Polka Dots

Wedding Reflection - Part 1

Even though I didn't get too tipsy at the wedding, I am suffering a bit of a hangover. The event was so very wonderful, now slowing down from the excitement is a gradual unwinding.

The party planning consumed much of my life and now I am wondering how to fill the rest of these available hours (not working). Hanging with the Hubby! Exercise! House-hunting! Then it dawned on me...remember the blog! I didn't blog through most of the the wedding planning because I barely had time to just get stuff done. I couldn't imagine writing about it too. I had lots of fun with all the ideas and little details. I wanted all our friends and family to feel like it was a party created for them by us (really me...more on that in a minute) to experience our love. Someone at the party asked me "What would you call this style?...Vintage...Country...Tuscan..." I laughed and responded "I am not sure...it is just my style!"

My hubby really didn't know what to expect and over the past few months he couldn't understand why it was taking so much time. He got involved in some specific parts of planning that were important to him but other than that he was pretty hands off. Then the night before when he saw it all come together he said, "Wow babe, you have outdone yourself. This is amazing. You have done such a good job." That was the best feeling!

So here it goes...I think we will work backwards. From the day of back through the decisions about the details along the way.

As most of you know this was our re-wedding. We were officially married two years ago between Dave's two deployments to Iraq. Check our the memories from our little ceremony in 2007 here. We had been together for 6 years and knew we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together  but we didn't want to wait through another 15 month deployment to seal the deal. This past weekend we re-newed our vows in front of our friends and family on my family's ranch in Northern California and then threw a big ole' party to celebrate a fresh start to things here on the west coast!

The day was everything I could have hoped for. The biggest surprise was how important re-newing our vows in the presence of so many important people became to me. All along the way I felt kind of silly creating a ceremony to repeat something we just did two years ago. In the end it was just what we needed. We asked our fathers to do us the honor of re-newing our vows. As we stood up there listening to advice from our dad's and re-affirming the commitment we made to each other two years ago it was so clear to me that we are stronger than we have ever been. The challenges we have faced with the support of all the people around us made the day sweeter than I could have imagined. Here is a sneak peak...more to come...

I didn't become a stowaway...

After that last post you might have thought that I just never came back from Mexico. Well I did and life has been full since then.

I used to crave sitting down to draft a post for Polka Dots but in the last few months it just didn't fit.  I used to use this place as a friend. Late at night just me and Polka Dots before I fell asleep. Now that Dave is home, the time I used to spend writing goes directly to hanging out with him. As we get into a routine I am feeling a little more like writing again.

It is crazy to think that we were in the army as recently as March. It feels miles and miles away right now. I will never forget those feelings but they seem to be part of our history now. I still send packages to our dear friend in Afghanistan now but it feels different. I think before sending the packages was as much for me as it was for Dave. We miss you Marc!

The transition has been full of interesting twists. Everyday I have to remind myself how lucky we are to be where we are. We are still staying with my in-laws, we bought a new car, we are house hunting, job hunting, and planning a re-wedding party (aka: We got married in a tiny ceremony with our immediate family the first time so now we are doing it up again for all the friends and family) for 250+ people. We are so happy to be back near our families to be part of their lives.

The tone of Polka Dots is sure to change over the next few months as yet again our lives evolve into something new.

~Wedding Planning~

...I haven't done enough yet!

Really I would love to spend my time on this! I can't wait for this weekend. I have decided that I am going to dedicate day to it. So many options...so many decisions! So many places to get inspiration from! Most of all we can't wait to have people from so many different parts of our lives all together in one place. In the mean time we have to get ready to throw a great party!!!

Here's to really getting started!

Adjusting...Good Adjusting

I could not be more thrilled to have Dave home. There are moments that are almost impossible to explain when we are just sitting on the couch looking at each other. It feels amazing to have him by my side in whatever we are doing. He is adjusting very well to be being home. However, I way underestimated the adjustments I would be making. I wanted to make it seem like he never left so in the first week he was home I made every attempt to be totally normal! It really did feel all pretty normal in that first week...well as normal as possible sleeping with a person everyday you haven't really seen in 15 months.

In the grand scheme of things these are all very small adjustments to make. None of these are complaints...just adjustments...and I am so glad to have a reason to make them! :-)

WORK: For the past 15 months I have worked pretty much around the clock. I poured myself into my job. As some might say at work there is always more to be done...I took full advantage (?) of that. I am tired and ready to get some more balance. I need to get rid of the extra 25-30 hours a week I was working. I somehow thought it would magically go away :) Well it didn't! Now I am fighting with my outlook calendar to drag and drop these blocks of time into the far off future because they just don't fit!

LAUNDRY: There's is a lot more! AND I LOVE DOING IT :) Yes really.

FOOD & DRINK: After I moved out of NYC, I really I only drank a few glasses of wine maybe once a month and my daily meals were pretty much focused on cliff bars, a simple sandwich from a local deli & maybe a small bowl of pasta or a a quick soup for dinner. Now our social life is full of parties & rich food. One of us is cooking a big dinner every night. With all this I quickly developed heartburn!!! How romantic?!?!?! Not Honey, I'm sorry I have a headache, but rather Honey, I'm sorry I have heartburn. ewwww!

TRAVEL: I used to just pick up and go anywhere at the drop of a hat. I have spent tons of hours in cars and planes in the last 15 months. Dave has a pretty strong desire to just stay close to home. I honestly think it comes from him just seeing me soooo tired from all the travel that it has conditioned him to not want us to do much of it. HOWEVER, we are headed for a great weekend in Washington, DC this weekend. My history buff husband has never been there. I am putting together a great tour and to cap off the weekend we are going to the Redskins/Cowboys game. The slowed travel pace sounds great! I am looking forward to weekends cuddled up on the couch watching movies & football with the snow outside.

GETTING OUT OF BED: I think I mentioned the AWESOME sheets we bought. Well these combine with my total hot huband have been making it extremely hard to get out of bed when the alarm goes off...a few snoozes later I finally crawl out of bed and head for the shower.

MISSING FAMILY: Dave and I both have very strong relationships with our families...who happen to reside all the way on the other side of the country. I have had the luxury of being able to pop home to Tomales as I wanted over the past few months. This felt so nice! While Dave and I are so delighted to have this time to spend together we can't wait to be able to have easy access to our families. I know we will not take this for granted...at least not in the begining!

POST OFFICE WITHDRAWLS: I am having small random twitches during the day now that I am no longer visiting a post office to send a large box to Iraq. Not to worry (ugg)...I will get back to a Post Office routine as our good friend Marc is getting ready to head to Afghanistan next month. We are already making a list of all the good stuff that we need to get in the boxes :)

Thanks for reading the random late night babbles...

Re-Living R&R: The long talks

We are very lucky, thanks to a satellite phone we get to talk almost everyday. However the long talks just don't happen very often. When you are in a car with someone for hours or sitting on a couch together you can really talk a subject through to its end. You can share thoughts, frustrations, tears, excitement, joy, pain, love, laughter, it goes on and on...Over R&R we did lots of this together.

Over the phone it is a little harder to really get the conversation going, especially with your counterpart has to stand outside in 110 degree heat. We usually get a good long conversation about every other week. I really appreciate these long conversations when they happen. Sharing everyday life experiences with someone you love it truly the greatest joy. I can't wait to have him home for lots more long talks!

One of our not so long talks when he was home was to confirm that we still want to have another wedding!!! It's for sure and now we are just confirming a date. Get ready....its gonna be a a party to celebrate quite a few things!

Sneak peak at the location where we will renew our vows...

Quick Wedding Post for Miss J

I have a good friend we will call Miss J...She is getting married this year! Hooray! For our baby wedding I spent a lot of time reading these blogs and I am a little addicted. I don't know what I will do when I am done with the big wedding. I think I will keep reading them...once a bride always a bride (does that work?)

BTW-everyone, wedding in 2008 or no wedding in 2008, needs to go visit Style Me Pretty for just 2 mins...they are featuring shots of a BEAUTIFUL Santa Inez Wine Country wedding right now. Amazing!

The Calm In Between Storms

I was going to call this post "The Calm After The Storm" (being after the wedding and lots of work travel)....Then I thought about all the preparation that will be coming up for deployment so I was going to call it "The Calm Before the Storm." Then I decided it is just a deep breath BETWEEN storms. I am actually keeping myself very busy because when I take a minute to sit down I get very sad about him leaving...So after decompressing from the wedding and some crazy work travel for me the past two weeks we filled this week with a 1 month anniversary, Guitar Hero (i will explain) and a 4th of July BBQ!!!

I can't believe it has already been a month since the wedding. I had thought about it being 1 month the week before and thought it might be fun to do something...Then I got bogged down with work and totally forgot. In the middle of the afternoon on Monday July 2nd (which my hubby had off) he said to me, do you know it is our 1 month anniversary?!?! We both chuckled a bit and commented on how bad we are at remembering things like that. Then in harmony we said..."What did you get me?" We both laughed so hard at our common sense of humor. Then he made me dinner!!! Spaghetti from scratch (sort of)...

1 Month Anniversary "Gift"

 

Spaghetti Sauce

Spicy Italian Sausage (3-4 links) browned in deep skillet pan, add Tomato Paste (small can), Tomato Sauce (bigger can), Diced Tomatoes (2 bigger cans), FRESH oregano and basil from my wine barrel garden (to your taste), S&P. So fast and so delicious! Great Wine from our wine club...Wedding gift from my office! Montellori Chianti 2005

My Wine Barrel Garden

Guitar Hero has become our new favorite pass time. For those of you that don't know, Guitar Hero is an Xbox game where you play the ROCK STAR. I am not really that good at it but it is so much fun. It is the video game I can stand playing with my hubby. Because we were rained out on the 4th of July we ended up in the house with 10 people playing.

My Guitar Hero

I will post some pics of Bermuda soon...I am getting lots of requests for that. So I will do another post tonight or tomorrow to give the Bermuda update.

Happy 4th of July!

Wedding Getaway!

The weekend was a blast and the day was perfect. I really could not have asked for anything more. I am so grateful to everyone who made it for our little wedding. Our phenomenal photographer Sara put together this slideshow for us to share with everyone.

We started our getaway with a few days in So Cal...Relaxing poolside before we headed to San Luis.

Friday afternoon we had a great time wine tasting on a trolley and then we headed to Woodstock's for pizza. My favorite pizza of all time is the Pesto Primavera Pizza...Dave thinks I smell like garlic for days afterward! It isn't nearly that bad.

We rented this wonderful condo in Avila beach where we spent the week. I stayed there the night before the wedding while Dave and his bros got a little crazy in downtown San Luis. I think the big greasy breakfast the morning of the wedding helped Dave get through the day. Then it was done...The ceremony was perfect. I will post Father Miguel's homily soon. It was wonderful. It included suggestions of chocolate kisses, rubber bands and teabags, what? It was great fun.

We are wrapping up the week with lots of relaxing at the condo and on the beach. Avila we love you!

 

Countdown...

The countdowns are on...

You know when things get so busy you just forget to do things like go to the bathroom or get the one thing you went to the store for. That is how I have felt in the last two weeks. My weekends were full of lists and to dos...At this point I think I have everything done I am going to get done for the moment.

Less than two weeks till OUR DEAREST FRIEND COMES HOME...one of our bestfriends and roomie comes home from Afghanistan after what seems to have been the never ending deployment. I don't think we will be here to welcome him home because we will be getting married in CA. ugg!!! But I am gettin' his room all spiffed up for his return.

Less than one week we are off for VACATION.... we will be heading to California to begin our Wedding getaway. Unfortunetly, I have to do a trip into NYC this week so I will not be able to deal with the little details. However the trip will make the time pass quick. We are spending the week before with my honey's family in Southern CA and have rented a great little condo in Avila Beach for the week after our wedding. We can't wait for the break!!! I think everything is in order except for the car rental.

MOST OF ALL in 12 days.... we are getting MARRIED. The excitment is overwhelming. Everything on this front is almost done. I refused to be stressed out on my vacation so we will just go with the flow. Here are some sneak peaks of our wedding weekend plans...

Tiramisu

Just a quick post to direct all other Tiramisu lovers to this great site.

If you are in NYC, For everyone in Cali, All the rest of you, find your city on the list!!!

I explored Italy about 4 years ago treating myself to Tiramisu everyday of the trip. We had it in Florence, Milan, Como and Rome. Now we will serve it at our little wedding in San Luis Obispo, CA. I found a fun little bakery in Shell Beach to make us Tiramisu for the little-BIG day.