Math

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Bridesmaids having fits...

Here are several pictures of our bridesmaids trying on the dress(s) I chose.

Allison
(at 8 months pregnant)

Katherine
(taking a break from med school stresses)
Tisha
(all the way from West Virginia)
Kim
(Recent Mrs.)
Brittany
(putting in all together from FL)
Kim

(tearing herself from Dan for the afternoon)What troopers they were!! The dresses were ordered and will be arriving in late March/early April.

* Not pictured are Heather and Pam.

Darcy and Tungsten

If I am a really good girl and curb my spending, in the fall, Darcy will be coming home with us. For good. Tungsten may come shortly thereafter. It would be wonderful if they grew up together. I could picture them frolicking on the grass and snuggling up together every night. No, these aren't our future children, but will be our babies nonetheless.

Chris and I are puppy crazy.

We have decided on a Yorkshire Terrier and a Puggle. The Puggle was a great compromise since I HATE pugs. I know. I KNOW! But, I hate them for exactly the same reasons why everyone loves them. Their bugged eyes creep me out. I find their under bite to be gross. Seriously, anything that makes that much noise just breathing isn't cute. Puggle's have the same pug charm, but are a heck of a lot cuter. For one thing, they can breathe properly! Darcy (the Yorkie) would be named after Mr. Darcy from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Tungsten (the Puggle) would be named after the metal on the Periodic Table of Elements.

In the meantime, Chris and I keep day dreaming and scheduling puppy therapy time at The Puppy Center. Here are some of our almost Darcys and Tungstens.

Darcy
(all the same one)
Tungsten
(In various forms...)

Sightings

Subject: Kim
Date Last Sighted: October 11, 2008
Whereabouts: Waterbury, Connecticut/Seymor, Connecticut
Notes: I think the subject may have bound herself to another subject legally. Evidence:

Exhibit A



Exhibit B



Exhibit C






Subject: Allison
Date Last Sighted: November, 2008
Whereabouts: Thomaston, Connecticut
Notes: I think the subject may have spawned a duplicate subject. This will add to our guest list.
Evidence:

Exhibit A

Exhibit BExhibit C* Will have to wait until approximately December 25, 2008 for further evidence.






Subject: Braeden
Date Last Sighted: November, 2008
Whereabouts: Burlington, Connecticut
Notes: I think the subject is thoroughly prepared for for the wedding.
Evidence:

Exhibit AExhibit B

Exhibit C Exhibit D

Exhibit E

Subject: Heather
Date Last Sighted: November, 2008
Whereabouts: Naperville, Illinois
Notes: I think the subject is honing her culinary skills so that she will be able to critique the fine food at The Heritage Hotel.
Evidence:

Exhibit A
Exhibit B

The Men, The Myths, The Legends

In the fall of 1995 I started what would be the most influential and life changing four years of my life. It has now been 13 years since my friendships with my groomsmen began, which is nearly half my life. There is Brian(Verd), supposedly the only real normal one. Sean, the one missing something rather important in his cognitive skills, which is probably attributed to the water in Leicester. Lee, the Polish kid from Webster, who went from four foot nothing to six feet tall in that span of four years. JBC, where the hell did JBC go now? His car is gone again and his parents are looking for him. And Timmy, I will not say anything about a conch shell here in fear of retribution.

In no particular order:


Verd - My friendship with V started in a church gymnasium on Rte 9 Shrewsbury, our freshman year. It was a Greenbar meeting and I was wearing "the shirt." Most of my classmates know the shirt of which I speak, and I may have to bust it out at a Reunion. Anyway, from that point we became really good friends, through Scouts, School and Cycling. I will most likely never forget the look on his face when summer after Senior year I took my graduation money to Bike Alley and said, I've got $700, what can you do me for? After years of saying I would never spend that much on a bike. Not only myself but our group has spent a lot of time in his parents basement in 'The Burn', as we have never called it before. We're a pretty lucky crew to have such a good friend as a member. We stayed in touch, albeit hit or miss over the years since college graduation. We've both moved away from Worcester and yes, he was the first one to get married, and then HAVE a child. Peter is now 2 and half or so, and Brian & Katherine just had their second child, Nicholas. Great people they deserve it. I have been blessed and lucky to have Brian in my life over the years, how else would I have a road bike to ride!

O'Rourke - I don't think there are any other stories that I enjoy telling about Sean more then the Stage Crew ridiculousness. Yes, he screwed a piece of wood into a pavement using a HAND screw driver. WOW... And then there was the hog tying with duct tape, and throwing him in the Spring Show dumpster, why? I don't think we really thought that through, but lucky enough for us, he didn't hate us. Of course the story ends with Wilke throwing him a knife, us looking around going, wtf, what did you just do...and closing the dumpster door and running away. Oh lord, we were lucky he didn't kill anyone. My third story stems from his Escort, that blue little hatchback that just wouldn't die, trust me, he beat that thing when he drove it, I was often afraid we wouldn't get to our destination. After he sold it for $300, it got totaled by the new owner, who got a check for $800. Back to the story.. That little hatchback, was light. Amtrak and myself would regularly push it up on to the sidewalk, until he figured out he should be putting on the E-Brake. One day, during rehearsal, we grabbed some bricks, picked up the little thing, and put the rear wheels on blocks. He wasn't nearly as mad as just amused, which was also good. Speaking of moving cars, "Hans, you need to move your Mustang!"......."Hans, its OK we moved your Mustang!" :0) We have shared a lot over the years, and I am glad we have been able to keep in touch.

Lee - Lee is sort of a constant. He's always there, and some how never ends up doing anything regrettable, except for that one time after we won the State Hockey Championship, how long was ride back to SJ? Yeah, that's what I thought. Lee will just up do just about anything you suggest, on a whim, nearly the exact opposite of myself. He's been a great friend over the years, and I wish I had some exciting story to tell but I don't. I can only thank him for being there year after year through this thing called life.







Timmy - We had home room together all four years at SJ, and I can tell you, that sophomore year when we were reading a certain book which shall not be named, Tim was none to pleased with most of us. But that's OK, here's another Stage Crew bond. With the amount of hours we've spent in that gym doing work, there are few other people who know me as well. You could count on Tim for dancing Coins and a good laugh. He has a flair for the dramatic, just ask PJ about a single knife incident over 10 years ago. I remember spending the Spring Show weekend at his house junior year, being the youngest of the group, I didn't get my license until the WEEK AFTER spring show. Tim's a good kid, and a good friend, and now a good neighborhood. My parents have moved about 1 mile around the corner from his house. Yes, for those that didn't know, my parents have left the boondocks of East Brookfield, for the Boondocks of Boylston.

JBC - JBC, got his nickname freshman year during one of our retreats, from Marcus Texiera. I don't really know why it stuck, but it did. Although rumor has it, yeah I won't go there this is a family show... There isn't really that much to say about Jon except some weird stories about Prom, whoops. He would get in his car drive around, although sometimes, he would take other people's cars. Like my escort, I had started it got out, and seconds later it was driving out of the parking lot without me. That was an experience. We don't keep in touch that well, but what can you do. He'd be there if I needed it.

Quickie: Bridesmaids Gifts...

... are ready to go.
In overachiever fashion, I have already wrapped (ok, tied ribbon around) the gifts that we bought for the bridesmaids. I think the gift we are giving will be practical and something everyone would like. Well... besides Allison. She will be getting a different gift that will be more practical for her. (More on this later...)




Hi Katherine.

KM Photography

A picture is worth a thousand words. Or is it worth a few thousand dollars?! That is the great dilemma. I have known many brides who were able to cut back in their photography budget and were quite happy with this decision. Unfortunately to our budget, this is the one area that I would be heart broken to have to skimp. I love photography.

Chris and I booked K.M. Photography. This photography team is based out of Clinton, Connecticut. We met with Jackie when we signed the contract. She was very down to earth and accommodating. Unlike other wedding professionals we met (ahem... Jessica...) who were pushy and abrasive, Jackie was eager to put us at ease. She even told me that she would see to it that I looked well-rested, skinny, and flawless. Yeah, I will go for that.

Although the promise of looking amazing in my pictures was really appealing, it was their work that really sold us. We first saw their exhibit at the Bridal Expo. We took their DVD and when we played it we were really impressed. I loved their artsy pictures and the way they captured details of the day. It seems like they have an artist's eye. Here are a few examples of the types of shots that really stand out to me.


The Traditional Group Shots


The Artsy Shots



The Detail Shots




The Juxtaposition Shots



The Venue Is As Pretty As A Bride Shots



The Breath-Taking Shots



The Adorable Children Shots






We will be getting our engagement pictures in the spring. We are going to have them taken down in New Haven when the trees are blooming. We will post the pictures!!

This wedding will be sponsored by EBay.

For obvious reasons, our vacation to the Outer Banks this year was sponsored by Coppertone. (Can you believe that I had been at the beach for two weeks when this picture was taken?!) It is seeming more and more plausible that you could say our wedding is sponsored by EBay. We have been getting amazing deals!






It all started when I got my Cannondale off of EBay. It was a great investment of my tax return. We were able to get a $2,000+ bike for $1,100. Being a Scottish girl who was raised to always pinch and save her money, it seemed like a golden ray from heaven shone down on my computer and choirs of angels burst out in spontanious song. I had found my Mecca.




The bike came and it was in impeccable condition. Not only had EBay hooked us up with a great deal, but the product was also top knotch.



We received an engagement gift from my godparents, Linda and Bob. They instructed us that they would like us to buy something that we would keep in our future home and would remind us of them. Chris and I talked and talked about what we could buy and decided we would like to get our cake knife and server with the money. We planned on getting nice ones that we would pull out for our birthdays and special occasions. Some people never use theirs again, but we really plan on it! So, one day, Chris and I went to Macy's and looked at their selection. I would have been happy with almost anything that Chris picked out as long as it didn't have hearts or anything cheesy on the handles. So, what did we decide? We chose the Waterford Crystal Lismore cake knife and server. Then we saw the price tag. They ran for $150. Each. I could not justify spending that much money. So, we turned to EBay for help. Ahhhhhh!!! (choirs of angels) We paid $132.50 for the set.




Chris and I decided that we would like to incorporate our nationalities into the wedding. Chris's Grandma Ritacco says she will be baking Italian cookies like she did for Tim and Dannerys's wedding. Chris flirted with the idea of having the groomsmen wear kilts for Chris's Irish and my Scottish heritage. We might still have a bagpiper for that. When it came to Chris's Swedish heritage, we decided on a vintage post mailbox. We found them online for $75 and ended up landing ours for much cheaper. We got ours in red. We think it will be a nice addition to our woodsy theme as a card holder.





We will go more in depth about this later, but we also purchased our paper flowers off of EBay! We had bought our first dozen off of Martha Stewart's website, but then found them for more than 50% of the selling price there! Can you believe that these flowers are made from paper? We have made one mock bouquet and it is awesome.

Thanks EBay!