The Final Coundown to "I Do"

With just over 3 days to go until we get married, things are moving fast!

This weekend we moved into our new apartment. Well, our stuff went into the new apartment, but we're still getting it all organized and figured out. With all of our boxes and bags stacked everywhere last night, it all seemed really overwhelming, so I took it upon myself to relieve some of the pressure. When all was said and done the place actually looks inhabitable now. There's still a lot to be organized, but it's not all piled in the middle of our living room any more.

Almost everything for Friday's wedding ceremony is done:

We met with our minister, Kent, on Sunday to set up the order of service -- it's a simple ceremony, so we didn't have to do it really far in advance. I just remembered some important phrasing that we need to make sure is included. I'll make sure we get him called today.

We have both wedding bands ready to go; the only thing I'll need to do Friday where that's concerned is take her engagement ring to be cleaned.

We're all set on our clothes for the day, though I do need to make sure all my stuff is clean before then. Not a big deal.

Mom is putting the final touches on the flowers right now. They're beautiful!

Finally, today I'll pick up the marriage license and put it in the safe with the rings.

We're REALLY excited! This has all moved very fast but it's all felt very right. Among other things, Benjamin is so stoked that his dad is going to finally live with him and Mommy, Glenda is happy that her queen-sized bed won't feel empty at night and I'm just happy that we can finally be and do all the things as a family that we've looked forward to and not have to wait any longer.

Just over 3 days to go!

Wardrobe Adjustment

We were going to get a new suit for Benjamin to wear at our wedding, but he's not going to be able to wear a jacket now. He broke his arm Wednesday evening. Read all about it at my personal blog.

Say a prayer for us. We'll be moving this weekend and getting married next Friday, and all the while kiddo's got to deal with a long arm cast. Oh yeah, there's still supposed to be rain Saturday during our move, too. The stress level is rising for all three of us.

Rain, Rain, Go Away...

...don't wash out our moving day.

It doesn't look good for Saturday when we're supposed to do our major moving.

Praying hard.

Flowers and Frenzied Packing

On Sunday afternoon Glenda, my mom, and I went shopping for flowers. Since my mom used to be a professional florist and...well, she's my mom, we thought it'd be great for her to do the flowers for our wedding. She's also willing to do it for free if we pay for the materials. Very cool.

So off we went to JoAnn ETC to see what we like. After a couple of hours of perusing the different styles, colors and so on, we found stuff that works really well together and will look awesome.

Right now we're both scrambling to get everything packed to move this weekend.

By the way, anybody want to help us move Saturday and Sunday?

Change of Plans

This Valentine's Day, we have an announcement related to the love we share and our upcoming nuptuals:

Because of the nature of our relationship and Benjamin being in the picture, we have decided that it would be wiser to get married sooner rather than later. We are moving up our official wedding date to Friday, March 2, instead of waiting until the announced June 9.

A number of factors have led to this decision. Saying goodbye to each other after we've spent quality time together has become increasingly more difficult. Benjamin asks Mommy almost daily when he'll be able to see Dad again. We have felt almost like a separated couple in reverse, trying to arrange when the kiddo can see his dad. We've looked at our finances and realized that it would be most financially prudent to consolidate insurances, food, living expenses and so on sooner rather than later.

We've thought about the good reasons to wait until June 9 but have come up lacking. For many other engaged couples, they need so much time to plan a decent-sized wedding that they have to wait in order for things to get done. We've never wanted a big wedding to begin with, so there's even less for which to wait around. Engaged couples typically don't have a six year old in the picture; and that's a dynamic that changes everything much more than we ever imagined.

We will still be having a really cool event on June 9. It will, at a minimum, be a neat reception-type event and we've talked with our minister about having a brief vow-renewal ceremony of sorts. We want our friends to be there. We want to have a kick-butt party. It will still be an outdoor event next to Lake Jacomo, and we'll still share in this blog our thoughts on preparing for it.

On March 2, however, we've decided to have only close family at the ceremony. Because of the short time frame between now and then, we feel like we can't ask so many people to change whatever plans they have to accommodate us. Frankly, we also want this to be very simple and intimate.

So we have a lot of work to do. A week before the wedding we'll be doing the major moving into a much larger apartment in Glenda's complex. We have to meet with our minister to finalize the plans for the March 2 event. We also have to get all the other legal stuff in order. After that, it's back to arranging for the June 9 event.

We're really excited about all this. We're sure it comes as a shock to you. Please rest assured that we've talked and prayed a LOT about all this and we feel like this is the direction in which we need to go for our family. God bless and please pray for us.

With God's Love,
Michael and Glenda

Never Ending.

Glenda and I both have decided on something else (besides a flower girl) that we DON'T want in our wedding -- or need not be said. You might have heard this one before. It's paraphrased here, but you'll quickly get the idea:

The wedding ring is a circle and has no beginning or end. Such is the nature of God's love for us and husband and wife for each other. Blah blah blah....

My take: Do you really have to tell us what the rings are for? I think we know by now.
Glenda's take: "How many times does a person really to have to hear that in their lifetime?"