and my mom and dad. As always, my parents were very generous. My big gift was a vacuum (you know you're a "grown up" when getting a vacuum is exciting!) and Brook's big gift was a Taylor Made golf bag. He was so impressed that my mom got the exact one he wanted!

We headed to Grand Rapids early in the afternoon for Christmas with the Bisonets. Carey was there, as well as Trent and his family. Brook's parents made so much delicious food! After we ate, we opened gifts and again, received many nice things. I think my favorites were the Grand Rapids Entertainment book, iPod Nano (thanks, Carey!) and Gucci purse. I can't remember what Brook got, I was too enthralled with my book. Haha.

The last few days, we have been pretty relaxing. Yesterday, Brook worked and I hit the after-Christmas sales. Last night, we went the the Griffin's hockey game. (Dollar beer and dollar hot dogs on Friday night!) And today, we did some more shopping and then just vegged. It was great! I can't believe Christmas is over. I love having all the Christmas decorations up, especially the tree. It makes the house feel so warm and cozy. Jane's home tour inspired me to do the same, especially since this is my last Christmas in my house. It is somewhat bittersweet and I wanted to remember every decoration. I'll have to post those pics when I get home . . .

It is crazy to think that our wedding is less than 4 months away! I re-listed my house with a different realtor last week. If it doesn't sell, she said she would help me get it rented. I thought I would be moving in April, but I am not sure now. The Friday before Christmas, I found out that the position at Consumers, on the west side of the state, is not going to happen. So, I need to look for a job now. I didn't know whether I should laugh or cry (I did a little of both that day), but I have been surprisingly calm this last week. I have been feeling like things will eventually work out, which is SO not like me. It is definitely a grace from God that I am very thankful for. I hope you all had a very grace-filled Christmas, as well!

Saturday

It is 7:30, Saturday morning. . . I was awake at 5am. A lot is on my mind these days. Thank you for all your prayers and thoughts regarding the church and for understanding my sadness. The latest estimate is that the church will be restored by the "spring or summer." Well, our wedding is April 25th, so we are holding out that we may still be able to be married at Queens. If not, it looks as though it will be at St. Stan's.

We are in the middle of our marriage prep retreat. It was last night from 6-9 and this morning from 9-noon. I was honestly dreading having to go. I wanted nothing more than to sit at home and relax with Brook. But it ended up being at St. Stan's and the church was unlocked, as Queens is having all their Sunday Masses there now. I was able to show Brook the church, since he had never been inside. It really is a pretty church and the same Jesus is there and the same groom will be there. :) We decided not to get the invitations reprinted. If the marriage cannot take place at Queens, at least there will be some mention of my beloved church. We will just put inserts into the invite package to announce the new location.

Now, back to the marriage retreat. . . It is a course to help couples communicate better. Brook and I are such an anomaly - I am a HUGE talker and he is an attorney, need I say more? We talk ALL the time! We talk our problems to DEATH! Haha! We even stay pretty civil when dealing with our issues. But this course is not just for couples, it can be used for all sorts of relationships. Which is why the timing couldn't be more perfect. We are going through some tough times with Brook's former employer, which is to be expected, but it still doesn't make it easy. This course gave some great tools to deal with Mr. Former Employer. It is a Scripture-based class, which brings a lot of things into perspective. This is one of the verses mentioned last night, "Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing. . ."

Well, I better get ready . . . busy day today . . . first the finale to this retreat, then the Bildner family Christmas in GR. Tomorrow, Brook has his "Rite of Acceptance," which is the first official step to becoming Catholic. Thanks again for all your prayers. Love to you all