ah...self-consciousness

I never thought much about my less than model work habits until there was someone around to bear witness to them every week.

Not the happiest thought this Friday morning

Sometimes I worry about what my students will do in college since, as seniors in high school, they can't read quietly for more than five minutes.

Pictures have arrived!

After a month of anxious waiting, I got some of our engagement photos today. Yay! Here are a select few for your enjoyment...

This one is my new desktop background because I love it so much.

I love how cheesy and classic this one is (and I love the colors)

And the whole reason we chose the National Arboretum for our shoot is because it is home to the original Capitol Columns, so here are some of my faves from that location.

I am beyond pleased with the result. Hope you enjoyed!

A quick vent

So, this will be quick because my lunch break is about to end, but I need to vent.

Brian and I took our engagement photos on Tuesday, November 10th. At that time, our photographer told me to expect to see our photos within two weeks. A few days after two weeks passed, I emailed and asked for an update. She posted a one picture preview on the website and told me to expect a full web preview this week and the full shoot within the next week. Today is the end of this week and I still have nothing. Not only that, but the "Right Now" tab on her website (which links to her Twitter feed) informs me that she is spending the day shopping with her mom. Now, I don't begrudge anyone good mom time, but...really? Next Tuesday will be one full month since we took our photos and I'm not confident that we'll have anything at that point.

All I want for Christmas? My engagement photos.

(I should note that, other than this very long delay, I am thrilled with our photographers. They are fun, and dedicated, and passionate about their work, which they are exceptional at. I don't want to be a needy bride, but I really want to see my pictures...even just some of them.)

Okay, time to get on with my day. Happy weekend, all!

I do love Black Friday

I have a confession: I love Black Friday shopping. Now, I don't get up at 3am to get in line with the crazies in front of big box store X, but I do like heading to the stores in the morning and spending the day finding deals. This year was no exception - Brian and I got to our first store around 8am and, over the course of the morning/early afternoon we hit a whole host of stores (including a horribly ineffective stop at Wal-Mart). At the outlet mall across the Bay Bridge, we did our clothes shopping for the year (yeah, we don't really shop for other people on this trip) and I also stumbled upon my wedding shoes!

I couldn't find a photo online, so I'm including my own, somewhat grainy shots, taken in our bathroom (the only available counter space with an uncluttered background). They are much higher than I was thinking of, but I am in love with them. And, when I tried them on for Brian...he was very supportive of my purchase.


Hope everyone else had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!

Story of my life lately...

It's probably more accurate if I replace "save the world" with "write a paper" or "grade these assignments" or "plan my lessons," but you get the idea. (Also, not to be petty, but I would have spelled "shiny" correctly.)

Hope you're all well - I'll work on getting a real post up soon(ish).

Wedding updates

As I wait to see if the Bears can make up for some pretty sad plays earlier in this game, I thought I'd update on some wedding things. Now, I won't be posting pictures of my dress (when I choose it), but we did find our bridesmaids' dresses and I thought you might be interested. Especially if you know the saga that has been finding these dresses. Mainly the color...who knew the right purple would be so hard to find???

Anyway, Maggie and Brian's sister Erin will wear this dress:

And my sisters will wear this dress:

Both dresses are from Nordstorm and designed by Maggy London. They are almost exactly the shade of purple I had been picturing and I am so relieved to have found - and purchased - the dresses. Now, to find my dress.

We've also interviewed two caterers and will be scheduling tastings with both after the holidays. And we're taking engagement photos in a few weeks. And Brian's closer to choosing DJs to interview. It's all starting to take shape and now that's not crazy because it's only about nine months away!

Update: the Bears just scored - tied with 6 minutes to go...any guesses as to what might happen? ::sigh:: Not sure I want to stay up for this...