Adventures || In Snowboarding

So I've been slacking on posting regularly, for this I apologize.  I'll be better about this, I promise!

It's hard to believe that despite having lived in some great places for snowboarding, including Germany and the PNW, I've never been snowboarding.  That is, at least, until this past February.  Josh and I were given a giftcard to Snow Bowl for Christmas from his mom and her boyfriend, so we decided to take a couple days off work and head up north, Ricky Ricardo in tow!

Josh has never been to Flagstaff so this was a first for him.  I've been a couple times so I knew of a couple spots I wanted to take him.  But before we could do anything, including checking into our hotel, we had to see the snow!  Had we gone a couple weeks earlier or even a couple weeks later, we would have had fresh snow.  Instead, we settled for some man made powder but that was good enough for us!  Ricky even got to walk around on the foreign substance but I don't think he really cared too much for it.  After seeing (what we could of) the mountain, I was equal parts excited and nervous for my snowboarding debut the next day!

The great thing about this trip was that we only had two goals: 1) relax and 2) snowboard.  This made for a great trip since we accomplished both.  We stayed at a great hotel that not only allowed dogs, but they had a great dinner and breakfast buffet which saved us a bit.  One breakfast I couldn't give up and one I had daydreamed about since I last visited, was the waffle and fresh fruit from Macy's.  It didn't disappoint, neither did Josh's biscuits and gravy.  We figured if we were going to be on the mountain all day, we may as well fuel up well.

So then there's the snowboarding...I wish I could say I Shaun White'd it up out there but I was not so smooth!  I don't profess to be the most graceful person and my mom will vouch for that and liken my grace (or lack thereof) to one Gilda Radner.  So there's that visual! In fact, I managed to give myself a concussion from a face plant that kept me sequestered to the car after lunch since I couldn't manage to stand up right without losing my cookies.  It's a shame because I was really starting to get a hang of the whole "falling leaf" bit and wanted to actually use my lift ticket and break free from the beginners' slope.  Josh, on the other hand, has been boarding before so he ventured on his own for the couple hours until the lifts closed.  We considered going back the next day but decided to head home early instead.

We also debated going to the Grand Canyon since neither of us has been.  Since we plan on going to Snow Bowl again this winter, we figured we'd wait so we wouldn't be rushed to get back home.  All in all this was a great little trip for us and I'm looking forward to more fun getaways soon!

 

Wedding Planning || Guest List and Resources

Even before Josh proposed, we had discussed what we envisioned our wedding to be like.  I've always wanted a small, intimate wedding but Josh wouldn't mind having a big bash.  As a photographer and guest, I've experience both ends of the spectrum.  There were a couple big factors that helped us decide on an immediate family only affair: 1) Josh and I are paying for the wedding ourselves and have a limited (but workable) budget, and 2) I want to be able to soak in every minute with my groom and family which I feel would get lost with a big shindig.  Don't get me wrong, I'd love to share this special day with all those we hold near and dear, but I also know I don't want to spend my wedding day being overwhelmed.  Plus, besides the night of our engagement, our families have not spent more than a few minutes together in passing.  The day of our wedding will likely be the first time our families really come together to celebrate and become more acquainted.  Since this is the most important thing to me, besides actually marrying Josh, I don't want to compromise losing any of these precious moments.

We've caught a lot of flack for our decision to only have our immediate family present and it has made planning a bit stressful to the point that I've considered eloping a couple times!  But Josh sweetly reminds me that our extended family and friends just want to help celebrate us on our big day, so the disappointment is understandable.  We are planning to hold a big reception next year to have all of our family and friends join and think that maybe a one year vow renewal ceremony may be a good time to do this.  That way the pressure is off and I'll have already had my big day and won't be upset should things not go right.  Side note-I'm writing this as My Big Fat American Gypsy Wedding plays on Netflix in the background which just solidifies my reasoning!

Our plan is to have a small non-denominational ceremony followed by a family dinner at our favorite local downtown spot--more on venues later.  We want to incorporate some of the typical wedding traditions like first dance, father/daughter and mother/son dances, cake, and good photography, but really it is a simple affair: ceremony and dinner.  And while it may be small, I still want to have a beautiful day and keep as organized (surprise!) as possible.  I ordered All the Essentials Wedding Planner: The Ultimate Tool for Organizing Your Big Day which has been pretty helpful.  I've only made a small dent in all the info and there is a good portion of it that is irrelevant to my specific needs, but it's good nonetheless.

Two years before Josh proposed, I purchased this book knowing that I'd use it one day.  I didn't want to jinx myself, though, so I put it away until the time was safe!  Since the plan is to DIY as much as possible, this book has been extremely handy.  So has this book that my older sister gifted me for Christmas which has gorgeous images and great desert inspiration.  And what kind of bride would I be if I didn't have a Pinterest board that has been collecting inspiration over the past few years!  I've also found the site www.apracticalwedding.com to be full of great tips and spreadsheets which, for someone like myself, is a Godsend.  Love it.

So far we have our ceremony venue booked and my dress picked out but we still have quite a bit to go with only 6 months left.  I can't wait to see it all come together!

On Staying Organized

I'm not ashamed to admit I'm a bit obsessive when it comes to making lists and staying organized.  People give me flack for it, but it works for me!  I'm also big on the idea that there's a place for everything so that should you go to look for something, you always know where it should be.  If you're my fiance who practices a more "anything goes" approach, you never know where you put your keys last or where your Amazon giftcard went!  He does, however, enjoy a good list so there's that.

For me, being organized reduces my anxiety and stress.  List making helps with that, especially now with home projects galore happening and of course the planning of my wedding!  More on the wedding planning next week.  I'm not a journaling type of gal in the diary sense, but I do keep a journal/notebook to keep track of all my ideas, lists, and other miscellaneous info I need to remember; it goes everywhere with me.  I started this back in college when my summer printmaking professor (a rad rollerderby chick) suggested we keep a journal to jot down our creative thoughts and ideas for our work.  This practice has continued and I keep filled notebooks shelved in my office for reference when I need it.

Now, if there is a way to make being organized even more organized, you best believe I'm on it!  One of the things about my current method of list making that isn't so efficient is when I've completed almost all of the tasks on a list but have moved onto a new list, the old tasks still linger.  It's a bit of a pain to have to flip back and find old lists to mark those tasks off.  And then in between those lists are random thoughts, ideas, and other notes that are just jotted down as they come.  Same goes for my notepads at work.  Thank goodness there are people who have thought these things through more thoroughly than I have and thus created a Duh! Why didn't I think of that?! process.  Enter the Bullet Journal method for note taking which I'm nerd enough to admit has upped my notetaking game, both personally and professionally.  Thanks to Pen & Peplum for this resource.  All kinds of organizing are underway since I discovered this last week, including converting these lists and calendar notes.  I bought a new grid style Moleskin since my current one is reporter style and not really conducive to this new method.  I've used other brand notebooks in the past, but Moleskins are my favorite.  Also, I LOVE Sharpie's fine point pens and think you need them in your life, too.

I love when I come across new products, methods, ideas, etc. that help me so hopefully this may help you as well.  If not, now you just know I'm a bigger nerd than you thought!