7 random facts

I've been tagged by my friend Heather to share 7 random facts about myself and to tag other bloggers. I won't be tagging other bloggers because frankly, I don't know any other bloggers besides my sister and Heather who sent it to me. Ok, I'll tag my sister. But that's it!

7 random facts:

1) I was mistaken over and over again as a boy when I was a child. For good reason though. I had really, really, (I mean really) short hair as a child. I was such a tomboy, I loved being dirty, playing sports, hanging with the boys of the neighborhood, and being my dad's little buddy.

2) I almost didn't graduate high school. Not because I wasn't smart enough, but moreso because I cared more about getting high and skipping school. I didn't make it to any of my 9th grade math classes and was seriously getting phone calls home from my guidance counselor telling my parents that unless I straightened up, I might not graduate. I did graduate, and was on honor roll for junior and senior year.

3) I never wore shorts in high school. Why? I have this skin condition called eczema, which I was extremely self conscious about. Kids can be MEAN and they were. So ergo, I stopped wearing shorts in high school. I could care less now. But you know how it is in high school.

4) I was/am really into cars. I've loved cars since my dad took me to my first car show at the age of 7. I love driving fast. I love driving stick. I bet I can drive better than most guys out there. I got a ticket for "unsafe start" when I was drag racing a friend in Panorama Plaza when I was 16. Show me a turbo and I'll show you how it works.

5) I'm a daddy's girl through and through. I've always had a wonderful relationship with both my parents, but there's something about my relationship with my dad that just hits me in my heart. He's the one I go to for advice. He's the one who I call when I'm upset. Of course my mom is there for me too, but there's just something very special about my dad and I. Lots of great memories with just me and him. He's the best.

6) I'm extremely organized at work and have everything planned out perfectly. (Well, almost perfectly), but I'm a mess at home. Steve handles all our finances and important paperwork. You'd think me, the one who works in an office and handles this type of stuff daily...would have a better handle on it at home. Nope. I'm a mess. I've had utility companies call me because I forgot to send my check in. Not that I don't have the money, I just can't pay attention to that. Not sure why...so that's why Steve takes care of it all. I simply can't.

7) I want like 5 kids. Realistically, we'll probably only have 2, but I've always wanted a large family. I grew up with one sister and parents. Every holiday consisted of us 4. I enjoy a lot of people around, I love seeing lots of family gathering in one place...I've never had it, so I'd LOVE to have a million kids running around. It's just not affordable these days. Too bad.

I tag:

My sister Jennifer

OMG I FOUND A DRESS!! :)

I took my friend, who is also a bridesmaid to try on dresses at Alfred Angelo on Saturday. I walked in knowing that I was not going to buy a dress, since hell, my wedding is still 1 year 8 months away. Sooo...the point of this session was to see what material I liked, disliked, what style looks good on me, price points etc. The first time I went, I went to this really little boutique and didn't get a consultant or anything, so this experience was waaaaay different.

First of all, after some serious drama with my mom and sister over the past week, I'm SO GLAD I brought my friend/bridesmaid with me instead of my mom and sister. They will go to the last dress session and be there when I find "the dress" but for now, having another opinion on what looked good on me was helpful.

The first 3 we tried on were eh...ok. I found out that I really do like the sweetheart neckline, satin with a lace up back -corset style. I tried on this one off-white dress, that had pick-ups (not my thing...at least I didn't think so!) and really, really, really, loved the dress. The consultant got me a veil to wear with it and I think Korin and I almost cried - almost. We're not the crying type girls....so the fact that we were close to crying was good. She took some pictures...it was so fun! So now, when it's time to actually buy a dress, I'll know exactly what I'm looking for.

Seeing myself in a dress, with a veil really made it "real" for me. Steve and I constantly talk about how it still doesn't feel like we're actually getting married because we haven't really done anything yet. But seeing myself in a gown like that....phew...totally put things in perspective. Korin looked at me and said "you're going to marry Steve Ruple...." Wow...I am. Weird. I'm going to be Mrs. Ruple. HAHA.

Photographer meeting

Steve and I went and met with John Larkin (www.johnlarkinphotography.com). I heard from him from a coworker whose friend or cousin used him recently. Great photos online and he was really nice! We felt comfortable with him immediately and he didn't talk too much, he let his work do all the talking. Steve was sold pretty much as soon as he went through the first batch of images on his TV. Obviously we need to meet with others before making our final decision, but he's definitely on the top of our list. His basic package is $1,800, but we'd probably go with the medium package, so we'd get all the rights to our photos. That package starts at $2,800, but it doesn't include the engagement session or any books. If we decide to go with him, we'd have to do some negotiating. Seemed like he was up for it.

In other news, I'm going to Alfred Angleo on Saturday with my sister to try on dresses. I found one online that I just LOVE. Even though I told myself I want to lose some weight first, I figured, what's the harm in just trying them on?

a few wedding updates

I contacted the director of special events last Thursday. She emailed me back yesterday and informed me that the calendar for 2010 is still not out yet. She promised she'd call when it was. I can't WAIT to sign that contract!!! It's getting so exciting for me to actually start planning our wedding. The first few months of engagement was fun, but I wanted to enjoy it and not jump head first into planning. Now I'm ready.

Steve and I have a meeting with a photographer tomorrow evening. A co-worker's friend used him and loved him. He had 2 other assistants with him, so they had 3 photographers essentially during their wedding. He also offered to do family portraits at the wedding for free. His packages start around $18,00 which is about half of what we budgeted. But we'll see how it goes. I'm willing to pay extra for this service, as it's something we'll have forever!

Then, on October 7, we're meeting with the Krackes. My friend Heather used them and loved them, so I figure what the hell, let's meet them. I'm excited!

These are the bridesmaid dresses I like the best, obviously, they would be periwinkle
Here is the flower girl dress I like - the red accents would be replaced with the periwinkle
This is the periwinkle color I'm going for

Kardio kickboxing?

I had my first kickboxing class last night and it wasn't too bad! I'm pretty damn proud of myself for doing TWO, that's right, TWO classes per week. I'm motivated. I WANT this. I need to lose 20 pounds. I'm gonna do it damnit if it kills me. After the first aerobics class I had, my legs were killing me. I could barely walk down stairs, each leg shaking as I put weight on it. Not anymore! After my second aerobics class I was fine and I feel good today too!

I weighed myself before the first class and I'll weigh myself again at the end of the month. I don't want to see what I weigh each day...I know it won't change much and I don't want to get discouraged.

On another note - I'm starting to get really excited about wedding planning. We get to sign the contract for Casa Larga at the end of this month - if the damn coordinator would email me back! She's been very responsive in the past, so I'm going to give her more time to get back to me before really bugging her. I just sent the email yesterday, so if I don't hear back by Monday, I'll give her a call. She seemed very cool the last time I saw her.

Then, I'm trying to meet a photographer next week too - www.johnlarkinphotography.com. Looks awesome and reasonably priced. I know that I don't want to cut myself short with photos, because, hell, it's the only things we'll have after the wedding for years to come! I want the best we can afford.

My sister is home from Austria too, so I'm going to my parents' house for dinner tonight and also doing lunch and a movie tomorrow. Should be fun! Haven't had a girls date in a long time.

7 years ago

I was walking back from my morning class to my dorm. I was a sophomore in college and was living in a suite with 7 other girls.

I noticed that I had missed a call on my cell phone, so I called my friend JZ back. I asked what he was doing and he replied "get back to your dorm and turn on the TV, planes just crashed into the Twin Towers" - I said "yeah, OK JZ, stop playing around" - silence on the other end of the phone and he quietly says "no, Lesley, really, go back to your dorm. I'm not kidding." So I rush back to my dorm and notice that a few girls had gathered in the common area watching TV. I went into my room and shut the door, turned on the TV and just stood there watching. I was frozen, in shock and was standing there watching live TV as the second plane hit the second tower. WTF? What's going on? I opened the door to see some of the girls crying. One girl's family lives on Long Island and both her parents work in the city. Oh. My. God. I hope they're OK. She couldn't get through on the phones. We were all comforting her, praying and hoping her family was OK. (Thankfully, they were).

Classes were canceled for the rest of the day and many students were plastered to their computers/TVs to keep up with the news. Then we heard of the plane crashing into the Pentagon and Pennsylvania. We all watched in horror. We were all confused as to why this was happening. What's going on?? Who is attacking us and WHY?

I had heard that Rochester was on the list of potential cities in the US to be attacked, since we had/have some global headquarters stationed here. Bausch and Lomb. Xerox. Kodak. This is something that I had to quickly get out of my head...as I started to panic. Called mom and dad to see if their friends from the city had called. No one had. Luckily for us, all of our friends who live in or near the city were all OK. Terrified, but OK.

So, today, please take a moment to think of those who lost their lives in this tragedy.

resolution

My best friend from highschool and I have drifted apart over the years. We spent every. waking. moment. together from the time I was 15 to the time I was 18. We lost touch when I went away to college. She came with me and my parents to drop me off at UB. I came home after college and we basically picked up right where we left off...then we grew apart again and lately, for the past few months, we hadn't even been talking.

I realized that this person is someone who is extremely important to me, so I put myself out there and asked her to come over to talk. We desperately needed to reconnect, so I was hoping she was game. Luckily for me, she was. She came over last night for pizza and beer and we cried, talked and got everything out on the table. Phew. Was a relief. I felt better immediately and we both realized that we had almost given up on a friendship over nothing. We never had a blowout, we never fought, we just grew apart and then it got awkward and neither one of us knew what to say to the other. So now that everything is out in the open, we're both willing to make the effort to spend more time together. We used to just chill, drink some wine and hang out...we need to make sure we keep doing that.

A huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders and I'm so happy.

How I love thee

My best friend lives 2 hours away from me. I decided that since I wasn't going to Toronto anymore with my parents, and Steve had to work, that I would head down to Binghamton to visit my one and only Nik. I got down to her house around 11am and we immediately left to take Chels (her little 14 year old sister) home to her parents' house. It was nice to see her parents again, since I haven't seen them since Nik's wedding in May. I have to say...I have a small crush on her dad. He's just so funny and warm and charming!

Anyways, hanging out with Nikki just makes me realize how I miss having a best friend around. I mean...we didn't do anything! We just sat around, smoked, watched a movie, ordered Chinese and hung out and talked! I loved it! I NEED that with girlfriends and it seems like she's the only one that really, truly understands me. I stayed until about 4:30 or so and started to get tired so I decided it was time to go.

Everything was going fine until my gas light came on. I really, really thought I'd make it all the way home since I just put $50 in the gas tank before I left! Well, of course it doesn't work out that way and so my gas light goes on after I hit Syracuse and I panic. I want to get to the closest exit and I want to get there fast. I'm not sure how many miles I get after the light goes on. In my Jetta, I knew I had 1.5 gallons after the light goes on, so I probably had about 40 miles left. Not so sure with the Pilot. I didn't get the owners' manual since it was used when I bought it...so I wasn't sure what I had to work with. Well, as luck would have it, I get pulled over doing 83 in a 65. FUCKING GREAT. I haven't had a speeding ticket in like 4 years! UGH! I'm so mad at myself! I tried talking to the trooper, explaining why I was driving so fast...yeah..he didn't care.

Since I have a pretty clean record, the trooper advised me to plead not guilty and to go talk with the DA. I'll probably get it reduced he says. I'm sure I'll get it reduced, but the annoying part of it is that I have to drive 45 minutes out to wherever the hell I got the ticket to deal with it. ARGH. But, if that will save me money and points on my license, then I'm going to do it.

Tonight is also my first aerobics class. Heather is coming to get me so we can ride over together...I'm scared. Heather tells me the instructor is diesel and will kick our assses into tomorrow. I shouldn't complain, because I really, really want to lose weight and get toned. I told Steve that we have to set up the DVD player down in the basement too, so I can do my tae bo down there without anyone bothering me.

Wish me luck.

honeymoon change? quite possibly!

Steve and I had dinner at my parents house last night because out of town guests were in town visiting. I've known these people since birth. They have a daughter who is almost exactly one month younger than me, and I spent a significant amount of time with her in my earlier years (13-14). We played at a lacrosse camp together and I spent weeks among weeks with this family. I haven't seen them in 12 years. It was good to catch up. Christine, their daughter is vacationing in South Africa right now. Insane.

Anyways, during dinner, we were chatting about our wedding/honeymoon. Now, Steve and I had discussed perhaps changing our honeymoon location to be Amsterdam. We have just always heard great things about the place and hell, smoking pot is legal there. There are "coffee shops" everywhere that sell reefer. Hmm...so we figured to at least look into it. So, back to dinner. They mentioned that they had been to Amsterdam with their daughter and LOVED IT. They even said they each tried smoking a joint since it's legal there. I tried talking Mom into going and smoking a joint with us....she declined the invitation.

So, we're back to square one again...I think. Hawaii is beautiful and gorgeous and there's a ton of stuff to do...but it's really expensive is what I hear...so we're not sure now!

On another note...I think I'm going down to Binghamton tomorrow to see Nikki. It's been entirely too long since I've been able to really spend time with her...so I think I'll take a day trip down tomorrow. We'll see.

What a great weekend! (mostly)

It was a glorious long weekend! At least for me it was. After getting out of work at 12:45 on Friday (actually getting to use my coupon!) I anxiously awaited Nick's arrival. He got to our house around 5pm, and we stopped over his dad's house, wegmans etc. to get ready for our weekend. We stayed in Friday night and played with the Wii, and passed out early.

Saturday Nick and I were busy grocery shopping for our cookout, getting the house ready etc. Steve had to work til 4pm so he was not around to help. The boys went out Saturday night to some local bars, I stayed home since the bar scene is just not my thing anymore.

Sunday was busy! I was up early, we took the dogs to the park so they could release some energy before people started showing up. I prepared some of the food Saturday night so I wouldn't have to worry about doing TOO much Sunday. I marinated, washed, cut up all the food that we were planning on serving and the boys did boy things - changed Nick's oil, showed Nick's dad Steve's new exhaust etc.

We had a good turnout! The food was good! A good time was had by all...

Until that is...I found out that close friends of Steve's (and mine), since we were kids...are planning their wedding the week before ours!

Here's the background: they got engaged December of 2007. They set their date as June 20, 2009 for the past 8 months. They announced at our BBQ that they changed their date to be May 22, 2010. Of course I played it off like it didn't bother me...since we had so many people at our house, I didn't feel it was appropriate to say anything at the time...but I'm livid! They KNEW our date! We talked about it at length with them! I don't want to share that time with another couple! It's OUR TIME! It's OUR wedding! I'm so upset that "friends" would choose to do that to us. I don't think it's an "honest mistake" since we had talked about it when we went camping in July. I know it's a week before ours, and not the exact same date, but we're going to have many mutual friends at both weddings! It's only natural for people to compare. As selfish as it sounds, I want our wedding to be about US - not about "our other friends who got married last week" and it sucks that now we have to deal with it.

Ugh - just one more stressful thing for me to deal with!