Did I mention we booked our honeymoon?  Am I supposed to share these things?  Don’t worry, you’re not getting to see the DRESS until after January 2.

Here’s what we’ve booked:

That’s right…surprise, surprise, it’s a cruise!  We booked a balcony in Aqua Class, which is a slightly fancier than usual class.  You only get one honeymoon, right?  And Chris managed to finagle a paid week off, so that’s even better.  I am excited!  I may wear my wedding dress the entire week.  (Is that wrong?)

When I tried this on, I asked the saleslady how many swans died to make that dress.  No, that’s not my wedding dress.

Wedding planning update (if you’re keeping track):

We just ordered our invitations!  They are going to the printer soon…I cannot WAIT to see them (squeals like a little girl obsessed with paper.)

Also can’t wait for the engagement photos…

And the honeymoon is (partially) booked!

The next few steps include FINALLY getting the bridesmaid dresses and starting to look at wedding bands.  We also need to do some things for our ceremony (there’s a questionnaire our officiant needs back that we have had for months but haven’t filled out…it has some questions about feelings and stuff that is not our strong suit so we’re avoiding it) and then order a few things from etsy I’ve bookmarked but just haven’t gotten to yet.  Can I mention how much I LOVE etsy.com?  So far we’ve gotten our invitations and my earrings there, but we’ve got a couple things planned on, plus maybe our bridesmaid or groomsmen gifts may come from there as well.  If you haven’t been, I highly recommend it (you WILL spend hours though.)

Doesn’t the word "those" look really funny?  I find the longer I stare at the word the more unlikely I am to be able to pronounce it or even recognize it as a word.  Blog is a funny word too.  Maybe it’s because both words start with two consonants?  At least blog is a word that was created from two other words (web log, if you didn’t know.)  What’s the excuse, those?

A friend was asking me a couple of questions yesterday about my blog.  It came up in our conversation that I had met people through my blog, and he couldn’t believe that.  (What, like-minded people coming together?  CRAZY!)  But six months ago I might have thought it was crazy too.  (I will never use the term blend.  I pinky swear.)

The thing is, being a blogger is a pretty unique/crazy thing.  I have definitely grown into my blog here, but I absolutely love it.  I want people to read it (oh, I do, I do!) and I think a fair amount of you do.  I want it to be humorous but insightful, like I am.  And I think it’s neat to meet new people through the blog or through social media (which I use primarily to promote myself, ergo, my blog.)  And, confession time, I’m totally jealous of all the bloggers headed to Healthy Living Summit this weekend.  I kind of want to go next year, and I kind of want my sister Leslie to start a blog and go with me.  Plus we need to meet Meghann…I already know her through twitter as she has TWICE responded to my tweets (maybe three times, I’ve lost count.)

The next question was how long do I spend on my blog each day?  Basically anywhere from 15 minutes to…several hours.  Usually closer to 15 to 30 minutes though.  Sometimes I can write something terrible in less though!  But it takes awhile to search the internet for a relevant Lolcat photo.  Or irrelevant.  Doesn’t matter.

What is the genre of my blog?  What would you say?  People always want to categorize blogs, and evidently you get more readers if you have a "theme."  There’s healthy living blogs, mommy blogs, runner blogs, food blogs, weight loss blogs, dating blogs…I recently had my blog listed at the healthy living blogs site because, while it is not only a blog about healthy living, it is definitely a blog about healthy living.  Or at least, neurotic living.  In fact, the less healthy I think I live, the more my readers compliment my balance!  (See, my trip to Chicago where I was freaking out over all the crap I ate.  Walking 300 miles over the weekend balanced that out.  And several people sent me facebook messages.  I guess my friends worry I am too hard on myself.)  But honestly, I eat tons of fruits/veggies/whole grains/fish and I work out six to eight hours a week, if that’s not healthy (or like I’ve already said, neurotic) I don’t know what is!  Keep in mind I’m currently on the couch in my pajamas so I do enjoy my downtime as well.

The issue at hand here, really, is that last night I started a book I shouldn’t have. Madness: A Bipolar Life by Marya Hornbacher.  My friend Emily recommended it (thanks Em!).  The problem is, whenever I read a book about bipolar I start to worry that I’m crazy as well (I shouldn’t use the word crazy, but just be assured I am using it for lack of a better word.)  I worry that my mind racing and my fast talking is actually me being manic rather than simply a little hyper or over enthusiastic.  So I kept waking up all night long worrying about it.  Also worrying about whatever else there was possible to worry about.

But obviously the author of the book has much more drastic mood swings than I do.  I never, for instance, break things or cut myself.  I am simply more likely to want to go out at night, or do things with friends rather than sit at home.  Or I’ll need to go for a run or go to the gym.  I think that’s all in the normal range. 

Note to any readers who use Google reader:  I made a mistake yesterday.  I’m working on creating a blog for Chamber Project St Louis and I was messing with Windows Live Writer and accidentally published something to this blog.  I immediately deleted it, but I know it showed up in Google reader.  Sorry to confuse you all (if I did.)  Yes, that’s me, the "blog expert" who failed in a variety of small ways.  That’s how I roll 😉

I wanted to share with you a few pictures of Chris and the guys from his Vegas trip.  This was his official Bachelor Party, even though we aren’t getting married till January.  I was under the impression that "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas," but evidently pictures and video were taken, and at this point I think I have heard everything that happened in Vegas, most of it several times.  However, most of the pictures/video are of golf, which happened 3 or 4 days.

Will, Norbert, John Mac, Jon R, Chris, Jeff, and Dave.  Also pictured:  Dave’s Vegas Mustache.

Chris golfing!

Yes, it’s a slow blog day ;)  But I think those are some nice pictures of the guys (and Dave’s mustache.)  Dave is Chris’s best man, Norbert and John Mac.  Dave’s mustache, sadly, has already left us—but perhaps it will return again some day.

My fun is yet to come:  Next weekend both my sisters are coming to St Louis for the first time!  We are going to have so much fun.  In fact, we will not do ANY golfing, and perhaps won’t even WATCH any golf, or football, or television.  It’ll be CRAZY.  (We may watch Gilmore Girls and Alias…)  There will be lots of eating, baking, cooking, working out, gossiping, and shopping.  Probably lots of coffee as well. 

My father sets out for his bike trip soon.  I don’t know exactly when, but he has created a twitter account to keep us all up to date.  If it’s okay with him I’ll share it, if you are interested in following his progress from South Carolina to St Louis to Phoenix, and (I think) to the Pacific Ocean.  On a bike.  And he doesn’t even get a medal or a belt buckle out of it…I don’t know if he’ll make it to Vegas, but I doubt he’ll have his golf clubs with him either way.  I do like the idea of biking over the Hoover Dam though!

No room for clubs here.  I suppose my title is misleading.  Sorry!

Even though we’ve been engaged since February, we just had our engagement photos taken last night.  I don’t know if people ordinarily get them taken earlier (I think so) but we are not most people.  Since we are getting married in January, I wanted to do an outdoor photo session while the weather is nice.  And BOY was the weather nice last night!

We met our photographer, Sarah Crowder, at the Grand Basin in Forest Park.  Shortly after we moved to St Louis, I played a wedding at the Grand Basin.  I thought it was one of the most beautiful places I had ever seen, and even thought to myself that I would get married there.  Of course, I would never have an outdoor wedding, but I COULD have an outdoor engagement session there!

I had the afternoon off and my shoulders were too sore to practice so I was (naturally) messing around online.  Sarah and I are both twitter addicts so we were having a little fun.

I was especially amused to have ANOTHER photo shoot on a Sunday.  That’s two Sundays in a row for putting on ridiculous amounts of eye makeup…but the results are worth it.

Anyway, we met up around 6:00 and she took a ton of pictures in various places around the Grand Basin and then near the World’s Fair Pavilion.  Some were more posed, some were less so.  We ended up having a really good time and Chris really relaxed into the shoot.  We shot photos until the light ran out, close to 7:45.  It was GREAT.

I can’t wait to see the results!  Sarah put up one on facebook (even though Chris doesn’t like himself in it, it’s all we’ve got so far…and I think he looks good).

Today’s blog post is dedicated to some fun/interesting stuff I’ve read or seen on the internet recently. 

Cute Japanese Cat Doughnuts

Bacon Truck! 

Bacon Jam!

Fashion and Classical Music:  Should Classical Musicians be judged by their attire?

Digital Media and Classical Music

Preschool:  The Best Job-Training Program (funny, people keep getting surprised by how much young children learn!)

Make your own "Cliff Bars"

That’s it for Saturday Link Randomness.  Enjoy the beautiful weather (if you are having beautiful weather like we are).

Meaning, register for wedding gifts!  The doorbell rings, the FedEx or UPS man is there with a box.  He refuses to look you in the eye ever since that one time you answered the door wearing a terrycloth robe (fully covered!).  It’s also awkward because one time he was on the bluetooth and you thought he was talking to you. He never laughs at your jokes, and when you tried to tell him once you were getting married and would be getting lots of deliveries he was nonplussed because he assumed you already were (judging!).  Oh well.  PRESENTS!  WHEEEEEE!

Complete with creepy expression!!

I’m playing for an anime convention in Collinsville tonight.  Wish me luck.