One of These Things is Not Like the Other

Every night for the past few weeks I have been looking at this stack of books that are on my night stand and I can't help but laugh to myself a little.  I spend a lot of time in the airport traveling - almost every other weekend- to see Jon and these books have been my reading material over the past few months. 

Some may find reading an etiquette book to be boring but I actually enjoy being educated on things like that...so I read Emily Post Wedding Etiquette from front to back except for the part about different cultures joining together in marriage because the only thing culturally different between me and Jon is that he is a Raven's fan and I am a Steelers fan.  

Colin Cowie Wedding Chic was a gift from my mom - she saw it in a store in California and brought it back to me...it has some nice pictures in it and its good for when I don't actually want to read.

A Brides Book is a wedding planning guide but I find very annoying so I am not using it....I am the queen of to-do lists and staying organized but I am also very OCD when it comes to how I do it...so I prefer my own excel spreadsheets and not to be confined to a pre-printed planning book.  Plus, I found that there is a lot of excess paper in there.....like I don't really need to know my bridesmaid's measurments...I trust them to pick out a dress that will actually fit them.  And it annoys me when I have to write N/A.... yeah, I know - O.C.D. 

But then there is the book by Tucker Maxx....I know, I know, not the most lady-like book but frankly, I find him to be a fantastic writer and hilarious.  (Although side note - I am not so sure that his life is all that much crazier or more fun than any normal college student, I just think he is a really good writer and can make it sound cooler).  I swear, Tucker decided to put almost all of the times that he used the "F" word in giant bold print in this book - which I didn't remember from his first book.  I was reading this book on an airplane ride back from Las Vegas in December while I was sitting in the middle seat....I was having a hard time containing my laughter but I was also a little bit self conscious of what the 2 people were thinking of me reading a book with such vulgar language.  I was a bit self conscious but I didn't think that anyone would actually say anything!  I was wrong.....the guy sitting next to me goes "I don't mean to be nosey but I can't help but notice how bad the language in that book is! You don't look like the type of girl that would be reading something like that." Didn't his mother ever teach him that its rude to stare?!  I am sure if he had read Emily Post's Etiquette book he would have known that..... 

Second Trys A Charm

So a few weekends ago Jon and I were supposed to meet with our priest and go cake tasting but both had to be rescheduled.  This past weekend we were able to get both appointments in and both went really well! 

I have to admit, I was a bit nervous to meet with the priest because I am not the best example of a good catholic right now. I consider myself a religous person and I was raised to go to church every Sunday but ever since I went to college I have turned into what my parents called "Italians" growing up - meaning that I only attend church on Christmas and Easter.  (side note, I have no idea why they called people who only attend church on holidays Italians but I am pretty sure it was not meant to be mean, it was always sorta a joke on Christmas and Easter that we had to get to church early to get a seat).  Jon and I were both afraid of 2 questions #1. How often do you attend church and #2. I won't be too specific but it has something to do with pre-marital relations.  We both knew we couldt lie to a priest and that both answers were not what he was going to want to hear.  We knew that meeting with the priest was something that we were going to have to do so we were just going to grin and bear it. Lucky for us, the meeting was very laid back and very straight to the point.  The only questions he asked us revolved around logistics of the wedding - like what time we wanted the rehearsal, what time the wedding was, how many attendants we were having, etc.  He explained to us all the certificates that we need and how many people we could choose to be involved in the ceremony to do readings, etc. And then we had to take a "test" called "Focus" or something like that....apparently its required in the Erie Catholic Diocese before you are married in the church.  It was a series of 156 statements and we each filled in a scantron sheet for "Agree" "Disagree" or "uncertain".  I am pretty sure Jon and I are on the same page on almost all of them...but the priest will graph out our responses and we will be able to see where we agree and where we disagree with eachothers responses.  All the statements were things that any couple should talk about, so I am sure it will be an interesting learning experience for us when we go back in May to find out our results :).   I had to chuckle at a this one statement statement though: "I am concerned about my future spouse's gambling habits" because on night this summer when Jon and I were in Las Vegas for vacation/a friends wedding he finished showering before me and told me that he was going down to the lobby to the ATM while I was showering and getting dressed for dinner.  I showered, dried my hair, did my make-up and got dressed and Jon still wasnt back.... I texted him to see where he was and his response was "at the Excalabur, meet you in the lobby at 7:30".  He was gambling, when he told me he was going to the ATM.  Jon doesnt have a gambling problem, he enjoys to play blackjack and make some sports bets, but he always knows what he is comfortable spending and what he isnt....and I have no room to judge him there because I enjoy shopping quite a bit - we each have our "things" we like to spend money on.  But needless to say I have never let him live it down that he told me he was "going to the ATM" when he really went to gamble. 

So, the meeting with the priest went better than expected - but cake tasting was just as much fun as I had hoped it would be.  It was an extra special day for me because I gave up sweets for Lent, but since the entire point of the meeting was to taste cake and this appointment was arranged before Lent started I made an exception.  I hope the big man understands.  This is what was waiting for us when we got to the appointment:

Yes, that is 8 cake flavors and fillings to choose from.  And this is what it looked like when we were done: 



We ate everything except for the carrot cake sample - and I tried it, just for kicks even though neither one of us is a huge carrot cake fan.  Jon and I both love chocolate but we agreed that a wedding cake should be white - so we chose to have 1 layer of  champagne white with fresh fruit and cream which not only was very tasty but sounds very "wedding-like" to me and then another layer of white cake with brownie sundae filling  so we have something for the fruit lover and something for the chocolate lover, and since its my wedding and I am the bride I am going to ask for a little of each :)  Since we have so many people that are going to need to be fed from our wedding cake, the caterer suggested that our anniversary cake topper be pre-boxed for us to save and the whole cake be cut and served.  That worked for us because we got to choose a 3rd flavor for that. We both love chocolate so much and no one will see it but us so we chose chocolate with oreo cream filling.  Yum, cant wait for our 1st anniversary :)