Progress

As it stands now, the general plan is a Las Vegas wedding at a chapel immediately followed by a honeymoon. This is because we don't make a lot of money, so a traditional wedding would require financing from parental sources, and I worry that this would cause me to lose creative control over my wedding. I also hate being the center of attention and I have never been a party girl, so the thought of having a huge party where Johnny and I saying deeply meaningful things about our relationship to each other while people watch closely just frankly freaks me out. 


Last night we tried to lock in our Las Vegas hotel choice so that when we have money we can make the reservations without any hesitation but Shelby, Johnny's best friend, called him at about 11:30 and they talked for an hour and a half or so. In other words: I fell asleep and we didn't accomplish anything. I suppose we'll try again tonight before we go to bed. (LOL as I type this I hear the phone ringing)


At work last week I saw a book I thought might be interesting for Johnny and I to have a look through. It's called The Hard Questions: 101 Essential Questions to Ask Before You Say "I Do". Today, we went through almost the whole book and it turned out that we'd pretty much discussed everything on the list, either because we actually talk to each other or the fact we've lived together for almost a year now. Afterward, I felt like a kid who didn't study for a test but somehow managed to ace it anyway.


Tonight, we went to Benihana's for a late Valentine's Day dinner, but it gave me a bit of stomachache, so I decided to use the time to search the internet for wedding dresses. I'm thinking something either tea or knee length, A-line silhouette, strapless in red. I found this website called ZoomBridal, and while their spelling is atrocious, their deals are sweet. Theoretically speaking, I could get this dress (which is the frontrunner) in red matte satin made to my measurements for less than $150. Seeing as I have $400 budgeted for just a dress at the moment this puts me way ahead of the game. I think it would look amazing with black Chuck Taylors, a little bolero like this, and maybe a feathery headpiece like this.


I logged into The Knot to look at their wedding checklist for fun. If we were planning a traditional wedding on a traditional timeframe we'd be so boned, so thank god we aren't or I'd really feel the pressure. As it is I have (according to The Knot's count) 132 days until my wedding and I still feel a little pinched.

Who is Johnny?

Good Question.

1. I'm 28, 29 this august 17th. I was born in Houston, moved to PA for a while, then went back the Houston where I graduated from Cy Falls High School in 2001

2. I have 3 older brothers and 2 older sisters. Technically I'm the only child from my Mom and Dad, and my brothers and sisters are from their previous marriages (making them "half"-siblings), but I just consider them my brothers and sisters (none of this "half" nonsense).

3. My dad worked in Education, dealing a lot with Special Education to be specific and my mother was a stay at home mom as far as I can recall... She Quilts like a machine though.

4. I attended University in PA at Edinboro where I studied animation. After I graduated I returned home and was pretty bummed at the prospect of becoming a professional animator at the time because I wasn't too big on Computer animation, which is pretty much all there is now. So, I enrolled in a post Bac Teacher Certification program at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville where I was living with my parents at the time so that I could become an art teacher!

5. Before becoming an Art Teacher, but shortly after I received my Teaching Certificate, I decided to spend a year in China working as an English Teacher along with my best friend Shelby and his new wife Amanda! (knew them from Edinboro). It was an experience, one that would take too much time to relate here, but I'll sum it up. Lots of people (almost all of them Chinese), lots of the same food (all of it Chinese and no I didn't eat dog, but possibly fox Jury is still out on that one), many many language barriers (some overcame, some probably still lost in translation), Much adventure (woo middle of winter great wall hike and up and out all night in Shang Hai New Years Eve!), Many new friends (thanks to Facebook I can kinda keep track of em!), and Much Fun! I was glad to come home in the end, but even more glad I went!

6. I currently work as an art Teacher at an Intermediate school within Conroe ISD. It's a good job even if they do take advantage of us Fine Arts Teachers, but I hope to move up the High School within the next year or so (looking at the way the economy is at the moment I'm willing to bet I'll have to wait at least one more year before they open any new High School positions in my district).

You've already heard from Trista about how we met, she e-mailed me first, and I'm glad she did because the way Plenty of Fish Works (or worked at the time) it was a good thing she saw my pic an stuff and e-mailed me when she did cuz she never popped up for me!

So, with all that said lets see what happens next eh?

Who is Trista?

I'll do this in a numbered list format because this is the Internet and generally tl;dr is a good rule to follow.

1.) I am 25 years old and I was born on Friday, September 13th in a small town in Northwest Louisiana called Shreveport: It is now chiefly famous for having riverboat casinos that fellow Texans love to go and throw all of their money at.

2.) I am the eldest of two children and my brother is seven years younger than me.

3.) My mother worked retail until my brother was born, then she became a homemaker and took care of my brother and I and the house. My father is an architect. He designed both the Horseshoe Casino Hotel in Bossier City, LA and the Davison Professional Aviation Building at Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, LA, among other things. He also had a hand in just about every IHOP in Louisiana and Texas built in the early 2000's.

4.) I did not attend high school. From the ages of 12 to 18 I was home schooled by my mother or taking courses at the local college.

5.) I graduated May 2008 from Louisiana Tech University with a BS in Computer Information Systems.

6.) Currently I work for Houston Public Library in Houston, TX as a library assistant, which means I am responsible for circulating materials to patrons and back again, and some light reference work ("Where can I find this book?" "I liked this book. What else can you recommend?")

Johnny and I met almost two years ago through Plenty of Fish. I was coming off a major breakup and a friend suggested I try it. There were some hits and misses, but I was just about to lay off of it for a while, when idly browsing I came across this:

And instantly needed to know who THAT was. I sent that first message in the break room at work and after a few weeks of messaging and phone calls he picked me up for our first date. We went to the Olive Garden and to the Silverado Theatre to see The Hangover. It's been going swimmingly ever since.

The Beginning

So, this is the first post of a blog about our wedding, and by "our" I mean Johnny and I.

After we are married, I want to send the link of this blog to friends, family, and loved ones so that they can see the steps we took and the decisions we made to arrive where we did so that we can all celebrate together.


If you have stumbled across this in the midst of researching elopements or plus-sized brides, let me say welcome. I am logging a lot of internet time right now with interest in those very same topics. I started this blog in an attempt to keep up with my internet findings, my dreams, and my plans, and to have a record of these days before our wedding. I will post opinions and crises as I have them and pictures or articles that I find interesting or want to look at later.