What to choose????

As we prepare to mail our Save the Dates to our family, a few loose ends have come up. First, we need to make sure that we have set aside enough hotel rooms in our blocks to accommodate our LARGE amount of out-of-towners. Our guest list has been relatively stable for the last couple of months so we can finally begin to plan with some real numbers. Second, we need to piece together our registries! :)

Jessica, my Matron of Honor, and I sat down with our laptops one Saturday and began going through Macy's and Bed Bath & Beyond's websites. I was so overwhelmed and glad to have someone who's been through it with me. Jessica was able to tell me what she actually uses, what she likes or doesn't like about certain products, and what she should have registered for. This helped me tremendously. And it allowed me to set a good base to go from when Tim and I get a chance to finish adding things. Jessica and I pretty much got through the kitchen stuff, and Tim and I have been slowly adding somethings here and there as we come across things. The items that have been the most difficult to decide on so far have been casual china, flatware, and bedding.

Tim has one request (well, it's really a demand) of the casual china. He wants them to be square shaped. This is a fun idea, so I'm on board with it. However, it did make it that much more difficult to find plates that are square and fit in with some sort of decor that I had in mind. (This "decor", by the way, is really more of a feeling at this point. I'm still trying to figure out what I want my "big kid" decorations to be like.) I was walking through Macy's one day and there they were - the perfect plates! Seeing them helped me envision how other things should look so that everything can flow well together. The only snag is that they're seasonal, so they may not be in stock until the wedding. We'll see. If we don't end up being able to get those, there were a couple of other settings I saw that could work and have a similar feel. But I really really like these, so hopefully it'll work out.

Flatware.... Tim and I both really like the same style of flatware. It's just really hard to find at an affordable price. It's really hard to find a balance between nice/durable/what we like and priced so that we may actually get it. Anyway, we'll see. Our ideal flatware has been "out of stock" for months according to the sales people, and the closest thing we could find is twice the price.... Maybe I'm worrying too much about it, but I'd hate to end up with 3 settings or worse, none at all. I also definitely have this fear about the dinnerware I talked about above.

As far as bedding goes. I still have no idea. I can't find anything that I can picture with our furniture or curling up with Voltron in. The search continues!

Any tips on the "Must"s and the "Must Not"s?

Getting down to it

It's starting to feel kinda close-ish! We have about 8 months before the wedding, so deadlines are approaching! We have a lot of stuff already taken care of but some things are still up in the air. Take my shoes for example...

So I fell in love with a particular pair of shoes. And when I say love I mean full-blown lust. I dream about these shoes. They're amazing. They're everything I never knew I always wanted. I heard that in a movie somewhere but it doesn't come to mind now. :) Anyway, come to find out they're over $400. That's so not happening. Sad face major. :( So I've returned to the search for shoes. I can't get my dress altered until I find shoes, but we still have time so it's no big deal. Yet.

Our Save the Dates are designed and about ready to go! The general layout and content of the programs has been set up, officiant booked, and a bunch of other fun stuff. It's been different working on things from Marietta. I work on things on my own time and at my own pace and then something comes up from Augusta that reminds me that I'm not doing this by myself. Ha. I'm grateful for the help and feedback, though. My parents have been great throughout this. They had a big wedding meeting with our coordinators yesterday. I was kinda upset that that I couldn't be there. It's weird, their planning my wedding without me. We had a big talk the other night, though, about what I've been thinking of and what Tim and I want, and judging from what they told me about the meeting they really presented that at the meeting.

I'm also thankful for our coordinators, Carol and Dianne of CPR Distinctive Events. They have kept an eye on the details as well as the big picture. I feel a lot better being away from everything and focusing on my clinical rotation knowing that they're there to make sure everything gets taken care of.

It's kinda weird not being at home. Everything's changing. My little sister is in NYC, my little brother is being smart and stuff at Tech, and my baby brother is going to be making a big change in his own life soon, and I'm planning my wedding. Life's nuts. And it doesn't get old. No matter how much time has passed, I still get crazy excited that Tim and I are getting married. I'm so excited and looking forward to being together all the time... as well as living with the puppy full time! This part-time mommy thing is not my favorite. Although, it felt really good seeing how excited he was to see me last weekend. He even blew off Tim to follow me upstairs! :) I love my Voltron!

I saw my first surgery today. And I didn't even get light headed or anything. Just like a big kid. It was awesome. It was a skin graft to bilateral hands on a 3 year old. Sometimes in hydro therapy when we're removing the surgical dressings we think, "I wonder why they did that..." It was really neat to be right there next to the surgeons when they were making those decisions so I could hear their train of thought. I've been working with this patient for a few days and will continue to follow him while he's at the hospital, so this will allow me to see the entirety of his care at Grady. My CI (clinical instructor) will be leaving for some personal reasons, so Monday I start with a new CI. I'm really nervous about it because I know that their personalities are so different. Hopefully it will be a smooth transition.

This weekend is one of my oldest friends', Kelly's, bachelorette party! I'm extra excited to spend the weekend with amazing friends celebrating Kelly's last few weeks as a fabulous single lady. And on October 2 she will become a fabulous MARRIED lady! Yay!! So excited for the next few weeks! :))))

Making a Plan

Over the last few months I've been slowly putting together the ceremony program as things have been getting more solidified. I was having some trouble figuring out the layout for the program, but thanks to Lorin that's not a problem anymore! She let me use her program as a template from which to work. This has been such a help because I was having trouble deciding what should go where and getting all he names of the bridal party to fit in an organized manner. As I went through I was trying to figure out he details of the ceremony; the readings and music definitely took the most thought. 

I knew one reading that I want, but I wasn't sure how many we should have and what any of the others should be. I asked Tim's opinion, but he wasn't too concerned with it. So I went to the best source I know for nice, romantic, classic, poetry and such - my sister. She graduated in May with a BA in literature, concentrating in British literature, and is now (officially as of this weekend) working on her master's degree in teaching so she can be a high school English teacher. I put her to work on it and before too long she had given me a list of poems/book excerpts that she thought may work for us. It was definitely easier to get Tim's feedback his way. After a few days of searching and reading and discussing dozens of poems, bible readings, and other book excerpts we finally found one that we think fits us! The amount of time and effort that took to find that one reading also helped us decide that we ate okay with just the two readings. :)

Music has been another thing altogether. I've looked for and listened to tons of music, but I didn't have a great idea of what I wanted. That's the thing about doing something different. Every wedding in my family has been the same - a Catholic ceremony in a churn with a full mass service and organ hymns. We're having a non-denominational service outdoors and we can basically do whatever we want with the ceremony. As much time as it took to find 2 readings, finding enough music for the ceremony took even longer. And after a while, all the songs I was listening to started to sound the same. With the help of my future big little brother (and his roommates), I think we may have the ceremony music finally figured out! I'm excited to show the songs to my parents and see what they think! It's mainly traditional music and a couple less traditional songs. Thank goodness for YouTube, which allowed me to actually hear the music similarly to what it would sound like; this definitely helped me figure it out. As fun as this wad to watch, you can definitely NOT expect to see this at our wedding.:)

Working in the burn unit has been awesome. I think I really can see myself doing his in the future, which is a relief since it's what I thought I wanted to do. I think I'd like to spend some time in the outpatient wound clinic to see different types of wounds as well. I've spent some time on the general acute floors, and it really wasn't doing it for me. We just did the same thing basically with every patient. It's interesting to see the dynamic here and compare it to what we've been told to expect. On gen acute they don't do any wound care, hat's he nurses' job. There's also so many patients that it's impossible for everyone to get seen ad they should. The PT department is definitely understaffed. They have been interviewing lately, so hopefully his will get better soon. On the burn unit, there's only 1 full time PT and 1 prn OT, so he only patients that get seen by PT are the ones who need hydro therapy or physical rehab for mobility. It's definitely different from what I expected and leads you to prioritize who needs PT the most and who can handle his/her wound care on his/her own. I hope to learn more and be able to take on more complex cases with less input from my CI. I'm gettib there! I've already got my own case load of more simple cases and am doing evaluations of all patients independently. Of course, the patients vary from day to day depending on how quickly the patients heal. That's one cool thing about it- there's always something new to see and learn about!

Hope all the rest of my classmates are having as rewarding an experience as I am!

A New Adventure

I spent the week between classes ending and moving to Marietta with one plan in mind: to have no plans. It worked out great for the first few days; then, I had to get somewhat structured to make sure I got everything done before I left. A lot of running around, running errands, and catching up with friends and family in those last few days! 

I got to see what my mom has been working up with my veil. It's beautiful! I'm so excited to try it on with the dress once it's finished. And it's extra special because my mommy's making it. :) We've hit a bit of a snag with the shoes I wanted (they're waaaayyyyy more expensive than we thought they were), so it's kind of back to the drawing board with those. I've got a couple of ideas up my sleeve, though. We've gotten a lot of other things done in the last few weeks, largely due to our wonderful wedding planners: Carol and Dianne of CPR Distinctive Events. They've helped us with finding our officiant, musicians, and a ceremony coordinator, choosing the chairs for the ceremony, deciding on the best layout for the reception, and generally keeping an eye on the details that make the big picture come together.

I spent my first few days in Marietta settling in and tying up loose ends with paperwork at Grady. Yesterday I spent 8 hours in a classroom doing orientation (so super awfully boring) and today I ventured into the wonderful world of Burn Physical Therapy. I was really nervous going in, but everyone was so great! My CI is so relaxed and handles my million questions wonderfully. I feel genuinely comfortable asking her anything, as well as doing the same with any other therapists there. In my first day, I assisted with hydro therapy treatments, wound care (debriedment, bandage changes, skin/graft care), taught a patient an HEP before being discharged, and did some documentation. The patients I worked with had crazy stories; a brief synopsis of one patient includes burns, a TBI, C and T spine SCI's, and a transmetatarsal amputation in addition to multiple comorbidities. It's such an eye-opening experience, especially having grown up in Augusta and this being my first in-patient rotation. I really hope I can cut it!!

From left to right: Jessica helping me put together my desk in my PURPLE room, Mr. Darcy napping after the drive to Marietta, and my new name badge that took attempts to make correctly. :)

Dear Double Sticks....

We did it! We finally finished our classes and can now venture out into the pseudo real world of PT! Such an amazing feeling to know that it's behind us and we made it through to the other side. Still kind of unbelievable, actually...

Ok, so you all saw me cry plenty Thursday night, but in case you still didn't know: I LOVE YOU GUYS AND I'M GOING TO MISS YOU SO MUCH! Seriously. We've been on this roller coaster together for the last 2 years and I couldn't have chosen better people to share that with. You guys kept me sane when I honestly thought I was losing my mind. The way we rally behind each other really shows me who we are. We take care of each other. I say this in present tense, because we're here. I'm here. For good. If anyone ever needs anything ever ever, I'm here. And the best part about it is that I know those feelings are reciprocated. We're the kind of close that doesn't go away. And if nothing else, see you all at graduation!!!!

Here are some pictures of some of my most memorable moments over the last couple of years that you were a part of. It was crazy looking back at pictures of the first summer, knowing how I never thought we would actually get to where we are now. And in less than 1 year, we will be Doctors of Physical Therapy! Woo-hoo!

P.S. - I love my paper plate award: Most Likely to Update Blog During Class! :)

best. dress. EVER.

In case you didn't already know... MY WEDDING DRESS IS IN!! :D I called Friday afternoon to check on the status of my dress since it was supposed to be in next month, and the woman told me it just arrived that morning! I was THRILLED! She asked when I wanted to come in. My response, "Um, right now!" After 7 lonnnnggg months (remember, I ordered it in January) I finally got to wear MY dress. And it was grand. I was elated. It was the first time I was wearing it in my size. The one I tried on in January had to be rolled up and clipped, so the only idea I had of the back of the gown was from the designer's pictures online. I stood in it and pranced in it, took an endless amount of silly pictures in it... I tried to talk my mom into letting me drive home in it. Of course, she wasn't having any of that. I also ordered my shoes and a little something for my hair. I wish I could plaster pictures all over here and Facebook! Alas, you will all have to wait to witness the fabulousness that is my bridal gown. ;)

Saturday, my mom and I chose and purchased the fabrics to make my veil. My mom made a practice one a few weeks ago. Up until that point I hadn't really been able to picture myself with a veil, but as soon as she placed the practice one on my head the whole picture came together. I could clearly see myself walking down the aisle. And now with my perfect dress here... I just couldn't picture it any other way.

Less than 10 months to go! :)

Food and Flowers

Amidst a family beach trip and a visit to my best friend/Matron of Honor (Hi, Jessica!) we actually managed to get a bit done over my mini summer break. A couple of things that have changed: we're going with green bridesmaid dresses instead of that bronze-ish color and a mixture of lavenders and greens for the flowers! So excited! :) We also decided to use a wedding coordinator to help pull together the details and organize the logistics of the set-up/take-down of everything; hopefully this will remove some of the stress from my parents so they'll relax a little more. Here are a few snippets of the new color scheme. The dress all the way on the left in the first picture is what the bridesmaids will be wearing!

Caterer

My parents interviewed with Roux's Catering and loved them! I couldn't go b/c I was doing some school stuff, but I've had their food before at other events and my dad's office uses them for their yearly Christmas party, so we're all familiar with their work. We're discussing the tid-bits of the menu so we can do our tasting and finalize it! Yumm! :)

Cake

I already chose a design, so now we're trying to find what to put inside of it! Our first stop along the cake tasting tour was Cake Occasions by Katie Jiminez. Her pound cake was good, but she doesn't do samples of different flavors.... soooo we would basically be purchasing a cake without ever tasting it before. And chocolate is a must around my family.


We also met with a woman who bakes/decorates cakes part time. She's done beautiful, yummy cakes for some of our family friends's events so we were glad to be able to talk with her about our the wedding. Her almond cake was great -- fluffy with a subtle taste of almond so it's not too strong. Her chocolate cake was oh so so so yummy!! Moist and rich... We brought some home with us, although it probably won't last too long as soon as my brothers realize it's there!

Flowers

The first florist we met with was at Cudos. It was the first time we really discussed what exactly we wanted for every aspect of the day. We're going to need a ton of flowers: large bridal party + a minimum of 20 tables + other miscellaneous arrangements... yikes! The woman was very nice, and handled my mother pretty well, but she's never been to Sacred Heart. She didn't even know where it is. It's kind of strange for someone who lives in Augusta to never have been to Sacred Heart and even moreso to not even know where it is. So, we'll see. I'm really excited about the prospect of including purples in the bouquets and centerpieces. Purple's been my favorite color since i was little, so I'm really pulling to have it included. My parents are having a bit more trouble visualizing it. They're more of the "show me an example in person that I can hold" type of people... so maybe once we get a few samples they'll be able to see what I'm picturing.


The next florist we met with was at Martina's. We made the appointment with no one in particular, so we were excited and surprised to find that the man we were meeting with was the same florist who did the flowers for my quinceañero! It was really neat to talk to someone who was a part of the planning process for that. It also made my parents feel better talking with someone who knows the venue, caterer, and area in general really well. He loved our ideas and was so well organized! The difference between him and the woman at Cudos was so obvious that it made it easy to make the decision. He was more organized, volunteered more ideas, was able to give us an estimate in a matter of minutes (the other woman took a week and gave an incomplete estimate even then), and was able to speak with experience. My mom and I left knowing that with Martina's everything would be taken care of and we could relax more about the big picture.




I'll make sure to post an update once we have everything officially booked and stuff. I'm really excited that these things are getting done now. I was a little worried about not being able to come home often enough to do wedding stuff while I'm in Atlanta this fall, but now I know that we have the most important things pretty settled. Knowing that we have the wedding coordinators to overlook everything and keep us on track is such a relief! Plus, having these things chosen helps me to picture the whole day more clearly. Before, I had some ideas but the only thing that was concrete in my mind was that Tim and I are getting married! Now I can see the where and the how and the colors and the evening unfolding. Can't wait!!! :)