So today I checked our Honeymoon Tour, and found that our flight itinerary had been posted. I double checked departure dates and times just to be sure that the arrangements surrounding the tour were correct. Even with the tour, which is guided and accommodations are all taken care of as a part of it, things are still kinda complicated:
- After the reception, Stacey and I are staying in a hotel which will not be named in Niagara Falls.
- Then we board a plane from Buffalo in the morning to fly out to San Diego.
- Once in San Diego, we'll be staying at the Coronado Marriott Resort Hotel and Spa for 4 nights (yay Marriott Reward points!)
- Then we start our tour... We fly from San Diego to LAX in Los Angeles, and then start our 14 hour flight to Australia
- There's tons of flights as a part of the tour as we're really checking out a lot of areas of Australia/New Zealand
- We leave New Zealand and have a 3 day stopover in Fiji
- We leave Fiji and head back to San Diego, where we're staying at another Marriott hotel near the San Diego airport
- Finally, the next day we fly back to Buffalo and we go back to normal life.
It's so odd... Stacey and I won't even spend a night together in our house until about a month after the wedding. I suppose we can "get all the kinks" out on the Honeymoon and really break the house/bed in properly when we get home. ; )
Speaking of bed, it's time I went there.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Friday, May 28, 2010
T-6 weeks and counting
So 6 weeks from today I will be getting last minute things organized, packing for my honeymoon, and doing a rehearsal for the wedding.
6 weeks... Man that snuck up on me.
We're getting into "silly season" right now. From here until the wedding, Stacey and I have NO free weekends. Which is not me complaining. We have been incredibly blessed by family and friends, and essentially have a least 1 shower per weekend in the month of June. Craziness! The outpourint of generosity that we have received is already overwhelming, I can only imagine what it's going to be like in the coming weekends as we do showers, and I have my bachelor party.
I feel myself a bit overwhelmed what with me being the sole billpayer at the moment, as well as trying to save up for the wedding, but all that is temporary and will be over soon. Stacey and I have talked about our budget after we're married, and I'm confident that even though she will probably have a hard time finding a job, we've got a solid plan going forward with me being the sole moneymaker. I think that's a good situation to be in because when she does find meaningful work (and we can afford to be picky), it'll be a bonus for us, rather than life and limb. This also will come in handy when we decide to have kids.
On that topic, the "plan" that we have is to start having kids in about 2 years. Whether or not our plan coincides with God's remains to be seen. As an intermediate step, we want to get a dog about 6 months to a year from now. We figure that's good practice. : ) Our friend Brianna has also mentioned that her youngest foster child is a great "practice baby" as he is so well behaved, and really isn't bothered by much, so we may have to "borrow" him from time to time.
As far as the "planning" goes, we really just need to tell the Reception Hall what we want for the Reception. Essentially Food, Music, and Colours for the decorations. They take care of the rest. I like that. A few miscellaneous jobs that I have left are: Vows (which I've already started), and finishing up the Programs for the wedding ceremony. I currently have the basics done, but I want to do something special for the back of the Programs. I'm kinda glad I've been charged with this task.
I'm also really trying to get a lot done with the house before we go on the honeymoon. The plan is to have neighbours, friends, and family check in constantly, but I don't want anything to go wrong, and ideally would prefer to enlist someone to house-sit for us. Unfortunately I can't think of anyone who would be in a position to do that. But we'll see...
That's about all for now, I suppose.
6 weeks... Man that snuck up on me.
We're getting into "silly season" right now. From here until the wedding, Stacey and I have NO free weekends. Which is not me complaining. We have been incredibly blessed by family and friends, and essentially have a least 1 shower per weekend in the month of June. Craziness! The outpourint of generosity that we have received is already overwhelming, I can only imagine what it's going to be like in the coming weekends as we do showers, and I have my bachelor party.
I feel myself a bit overwhelmed what with me being the sole billpayer at the moment, as well as trying to save up for the wedding, but all that is temporary and will be over soon. Stacey and I have talked about our budget after we're married, and I'm confident that even though she will probably have a hard time finding a job, we've got a solid plan going forward with me being the sole moneymaker. I think that's a good situation to be in because when she does find meaningful work (and we can afford to be picky), it'll be a bonus for us, rather than life and limb. This also will come in handy when we decide to have kids.
On that topic, the "plan" that we have is to start having kids in about 2 years. Whether or not our plan coincides with God's remains to be seen. As an intermediate step, we want to get a dog about 6 months to a year from now. We figure that's good practice. : ) Our friend Brianna has also mentioned that her youngest foster child is a great "practice baby" as he is so well behaved, and really isn't bothered by much, so we may have to "borrow" him from time to time.
As far as the "planning" goes, we really just need to tell the Reception Hall what we want for the Reception. Essentially Food, Music, and Colours for the decorations. They take care of the rest. I like that. A few miscellaneous jobs that I have left are: Vows (which I've already started), and finishing up the Programs for the wedding ceremony. I currently have the basics done, but I want to do something special for the back of the Programs. I'm kinda glad I've been charged with this task.
I'm also really trying to get a lot done with the house before we go on the honeymoon. The plan is to have neighbours, friends, and family check in constantly, but I don't want anything to go wrong, and ideally would prefer to enlist someone to house-sit for us. Unfortunately I can't think of anyone who would be in a position to do that. But we'll see...
That's about all for now, I suppose.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Delicate Balance
So I thought I'd jump back into the blogosphere and start a new blog. Not sure if this is where I'll end up staying, as blogspot seems a bit.... primitive... But it's a start.
I suppose I should explain the name of my blog. I used to have a blog on a personal web page waaaaaaay back in 2002 with the same name. It was at a very "down" point in my life, I was very bitter and angry, and was having a hard time finding balance in my life. I would go from really happy-go-lucky to pits-of-despair depressed quite easily.
Needless to say that is not the way I am anymore, nor is it the reason for this blog having the same name. I was trying to think of a name for this thing, and felt that Delicate Balance still applied, albeit for different reasons. I'm trying to balance a whole whack of things right now: Job, Money, Car, House, Fiance, Wedding, Honeymoon, Friends, Family, etc.
On top of that is the constant balance I'm trying to find between living in the world, and being a Christian. I still haven't found a balance I a) like, and b) feel is appropriate for a Christian. I think that Christians do have a Delicate Balance they need to find, and work hard to achieve that. The way I see it, you can go one way and be what I like to call "uber-churchy":
Pros:
Good for your spiritual life.
Good for uplifting other Christians.
Cons:
Somewhat intimidating/awkward for non-Christian friends.
Easy to settle into a routine and not challenge yourself.
The other way is to be a wishy-washy Christian:
Pros:
Non-Christians find you a lot less intimidating/awkward.
Non-Christians find you a lot more approachable.
Cons:
Alienating to some of your Christian friends.
Can fall into hypocrisy.
I'm sure there are other levels of the spectrum for that. Anywho, I've always found myself more on the wishy-washy side if I'm honest. I enjoy imbibing an alcoholic beverage from time to time. I will cuss when frustrated on occasion. I also will never miss a Sunday at church, and quite often will be involved in the service. I don't often bring up my Christianity with non-Christian friends, but will gladly discuss it should the topic be broached.
I think I need to push myself more to the other side of the spectrum. Give up some things, and embrace other things. Stop being lazy with Spiritual things, and start being proactive. This is especially important given my new role as Husband/Leader which is impending. 6 weeks away. Ye gods, it has snuck up on me.
Which makes a good transition, I think. The first bit of this entry has been solely about me and my life. And the past 31 years primarily has been that way. I now have to get into the mindset where I need to think about me AND my wife-to-be, Stacey.
First of all, let me just say that I am madly in love with Stacey. Perhaps I don't show it like you would see in a Romantic Chick Flick where I learn how to play guitar and serenade her outside her window, although that would be kinda cool.... But I digress. Stacey is a fantastic woman, and I am so blessed and lucky that she would go for a shmuck like me. She is sweet, she's funny, she's gorgeous, she's cute, she's witty, she's smart, she loves kids, she loves pets, she makes a mean taco salad.... I could go on for quite some time. But she's also alot of things that I need to incorporate into my life: She's patient, she's empathetic/sympathetic, and most importantly, she really loves God. You can tell by her actions and what she says. That is something that I admire about her a great deal, and something I will strive to learn from her in the years to come. Although, hopefully it doesn't take years for me to learn such things.
But she's the primary reason why I need to work harder to find this Delicate Balance that I feel I need to achieve. She is going to be my wife, and I need to step it up/be a man/lead in our marriage. That's something I feel I can do, but it won't be easy. So this is probably a good reason for this blog. To be held accountable for my actions, and for there to be some record of what I want to do, and who I want to be. Not only do I have to do all the things I need to do for myself, but now I need to do them for her as well. And that might be the kick in the pants I need to actually step up.
I feel like I've rambled on for a good amount for an opening blog post. I expect I will update more here as the next 6 weeks lead up to the wedding. That is another reason for this blog. I think the pre-wedding/post-wedding thoughts and ramblings will be an interesting contrast, and even though my previous blog was kinda dark, it's still very introspective to read what was going on in my head back then. Hopefully this blog does the same for me 8 years down the road.
I suppose I should explain the name of my blog. I used to have a blog on a personal web page waaaaaaay back in 2002 with the same name. It was at a very "down" point in my life, I was very bitter and angry, and was having a hard time finding balance in my life. I would go from really happy-go-lucky to pits-of-despair depressed quite easily.
Needless to say that is not the way I am anymore, nor is it the reason for this blog having the same name. I was trying to think of a name for this thing, and felt that Delicate Balance still applied, albeit for different reasons. I'm trying to balance a whole whack of things right now: Job, Money, Car, House, Fiance, Wedding, Honeymoon, Friends, Family, etc.
On top of that is the constant balance I'm trying to find between living in the world, and being a Christian. I still haven't found a balance I a) like, and b) feel is appropriate for a Christian. I think that Christians do have a Delicate Balance they need to find, and work hard to achieve that. The way I see it, you can go one way and be what I like to call "uber-churchy":
Pros:
Good for your spiritual life.
Good for uplifting other Christians.
Cons:
Somewhat intimidating/awkward for non-Christian friends.
Easy to settle into a routine and not challenge yourself.
The other way is to be a wishy-washy Christian:
Pros:
Non-Christians find you a lot less intimidating/awkward.
Non-Christians find you a lot more approachable.
Cons:
Alienating to some of your Christian friends.
Can fall into hypocrisy.
I'm sure there are other levels of the spectrum for that. Anywho, I've always found myself more on the wishy-washy side if I'm honest. I enjoy imbibing an alcoholic beverage from time to time. I will cuss when frustrated on occasion. I also will never miss a Sunday at church, and quite often will be involved in the service. I don't often bring up my Christianity with non-Christian friends, but will gladly discuss it should the topic be broached.
I think I need to push myself more to the other side of the spectrum. Give up some things, and embrace other things. Stop being lazy with Spiritual things, and start being proactive. This is especially important given my new role as Husband/Leader which is impending. 6 weeks away. Ye gods, it has snuck up on me.
Which makes a good transition, I think. The first bit of this entry has been solely about me and my life. And the past 31 years primarily has been that way. I now have to get into the mindset where I need to think about me AND my wife-to-be, Stacey.
First of all, let me just say that I am madly in love with Stacey. Perhaps I don't show it like you would see in a Romantic Chick Flick where I learn how to play guitar and serenade her outside her window, although that would be kinda cool.... But I digress. Stacey is a fantastic woman, and I am so blessed and lucky that she would go for a shmuck like me. She is sweet, she's funny, she's gorgeous, she's cute, she's witty, she's smart, she loves kids, she loves pets, she makes a mean taco salad.... I could go on for quite some time. But she's also alot of things that I need to incorporate into my life: She's patient, she's empathetic/sympathetic, and most importantly, she really loves God. You can tell by her actions and what she says. That is something that I admire about her a great deal, and something I will strive to learn from her in the years to come. Although, hopefully it doesn't take years for me to learn such things.
But she's the primary reason why I need to work harder to find this Delicate Balance that I feel I need to achieve. She is going to be my wife, and I need to step it up/be a man/lead in our marriage. That's something I feel I can do, but it won't be easy. So this is probably a good reason for this blog. To be held accountable for my actions, and for there to be some record of what I want to do, and who I want to be. Not only do I have to do all the things I need to do for myself, but now I need to do them for her as well. And that might be the kick in the pants I need to actually step up.
I feel like I've rambled on for a good amount for an opening blog post. I expect I will update more here as the next 6 weeks lead up to the wedding. That is another reason for this blog. I think the pre-wedding/post-wedding thoughts and ramblings will be an interesting contrast, and even though my previous blog was kinda dark, it's still very introspective to read what was going on in my head back then. Hopefully this blog does the same for me 8 years down the road.
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