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Last weekend Kecia and I took off for San Antonio to visit our brother Chad and his fiancee Shelly. After almost missing the plane due to incorrect information from American (and possibly a few drinks at the airport bar), we landed in SA on Friday night.

On Friday we did our usual routine of dinner/get caught up/head to the bar, then Saturday we went to the Witte Museum to tour where Chad and Shelly are having their ceremony and reception next June. What a great pick! They will have lots of options depending on how many guests they end up with, and it seems the Museum is pretty flexible too. Kecia and Shelly already have lots of plans for how to decorate too!

After the tour, we went to the Riverwalk to do the touristy thing. I love that place! I haven’t been there since 1992, but it really is a great area. We have nothing like that in Dallas! The weather was beautiful, so we mostly just walked around a bit and wandered into stores every now and then.

Saturday night we went to an engagement party hosted by their friends. Also a very fun time, except that Texas Tech lost and I was stuck with some Longhorns to hear about it. Big thanks to Liz, Brett, Kevin and Nettie for hosting a great fiesta!

Sunday we visited Chad’s church to see where he works. Everyone was very friendly and many told us how happy they were to have Chad working at their church. I’m glad he seems to be doing so well there, but these people should really stop inflating his head with all of these compliments! I’m happy to hear that Pastor Greg zings him whenever he can.

We had a great time visiting Chad’s part of Texas and hope we can go back soon. Although I promised Blake I would bring him along next time, so watch out San Antonio!

Blake and I are making some headway in the wedding planning.  In the last week we booked our DJ and picked our cake baker.  I’ll spare you the details of the search, but the DJ is good without being cheesy, and the cake is freaking YUMMY!  We were fortunate to find a baker who helped us create our own unique cake, so I don’t have any pictures to share.

Now I am moving on to things like hotel reservations, save the dates, florists, linens, china, centerpieces, hair and makeup, dress alterations, etc etc.  The list never ends.  I must say now that we have most of the big things done, I’m feeling much better about the whole process.  As I was talking about this never ending list with some friends last night, I realized how fortunate I am to have Blake doing so much to help out with the planning.  Many grooms just hand over the checkbook and try to blend in with the wallpaper.  Although some brides are okay with this plan, I would have lost my mind within a week.  There are so many things you have to keep up with and work on - its impossible for one person to handle.  So three cheers for Blake and his help!

So recently my posts have been, well, nonexistent. I can’t give a good reason for this either. The only idea I have is that maybe I just haven’t been fired up enough about anything to want to blog about it! The only thing that really comes to mind is a recent shopping trip…

Blake and I set an appointment to have our engagement pictures taken. Blake, being the fashion forward guy he is, already had an outfit planned. And what was I planning to wear? Well, I had no idea. This is not a new occurrence, however. If the event requires more than jeans and an Old Navy Perfect Fit Tee, you can bet I have no idea what I plan to wear! So about a week ago Blake and I set out after work to find a good outfit for me to wear. The only requirement I had was that the shirt have some color in it - I get tired of all the engagement pics I see where everyone wears black and white. Easy request, right?

WRONG

Apparently this year’s fall colors are black and white. And maybe some forest green every now and then. We went to at least 5 stores and all I could find were black and white shirts, maybe some brown (to which Blake said no - hard to argue with the guy when he always looks so good), and forest freaking green. I do not like green. So after 4 hours, we ended up at Mi Cocina drinking their very dangerous margaritas because I felt like crying. If I even found something to try on, usually it did not fit. Which never makes you feel good. I was exhausted. I can honestly say I do not like shopping.

So the next day I tried on the clothes we managed to come home with. Some new jeans (which were massively expensive but I was willing to pay because at least they fit), a purple ribbed knit shirt, a navy blue shirt, and a black and white striped button up shirt. So what won the vote for the picture? Of course the black and white striped shirt. After all of that time and money, I still had to take the jeans and two shirts to the tailor to get them to fit correctly.

I know you are asking what I’m complaining about, since I found something for the picture as well as a few other things. Well, I’m just annoyed by retail in general. They do not make clothes for short people. The jeans had to be taken up 8 inches so they would fit me. EIGHT INCHES. If they are going to make jeans for tall people, they need to offer free alterations for the rest of the people who are not over 5′2″. Shop in the petite section, you say? Apparently you have not been in that section lately, where elastic waistbands and polyester fabrics go to die. Manufacturers seem to think that if you are short, you are also over the age of 75. My other complaint? Pricing. I just can’t handle spending $80 for a shirt. I’ll spend money on jeans, because I wear them almost daily and they need to be a good pair. But a shirt? If its unique I probably will wear it 3 - 4 times before its out of style or someone notices I’ve been wearing the same thing to every social function we have been to (probably because I spent $80 for it and couldn’t afford to buy any other shirts). The solution to the pricing problem is to hit up a TJ Maxx or other discount store. In the past, I used to find some pretty good deals. But recently I bought a shirt at a Ross in Richardson. I washed it and those fun litty fuzzy fabric ball things started appearing, instantly making it look old and worn (I seriously wore it once). Bargain? Not exactly.

Since I started working from home over a year ago, my wardrobe has slowly spiraled downward. When you spend your day chasing puppies or sitting in your home office, worrying about how you look just isn’t a priority. But recently I’ve noticed some subtle hints from friends and family suggesting that putting a bit more effort into my appearance couldn’t hurt, so I’m honestly trying. I just wish I could have a good shopping day every once in awhile. I haven’t had one in a long time! There is nothing like having an outfit you feel great in - it changes your whole mood! But spending 4 hours in a mall trying on clothes made for tall, skinny girls with no hips isn’t exactly my idea of a fun evening. Maybe I’ll go back to shopping online - at least then I can try the clothes on in the privacy of my own home!

So if you have ever had a miserable shopping day, know that you are not alone. Most women have them at least once in their lives! Note that I said women, not 16 year old girls with no hips and skinny thighs.

And Zach - I promise I’ll post some engagement pictures when we get them back.  So no whining about the picture-less blog.  Love ya!

You know the one - always joining new clubs or after school activities.  Always seems to be off to another meeting or fundraiser.  Yes, that is me.  Well sort of.  I might be doing a lot of new things, but I’m not exactly making the grade as far as perfect attendence or that happy morning attitude.

From previous blogs you know that I started kickboxing a month ago.  Well - it seems that I really enjoy it!  That extra bit of physical activity does wonders for my health.  The kicking and punching also seems to help keep my stress levels under control.  So - now that our 4 week session is over, I plan to continue with classes.  I’ll only be going once per week though because each class is $15 - that adds up fast.

I’m also still taking ballet.  I’m supposed to go twice per week, but kickboxing made that too difficult, so I haven’t been in awhile.  I should be starting back tomorrow night.  Although I am sad, because the adult ballet class I loved so much fell apart this year.  Everyone just had too much going on, so there weren’t enough people to make the class.  So I’m going to try another class and see how it goes.  I’ll still be taking on Saturday mornings as well.

And finally I started horseback riding lessons a week ago.  I had sort of a crash course in riding.  My future mother-in-law suggested I take this riding clinic last Saturday - but we decided I better get in at least the basics before that.  So on Monday and Wednesday last week I went up to the barn in the evenings for a couple of classes.  Monday went great - I learned a lot and felt pretty comfortable.  Wednesday did not go well at all - the horse that we are leasing for the month doesn’t know much and is extremely lazy.  You have to really keep on him to make sure he does what you ask.  It’s exhausting!  The clinic on Saturday went well and I also learned quite a bunch.  I hope to make plenty of time for riding for the rest of the month that we have the lease horse so I can work on all the skills that I crammed in last week!

And finally I’m helping out an old friend - my ballet teacher.  She wants to start a non-profit dance company, but needs some help with the 501c paperwork.  I volunteered my time, thinking that it couldn’t be too difficult and I would love to give back for all that she has done for me.  HAHAHAHAHAA  The paperwork is impossible!  The application is 29 pages long and requires all sorts of supporting documentation.  It is going to take several months to complete.  I’m in way over my head, but I want to push through and do my best to try and help her out.  I guess I’ll see how it goes!

So that is what I’ve been up to for the last month.  I have to say being busy is pretty nice, especially when you work at home all day and get slightly stir-crazy.  But I’m looking forward to scaling back a bit on each activity so that I can spend some more time with Blake and get this wedding planning thing going as well.