Our life, our way

Or rather, my time posting here. As of this moment, I have completed my studies for the Terry MBA program. Woohoo!

Dad arrives tomorrow for the graduations and wedding!

Woohoo!

Lots of exciting things to come!

So we didn’t get everything done. We found ourselves somewhat short, financially.

1. hard wood floors
2. fix the shutters
3. replace trim that is rotting on windows and chimney
4. Paint all the trim around the house
5. Pressure wash the house
6. Fix up the deck
7. Replace the fencing in back yard.
8. Replace the countertops
9. Paint kitchen/dining/bathrooms
10. Clean and paint gutters

So still some stuff on our list but at least we got the obvious done.  Good thing we didn’t go all out. We discovered a link in that appeared to be coming from our master bedroom shower to the half bath on the first floor. So we call a plumber. I don’t need to worry about falling while showering.

Plumber confirmed our suspision and gave us an estimate. I asked him to also check our water pressure while he was there. In doing so, we discovered that our water heater was leaking……great….

So tomorrow he will be back to replace that, fix my shower. It will also take care of the fact that our water pressure was 90psi when it should have only been 50-60 psi. *sigh* We debated on whether or not to go with a tankless water heater. Due to cost and that we don’t plan on staying in the house, we decided to not go all green and are getting a traditional water heater.

A selection of pics from our engagement/pre-wedding pics taken by Springfield Photography (www.springfieldphotography.com).

Thanks so much for a fun day!

We didn’t use any of them for a newspaper announcement or anything. But then again, how many people still do that? But its good that we wear able to were our ao dais because we will be selecting one to blow up for the signature frame at the wedding. We don’t need a guest book. I’d much rather have the frame. We can hang it in the room and everytime we see it,  remember everyone that will be able to be there at our wedding.

As part of the planning process for the wedding, we ended up finding a vacation home near our home. It is amazing close. Not across the street, but for Metro Atlanta, it might as well be.

In any case, I met the owner of the house when I went out to visit the home. I had to check it out and make sure it was suitable for my future in-laws. It’s nothing fancy but at least it has everything they will need.  If you are interested in searching for a vacation home in any state, take a look at http://www.homeaway.com/. They even have listings for outside teh country. I was checking out the ones in Paris!

Back to my original topic….The owner was very nice and in touring the home, I found out he did all the renovations on the home. His specialty is hard wood floors but also does a lot of other stuff. So today, he came by the house to check out all the wonder home improvement projects we don’t have the time or skills to do ourselves.

1. hard wood floors
2. fix the shutters
3. replace trim that is rotting on windows and chimney
4. Paint all the trim around the house
5. Pressure wash the house
6. Fix up the deck
7. Replace the fencing in back yard.
8. Replace the countertops
9. Paint kitchen/dining/bathrooms

Okay, so he thought he was just coming by to estimate the hardwood and kitchen. Overall, he prices were good on most. He will be starting on some of the smaller stuff in the next coming days. The big question is, with the wedding approaching quickly….do we move forward with the hard wood floors or wait until after….or never?

Today we got all dressed up for our long overdue engagement pictures. Well, sort of. We didn’t get them done for any newspaper announcements or save the dates. I consider it a cross between engagement and pre-wedding photos. I know that for couples in which the groom does not see the bride, then the bride sometimes does a bridal session. She is in her wedding dress and its just wonderful pictures of her.  In the Vietnamese/Chinese cultures we do pre-wedding sessions. Both the bride and the groom where their tux and gown and have pictures taken. These are on display at the reception or included in favors.

We opted to wear not our tux and gown but our ao dai’s. I really didn’t know of a good location to go to. A place like Callaway Gardens crossed my mind but decided that was just a bit out of the way. So we went with the photographer’s recommendation. Marietta Square. I’ve never heard of it, let alone been there. It was nice. I was sad that the fountain was out of commission. They had already planted the annuals and so that was nice. The trees lacked their leaves but it was okay.

It was a really nice day out considering we had snow flurries the other week. Weather was perfect. But with perfect weather comes people. People that are ready to leave their homes and enjoy a nice day in the park. Not everyday that a photographer says, “lets wait a minute, there is a fairy in the gazebo and we might not want that in your background.”

We did shots on stairs, walls with different textures and colors. I suggested we risk our lives and go stand on the rail road tracks!

So in addition to our Ao Dai’s we wore casual clothes too. We had to change. Fortunately the Square has  a welcome center fully equiped with public restrooms. They were nice, not like a gas station or anything. Brian was sent to go fetch our clothes from the car. On he way there, the crossed paths with some folks that had seen us in the park earlier taking pictures.

They ask him, “What religion are you?”

I guess they are referring to our outfits. Hmmmm…so apparently different religions dress differently. Funny, I thought different cultures dress differently.  Because I know A LOT of Vietnamese that are Catholic and will wear Ao Dai. So Brian, kindly corrected them and continued on his mission to get our clothes.

Am I selfish? Are you selfish? It has such a negative sound to it, does it not?

Are we selfish to want family and friends with us on our wedding day? We want everyone there. We want everyone to have fun. We want beautiful pictures of everyone for our album. We want everyone to dance. We want folks to enjoy good food. We would like to pay for your expenses if that is a problem in this very bad economy. We would like to come pick you up and drive you down.

Man….we do sound selfish.  Selfish and perhaps even a bit controlling. But are we?

Brian was oh so ready to propose to me but said he had waited because his brother was getting married and he didn’t want to take away any attention from that because it was suppose to be all about his brother.  I wanted a Vegas wedding. But by doing so, our family and friends will miss out on that experience with us. Granted it is our day and as long as its what we wanted then its okay, right? WRONG. And anyone that states otherwise is lying.  If they weren’t then they wouldn’t be on that list of folks all “hurt” because they are not invited to the wedding.

We even decided to plan our wedding outside shutdown at his brother’s mill (when it shuts down then no one can take time off) and we set it so that it was the day after Brian’s graduation. Is this for our convenience? Not a chance. I can’t plan a graduation party because its the night before the wedding.

We planned everything almost a year out. We are making the hotel and vacation home arrangements. We are paying for most of it. We have reserved time from work and money on the side to take family and friends out while they are in town.

But not everyone will be there. Couldn’t get off of work…I guess I understand. I take for granted that I work in academia and perhaps I have more flexibility when it comes to getting time off of work. My bad, that I negotiate with my employer ahead of time of planned vacations for the coming year. I remember when Dalton State looked at me crazy because I said, 3 months after starting, I needed 4 weeks off to travel over sees followed by a week the following month.

So I suppose Brian and I are being selfish. We probably need to stop whining and feel blessed that there is anyone attending at all.