So. Much. Excitement.

So, I’ve had a random couple of days on day shift, which has been wonderful because I get to spend time with this lady.

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Wedding planning! We’re so organized!

We are currently on day 14 of Whole30. It’s going pretty well, though my Instagram followers are probably tired of seeing pictures of breakfast foods, no matter how awesome they are. Breakfast is the only meal I make by myself regularly, since Chris is usually at work, so I feel the need to share my pride.

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Frank’s Red Hot is my breakfast friend. So is the Marauder’s Map. Also, you should probably follow me on Instragram.

I feel pretty good, and we’re eating some good recipes, both new favorites and old standards. And a lot of salad. Canned chicken has been my spirit animal of late.

This weekend, Winter Storm Linus was supposed to blanket us (get it?!) with snow, but instead we only got a little, almost like someone pulled the football away before we got the chance to kick it. “Yeah! Snow! Oh…” Good grief.

After some friend and baby time…

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“I can put my whole fist in my mouth. Want to see?”

…we had planned a cozy weekend in, and it hasn’t failed us. Movie and TV watching, cooking, and wedding planning have been our life, and it’s been pretty great.

And today…we booked our honeymoon.

Wait, that feels kind of tame.

Today, we booked our…

[ As Oprah Winfrey ] HONEYMOON!

Well, the flights, but still.

I’m super excited, and it’s the best thing to beat this winter chill. Twelve days in sunny California with this lady.

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From our first California outing together, at sunset at Matador Beach.

All in all, a great weekend. A great week. I’m very happy, and life is good. You know, all that happy jazz.

Also, my aunt texted me this picture, because…I’m adorable.

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Happy February, friends.

Wedding Planning Weekend

We had a very hectic November and December — holidays plus being on the same shift means tons of plans! — so we’re concentrating on some serious wedding planning this weekend.

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Me with a baby in the wild…approximately seven seconds before meltdown, probably.
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One Year to Go!

Guys, it’s been over a month since I blogged. I should be ashamed. I’ll just say it’s been a really busy time lately, especially at work. Here are a few quick things about what’s been going on.

Chris and I went on vacation with my family, and it was lovely. We spent a week at Cape May, New Jersey, with my mom, brother, and sister-in-law. The weather was a bit meh, but still nice to get away.

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We went to Wildwood one day, and it was desolate. A mile of boardwalk and two stores open. But at least we got to see it, and this picture happened.

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We got Graham a catnip banana, and it’s his new favorite thing.

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One day last month, we saw some clown driving a truck. He eventually saw me staring at him and returned my sheepish smile. But this happened before I got caught.

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We also saw this guy totally safely transporting a kayak.

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Chris wanted to find a trail nearby that was next to water, and we did. Canonsburg Reservoir 2, I believe. We had a lovely little walk.

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I made some epic pots of chili.

We went to a show on the South Side with Chris’ cousin Amber. I can’t recommend Postmodern Jukebox enough. It’s one of the best shows I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen Poison four times, just to give you some reference.

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We went to our friend’s daughter’s soccer game and then to Trader Joe’s with them. It was great. All I had to do was say what I needed, and a helpful child went and got it. But if Chris didn’t hear the request, she would be confused at four cans of chickpeas being put in our cart by a middle schooler.

Tuesday we saw David Sedaris with some friends, and he was hilarious. We had a delicious meal, and, most impressively, I successfully drove us from the North Side to Oakland without getting lost. The show was a good time, and the venue was beautiful. I took zero pictures, though.

I extended my staycation to Wednesday for pumpkin carving. I went shopping with my mom that day, so I put on some chili before I left. By the time I got home, it smelled chili-rific. Chris came home and made some pumpkin cornbread, and we had some leftover pumpkin-spice cookie bars that I made for a blogging friend because I lost a bet. (Damn you, Pirates!) Not to brag, but the food was spectacular, if I do say so myself.

I haven’t carved a pumpkin in years. I really can’t remember the last time. I am always on afternoon shift in October, so I’ve missed the last few Chris has done. I had no idea what to carve, but eventually inspiration hit me. Who better to honor with a pumpkin than my favorite Steeler, Dick LeBeau?

(Brief background — Dick LeBeau is the defensive coordinator for the Steelers. He is 77 years old, and they have to announce his age at some point in every game, I swear. A couple years ago, I started posting on Facebook about when the announcers would mention it, and it has evolved into a weekly, anticipated-by-some Dick LeBeau post. I even received the Best Ornament of All Time from my future SIL Amy, a DLB-themed ornament explaining how, at the first Christmas, Mr. LeBeau brought the baby Jesus the gift of football.)

Okay, so the pumpkin. I had you ask Chris to draw the symbol for me to cut out, but I did the drilling on my own. I think it turned out pretty nice for someone who hasn’t done this in years.

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That brings me to today, which is one year from our wedding. I’ve christened it our negative-one-year anniversary. We won’t get to spend much time together today — both are busy at work on different shifts — but there will be a few minutes here and there.

I’m so excited to be married to Chris. I feel grateful and lucky every day to have found someone who can tolerate my prickly personality and makes me so happy while doing it. I wouldn’t have had half of the adventures I’ve had in the last few years without her, and my life wouldn’t be nearly as fun.

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She makes me so happy.

Here’s to a great year, followed by a kickass party!

Dominoes

When I was a kid, I didn’t know Dominoes was an actual game. I thought you just lined them up and flicked the first one over, setting yourself up for a super-cool 5-10 seconds of payoff. I guess I thought they just had random dots on them for decoration or something. I remember watching a segment on “That’s Incredible!” involving some elaborate course that someone had set up just to be knocked down. All that prep work and everything destroyed in seconds. And then you’re left to clean up the mess.

I mailed in our deposit and contract to the George Washington on Tuesday. Like most things in my life, it was equal parts exciting and terrifying. Also like most things in my life, each thought sets off another like a chain of thought dominoes.

Exciting:

  • Weddings are fun!
  • We agreed on a place, it’s awesome, and our families love it.
  • The food is spectacular.
  • I get to marry my favoritest person in the whole world.

Terrifying:

  • That deposit is just a small portion of — wait, how much? Do I have time to get a second job?
  • What if [insert ridiculous thing that will never, ever happen] happens before/during our wedding?
  • Should we invite so-and-so? What if we do and they’re awful? What if we don’t and they’re mad?
  • What if…the same thing happens that did the last time I tried this?

That last one is the loudest.

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I know. We’re adorable. Let’s enjoy this moment for a bit before we move to the next, which will be less pleasant.

For those of you who don’t know, this is not my first engagement rodeo. I was in a six-year relationship, and we were engaged to be married in…2010. Wow. I really had to think about that. Anyway, things ended up going south a few months before our wedding.  It was…pretty crappy. It was one of those life events that truly shapes who you are as a person but that you have zero interest in revisiting on a regular basis.

Don’t get me wrong — I’m grateful the relationship ended. I don’t mean this to sound cruel to Ex, but that breakup is one of the best things that has ever happened to me. I grew as a person, I got out of a relationship that wasn’t the best for either of us, and I proved to myself (again) that I’m stronger than I thought I could be.

Also, I met (both just online and in person) some lovely people because of that engagement. I blogged for a currently nonfunctioning website, So You’re EnGAYged. I’m Facebook friends with a handful of other SYE people, and it makes me so happy to see the events in their lives — weddings, babies, new houses, new jobs, and everything else. Every time Chris and I talk about wedding photographers, I lament the fact that we probably can’t afford to bring in one of the website’s founders, Kelly Prizel, all the way from Connecticut. (I love her photos — check out her site: www.kellyprizel.com. If you’re in her area and need a photographer, you should hire her.) I recently made a sports bet with another former fellow blogger, Raven, about a possible Pirates/Giants Wild Card series. And I’m so excited every time I see my Pittsburgh buddy Alyia post about her upcoming wedding.

Ahem. Tangent.

Anyway, this past weekend, we were talking to my friend about her long-ago divorce, and it (of course) brought up a lot of memories of mine. Well, break-up, technically, since we were never married, which brought with it a whole host of other issues because we had no legal protections. Long story short, for multiple reasons, she told me three months before our wedding that she couldn’t marry me. And I told her that I couldn’t be with someone who wasn’t able to get married after six years together. And…it was over. But we still had three cats, a house, and a houseful of stuff to figure out. It was not the best six months of my life.

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I still miss these other two guys sometimes. But certainly not the chubby one’s hair. He shed more than the other two combined. And he pooped so much!

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Another warm-fuzzy break. Us at our engagement party. Photo credit to Chris’ cousin Mindy. Hope you don’t mind that I stole this!

After a night of thought dominoes, I ended up re-rereading the e-mail Ex sent me about why it ended (in which she took zero responsibility, but whatever), and it started a whole other round. What if this happens again?  What if we get closer and closer to the big day next year, and she tells me she can’t go through with it? What if, what if, what if…

I’ve talked to Chris about this. Of course. We talk about everything. (Everything. Seriously.) She assures me that I’m being ridiculous, which I know I am. Chris isn’t Ex. And I’m not 2010 Monica, either.

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Pictured — 2010 Monica and 2010 Abigia. We were such kids!

I have been stressed a lot lately, and I think that’s a lot of it. I know in my head I’m worrying about something that won’t happen, and I trust Chris. She’s not leaving. Neither am I. I just need to remind myself of that sometimes and think about more important things. Like…I hope we can pick different appetizers for cocktail hour. I hope we can be at cocktail hour. Will people think it’s weird if they see us beforehand? Should we walk down the aisle? Should we have a flower girl?

Can we finance our wedding through Kickstarter?

Dominoes.

 

Weekend Aftermath

I had a feeling it was going to be a good weekend, and I was right!

First, lunch and kayaking. Lunch was super yummy, and I didn’t end up in the water at the beginning, middle, or end of the kayaking adventure.

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Chris, me, Chris’ cousin Amanda, and Amy. We were a pretty good time. They only made fun of me a little for being terrified!

I didn’t have to crawl out of my kayak, but I did cause the kid pulling me up on the launch to fall over when he pulled my boat. Sorry about my girth, kid, but I’m pretty sure bigger people than me have been in these boats.

If you look closely at that picture of me, it looks like I’m not wearing a shirt. Topless kayaking is frowned upon at North Park, but I guess I’m just a rebel.

Chris didn’t take many pictures (and I left my phone with her mom) because of nervousness of dropping in the lake. So we made a quick stop at REI for some waterproof phone pouches for next time…which theoretically could be this weekend. Or for our beach trip in a few weeks.

Then we took Amanda home and decided to just hang out until family dinner at Bubba’s. I let a two-year-old dump water on my head. It was actually rather refreshing. And now we are best friends. Well…more like she doesn’t cry when she sees me. A win!

Sunday was our wedding tasting! Yeah! Chris got a dress to wear and looked very pretty.

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The Hyde ladies. Photography by yours truly.

The food was all spectacular, and we ended up choosing some things we weren’t expecting. We were reminded of how awesome the event planner, Brad, was. And our mothers and brother/sister got to see the place. It was a great time all around.

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Color coordinating like a boss…es.

Next on the itinerary was a small cookout at our place.

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Master chefs!

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It was no Parmesan-crusted chicken, but it was pretty good.

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Ice cream, Oreos, and homemade wine (complete with ghostly floating head).

Monday was lunch out and outlet shopping with Amy and Chris’ mom. We had a good time, like we usually do.

It was a busy weekend, and I feel like I need a vacation. Good thing we are leaving for a long weekend Thursday and I only have a two-day workweek. There were so many things that brought us to laughing tears this weekend that I can’t remember them all. Signs of a good time.

I’m super excited about wedding planning and am having trouble focusing on one thing. “What about favors? Who can we ask to make a toast? Should we have Advil in the hotel gift bags? What will our colors be? What if so-and-so doesn’t come? What if so-and-so does come?”

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Thankfully, when I start to do that, this lady reels me back in.

Good weekend. Good life. I’m a
lucky gal.

Labor Day

Hooray for a long weekend! I contemplated working Monday but decided a three-day weekend was in order.

I made my lady breakfast, and later today it’s off to kayaking and lunch with Chris’ family and then dinner with more of her family.

Soon to be my family, I guess.

I hope I don’t chicken out with kayaking like I did with zip-lining. Fear of drowning and all. But I went kayaking once…and it ended horribly. Literally the end. I’m rather girthy, and the kayak had a small seat opening. I wasn’t able to leverage myself out of it, and the 90-pound blond workers were zero help (as was my ex). So I embarrassingly just turned over on my side and crawled out of it on my hands and knees. Yep. I’m super smooth.

I’m hopeful for those kayaks with the big mouth today!

Tomorrow is a pretty exciting day. Chris and I have the tasting for our wedding!

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Surprisingly, I couldn’t find a picture of us eating, so I chose this adorable picture of us with a toddler who apparently loves her mommy, per the shirt.

Yeah!

We are allowed to bring four people with us, and Chris’ sister, Amy, flew in from Raleigh to attend (thanks, Amy!). Our mothers are also joining us, and so is my brother. It will be a good time with good food, I’m sure. And we are usually a pretty good time.

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This dog sure thinks so.

I’m pretty excited about the menu we chose, and it all sounds delicious. There was a bit of a sticky situation because Chris’ aunt really wanted us to get Parmesan-crusted chicken, and we didn’t. Sadly, she will just have to starve. We all have to make sacrifices to ensure the perfect Chronica wedding.

Partner

I always hated the word “partner.” I mean, not in all contexts. Just the one that refers to my significant other.

I get that it’s a non-gender-specific term, that it’s weightier than girlfriend/boyfriend, and all that jazz, but personally, I just don’t like it. It sounds like I’m talking about someone I’m in a law firm with.

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Come see us with all of your legal sports needs!

So, yes, “partner” is one of those words that I hate.

However…the longer I’m with Chris, the more I feel like I have a real, honest-to-goodness partner.

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Not enough fries on your Primanti’s sandwich? Your Smiley cookie not happy enough? We can help!

I have dated a few women — and one guy, embarrassingly (it was college. I was experimenting) — and lived with one person other than Chris. You know, one of those things where you think you’re happy and it seems like a good idea at the time. And she had her good points, I guess, but, man, it’s like night and day.

I guess maybe I don’t hate that word as much anymore since, you know, I feel like I actually have one.

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Don’t let bad decisions paint you in a corner!

The longer we are together, the more of a partnership it feels like. I just feel lucky to have her and to have our life…

Partner.

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Call now!

Date Saved!

That’s right. We set a date — October 24, 2015. It’s not my brother’s anniversary (that’s the next day) or her brother’s birthday (that’s the previous month). As far as we can tell, it’s no one’s birthday, wedding anniversary, divorce anniversary, or death day. Whew!

And we picked a place — The George Washington Hotel in Washington, PA (or “Little Worshington,” depending on who is pronouncing it). The hotel is lovely, and so is the event coordinator, Brad. It’s gonna be a kickass wedding, guys.

We had all but decided on a different place and were just looking at this one because we had to, but we both fell in love with it. It has several different rooms for all of the phases of the day (cocktail hour, ceremony, me having a panic attack, food and shenanigans, etc.), and they are all super nice. Am I a little surprised we ended up in such a fancy place? Yes. Do I think it will still be unique and very, well, “Chronica”? Yes.

We have been looking at the menus and making secret foods and getting used to the fact that this business is even more real. In talking about a toast, I came up with one off the cuff that was so perfect, we both wish we had recorded it.

It did not mention my modesty.

Party Times

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Picked these up at Pride last weekend. We loved them.

Weeks and weeks of planning for one glorious, wonderful afternoon. We were surrounded by our family and friends and felt so much love, I welled up several times that day. So, yes, it was all worth it.

I freak out under stress — like, yell, cry, and then eat a whole lot — but I remained surprisingly calm. And I can honestly say it was surprising because, well, Chris was surprised. (I asked. She answered.) Our families met each other — my mom, brother/sister-in-law, and aunts representing my side; Chris’ ginormous family including local, North Carolinians, and Rochester, NYers, plus family friends and our friends. Almost 50 people crammed into our yard, and we actually had enough room. Well, almost. I thought some people would sit inside with the AC, but they decided to enjoy the not-sweltering weather…and we had almost enough chairs.

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Someone tried to give us this baby as a gift, but I made Chris say no.

The weather was iffy in the morning, but it turned out okay.

Also, our place was a rainbow of awesomeness. Chris has been Pintresting rainbow ideas for months, and it paid off. Her sister came over in the morning and helped decorate and make some dip. Her brother helped make some rainbow bread, fix our new (leaky) beverage jug, and carried all of the things. And all the while, yours truly was working. I’m so lazy!

Please enjoy these pictures of our hard work.

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The rainbow-streamer section above the dessert table.

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Backyard balloon time on the clothesline.

And so. Much. Food.

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That’s my sexy cankle. You’re welcome, Internet.

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Rainbow bread. Tastes like regular bread but so much more fun!

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Chris, my mother, and me. A lot of people told us we looked alike, which I’m not used to hearing.

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Chris, her mother, and me.

I do want to say that I am so grateful for everyone who was there (and those who couldn’t make it — we are grateful for you, too!). The entire day just had such a wonderful, positive vibe, and it was so overwhelming and humbling to feel all of that. I am thankful for my family and friends, and I am thankful for the family that I am marrying into. I have been in relationships with people who were not…super welcoming of me and our relationship, and Chris’ family is the opposite of that. Her extended family will soon be mine, with all of the hugs I want. (I do not like hugs, but I hugged so many people this weekend. You’re welcome, Chris’ family. You’re. Welcome.) I am also happy to be marrying someone that my family likes so much and who gets along with them so well.

So much love this weekend. So much gratitude and happiness.

Party Prep

The engagement party is tomorrow! We are having around 50 people in our house that comfortably holds roughly 7 people. Chris just keeps telling me it will be fine, so I’m trying not to stress.

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This is our favorite beer — well, one of — from our trip to Germany last year. Nowhere in the Pittsburgh metro area sells it. We needed to special order it, but we are bad at remembering to do things like that. Luckily, her cousin gave us six of them as an engagement present. Delicious, delicious presents. That helps with stress.

Cheers to good weather tomorrow, kids.