Late Happy Birthday to one of my maids....

This past Friday one of my Bridesmaids had a birthday. I meant to write this post on her birthday, but completely forgot. That doesn't mean I forgot her birthday, I just forgot to write the post. My bridesmaid and good friend Irena just turned 29 again.

When I started this blog, I knew most of my bridal party wouldn't really know each other too well, if they had met at all so I wanted to write a post about each one of them and what they sort of meant to me. I started with my two maid of honors and am now moving onto the rest of my bridal party.

Irena is this crazy, quiet friend who currently resides on the Cape, but just like me she is what the Cape would call a wash ashore. She grew up in Ohio and spent time in Fargo and Minnesota after college doing America Corps. Fast forward a few years she ends up working for the State of Massachusetts as a state beach inspector and working right next to me. I remembered being so excited when I first met her. Oh how it was nice to have another mid-western in my office to possibly hangout with. I think I knew from the start we were going to be good friends, though Irena being her shy self was very reluctant to hangout with me. After pestering and some probably coercion she finally started to hangout with me. It didn't take long until before we were good friends. You see Irena is one of those friends who will drop everything if she knows you need help. I was in bed sick for several days with a fever and Irena drove ~ 40 miles to pick me up and take me to the hospital and then home with her. She then spent the next couple days nursing me back to health. That is just one of the many awesome things Irena has done for me. Irena has also taken me on some adventures and if she had her way we would have gone on many more. She is what I call "Family Fun" meaning she loves to pick up the local newspaper and scour for fun free or low costing family things to do around Cape, Boston, Providence, or where ever. I think the only place I have ever dragged Irena is to the beach. Yes you read that right, the state beach inspector doesn't like to go to the beach to lounge in the sun, but she has humored me on a couple occasions.

So, Irena this post is to you. I hope you know how great of a friend you are and that I am still searching for a puffy pink dress for you to wear at the wedding.

We survived Pre-Cana

Today we graduated from Pre-Cana class or as they would like it to be called Transformed in Love. After spending two Sundays in a small catholic education center we came out alive. I think the best part of the class is a tie between watching Matt grimace at every topic or worksheet or the random crazy people in class. They had both engaged couples and married couples in the class and it was broken up into 11 topics. The married couples took turns going through the topics and sometimes wondered where they find these people. Here are a few examples:

- One married couple who were there to teach about communication have been married for 20+ years and have 6 kids. I should refrain that and say they have 6 girls. Matt commented that the guy wanted to commit suicide. I thought he had lost his mind as him and his wife did a role play of how to argue.

- Another married couple have 5 boys and talked about Natural Family Planning and not using birth control. I am wondering how Natural Family really worked for them.

- One engaged girl shared with the class today about how they had been working on the communication and working through arguments using the TLC method. Then she said that there was no TLC last night when she ran out of gas and he had to come pick her up. I was dumbfound for two reasons. First why would you share that you ran out of gas and second why would you throw your fiancée under the bus and discuss your fight.

Anyways, after two long Sundays and about a 100 grimaces we are now done with Pre-Cana and have been Transformed in Love.

North End = Bakery Heaven

A couple weekends ago, I went to watch some friends run a St Patrick's Day road race. After the race, my friends Jess and Bob headed to the bar for a couple drinks and then we were off to the North End of Boston to grab some lunch yummy lunch and amazing pasteries.

The North End of Boston is known for many things. It is one of the oldest neighbors in Boston, location of the Old North Church, and where Paul Revere started his famous ride to let people know the British were coming. There is a cemetery that overlooks the Boston Harbor that has headstones that date back to the 1600s. The neighborhood is small with several one-ways streets that wind up and down and it is easy to get lost. The area is dominated by Italians and is well known for its Italian heritage and eateries including some amazing bakeries. There are several places that are a must see in Boston and I would say here are a couple you should consider checking out.

1. Pizzeria Regina - It is one of the best pizza places in Boston. There are several locations around Boston but the North End is the original and so good.

2. Mike's Bakery - Oh where to start. Black and White cookies, Gelato, Canolis, and lobster tails galore. This is no place to be if you don't like sweets. The line is long but don't be scared the workers are amazing and filter people in and out fast. I think it will take longer to decide what you want. There are some small tables if you are lucky to be able to sit and enjoy your goodies.

3. Statue of Paul Revere - This is something so amazing to see, but hey if you are at Mike's it is a stone's throw away and then you can say you were at the place where he left to warn about the British.

4. The Rose Kennedy Greenway - This is an open space area that used to be the location of the major highways that ran through Boston. Many years ago Boston started this project called the Big Dig which moved all the major highways to run under the city and remove the old highway structures.

Yes, I know what you are thinking I probably got the history part from Wikipedia, but to tell the truth I only verified it on Wikipedia. I actually knew all of that and have visited the North End probably a 100 times cause I love it that much.

Below are some pics I snapped from my trip there a couple weeks ago.

How it all started

Ok, it is about time I get around to writing the blog I was asked for so long ago by Kristine. She wanted pics of the ring and already knew how Matt asked but I figured I would put it all together.

So leading up to Christmas, Matt and I had been busy with Holiday parties, Road races, friendly gatherings, my birthday, and throw Christmas shopping in there along with working our days were quite busy. With Christmas falling on Saturday I had Christmas Eve off and we were busy finishing up wrapping presents then visiting some of his family to deliver Christmas gifts. We had planned to open Christmas presents on Christmas Eve after we ate dinner. So after the dishes were done we sat down and handed out presents. Trying to keep with the Lermon family tradition on opening presents, we opened them one by one. We both did pretty good picking out presents for each other and spent the next two hours lounging and playing with our new toys. Around 11 pm I was getting pretty tired (also was chatting with Kristine via gchat) and decided to get ready for bed, Matt was in the bathroom so I decided to take Neely out quick. While heading back to the house I see Matt at the mailbox.

I holler " I already got the mail!"
Matt responds "WHAT?"

I repeat but this time louder thinking he didn't hear me. He waves me off and walks in the house with me following about 5 steps behind him. As I am taking off my boots, he hand me a card and I sit down and open it. I read the card and he hands me another card, I figured this one was from Neely and I was correct except it had a notecard in it with a clue. I read the clue and figure out it is sending me to the alarm clock so I head into the bedroom. I didn't find a clue and head back to the living room where Matt tells me to go back and look again this time picking up the alarm clock. I head back in the room and there is another clue and this one is sending me back outside to the mailbox. I grumble that I was already outside and put my boots and coat back on. The next clue is confusing me and with some help from Matt I locate it in a DVD case. The last clue also through me for a loop and with Matt's help I figure out it is sending me back outside. Errrrgh I was just outside! So here I am thinking, whatever Matt has me fetching better be good.

Note he wrapped some of my presents with packing tape and placed them in several boxes and all that I want to do is go to bed. So I head out and find a DVD sitting on the seat of his truck. I pick up the DVD and head back into the house to find Matt sitting on the couch waiting for me to return in the house with the DVD. I put the DVD in and find a movie that he put together with pictures of us through the past couple years and Neely to music. At the end he wrote "Will you marry me?" I almost missed it cause I had a few tears flowing and was sort of clueless to what was going on and kept turning away from the tv. Everyone should cut me some slack on this cause I was tired and ready to go to bed and I wasn't putting any of this together.

So obviously I said "YES!" otherwise we wouldn't be getting married, but that is the story. He was going to ask me on Christmas Day morning but decided to do it Christmas Eve night and that is why he was in the bathroom so long. Guess he was nervous.






The top picture is me trying to get creative, but it didn't really come out so the second two are of it on my finger.

Fate, Coincidence, or is the Universe telling me something

I have been in many weddings. Well 3 to be exact and I had to buy a different dress for each of them and I didn't mind, but part of me always wanted to be able to wear those dresses again. The last wedding I was in my friend Jennee let each bridesmaid pick our own style dress, while she picked the designer, fabric, and color. I loved it. I could get a dress I wanted and would potentially wear again. So now almost 2 years later I wanted to do something similar and had initially planned on it. I would let my maids go to David's Bridal and pick out the dress they wanted to wear as long as it was short or knee length and in Navy/Marine I would be happy.

Then, through all my wedding blog reading I came across a bride who had her maids wear convertible dresses. That got me a thinking. I had purchased a convertible dress a year ago from Victoria's Secret and I LOVE it. I was able to wear it to 3 weddings and I wore it in 4 different styles. Yep at one wedding I even wore it two different ways. So if you have no clue as to what I am talking about you can check out this (http://www.dessy.com/accessories/twist-wrap-sample-on-loan-short/). There are so many ways you wear this dress. I think there is probably over 100, though I am sure that all of them wouldn't look good on me but I do have some favorite styles.

Here is a pic of me wearing mine at a wedding August.



So that got me thinking, why didn't I think about convertible dresses. The ladies would all have the same dress and same material, but they could wear it however they feel. The material is stretchy, flows, and is often made with some sort of jersey material so it is comfy as well. This dress is definitely re-wearable. I got so excited about it so on went my search to find this dress. I started looking and I found a few designers that make it. I called a bridal shop in Minnesota to see if they carry that dress, the lady said 'Nope, and they couldn't get a sample.' That didn't discourage me I kept looking and looking. These dresses are super simple but range in price from $100 - $200+ depending on where you order from and what not. I started to scour the wedding blogs some more and found a girl who used and etsy seller (http://www.etsy.com/listing/53886910/infinity-dress-in-hundreds-of-color). If you don't know etsy.com you should check it out. It is my new other obsession though I haven't purchased anything from there. So I checked out this seller and other sellers on etsy who make this style, but I liked her dresses and she had good reviews form several other bride bloggers and on etsy. So I sent her an email asking about price and fabric options. She is going to send me several fabrics she has in stock and her price was actually pretty reasonable, then I sat and had about a 1000s questions run through my head.

What if the dresses didn't look good? What if they didn't come or everyone hates their dress? Would this be too casual for a fall wedding? Am I sure about ordering a dress that I can't have people try on or even see it before it is purchased?

After several emails back and forth with some of the maids and many phone calls I think this is the way I am going. I left it at that and figured I could stew on it some more during the week. Then today in my inbox was an email from Target saying come look at our new stuff. So I went to their website and what did I see. The same style convertible dress and it was a whole lot cheaper than what the etsy seller had but they didn't have navy, but I ordered one still figuring I could always return it.

So here I am thinking I need to listen to the dress angels. I have a feeling that all signs are pointing to the convertible dress.

Everything works out in the end....

So after ranting, venting, stewing, fuming, and being close to tears over this pre-cana class we have to take it all worked out in the end. The lady from the Boston office finally called back and we played phone tag for several days, than when we connected she told me not to worry about the fee and to just come to the class. She said we could just pay the original fee for the class. So I proceeded to sign us up.

Wheew.... or should I say Uffta Daaa... cause after conversing with Matt and over and over I finally got him to cave on the Dollar Dance. I think it was cause I explained it over and over and over again. Letting him know that he wouldn't be dancing full songs with people just 30 secs to a minute tops. I said Jennee and Misty will collect the money and let people know when they can dance with him. He then said he would ok this Dollar Dance thing on 3 conditions:

1. Mike (Best Man) will collect his money and Misty and Jennee can mine. - FINE, I will just have to explain to Mike the ins and outs of the Dollar Dance.

2. His dancing section will be heterosexual only. - OK but I have no control over that.

3. He does not have to dance with Brutus (For those of you who don't know Brutus, put it this way you are better off) .. - Again I have no control over that but I am pretty sure Brutus will not attend our wedding. Actually I will be shocked if she does and even more shocked if she wants to dance with him let alone speak to him.


So in the end the whole Pre-Cana class is worked out and fine. So I melted down for really no reason, but I am still not happy about having to take the class and I also get my Dollar Dance. That means there will be one Minnesota Tradition at the wedding....


Now lets see what else I can get...

Minnesota vs Massachusetts...

Oh how I love Massachusetts. I am a transplant Massachusetts resident, but my love for Minnesota runs deep. I mean who can not love county fairs, food-on-a stick, cheese curds, lefsa, oli and lena jokes, the Great Minnesota Get together, tubing adventures down the mighty Zumbro River. These are all things that remind me of home that I can not get in Massachusetts.
Yes, I might be able to find a river to float down while sitting on an inner tube, but it is not the same. You just don't see people doing that out here.

Yes, there are county fairs or sort of. I mean they have them, but they cost a fair amount to go to and they aren't the same.

Minnesota knows how to do a couple things right 1. county fairs and street festivals and 2. food on a stick. I think that the later is a direct result of the first one.

Since moving to and becoming a resident of Massachusetts for 9 years now, I think I have fallen in love and settled on the direct fact that I will probably never move back to Minnesota. Not that I have anything against it. I mean things are some what cheaper and life is pretty nice back there, but I don't miss the extremely cold winters followed by Hot and sticky summers. So when Matt and I were discussing marriage and wedding and all that great stuff I knew I wanted to have a wedding in Massachusetts. I mean this is where we live and where we have a life. It also helps that Kasson really only has one hotel and not many places to hold a wedding reception. Though the fair grounds do come cheap and I know the fair board President (aka Mom) so I am pretty sure I could have easily had the reception there. It just didn't seem us and I wanted a wedding that was us. So here we are now planning a wedding in Massachusetts and I am left to miss some great Minnesota wedding traditions and pondering if and how we do put them in our wedding. Here is a list of things.

1. Dollar Dance - yes I had to explain this to Matt, the DJ, and many people along the way. Matt says 'No' but I am pretty sure he will be saying 'Yes, Fine, Do it' come October.

2. Polka Music - what wedding in Minnesota doesn't have polka music. No worries our DJ already has some polka in his list so we will be 'Rolling out the Barrel'.

3. Eating and then Dancing. I am still trying to figure out how to make this work but I have been to many weddings in Massachusetts where the wedding party is introduced and then immediately is the first dance. Then people sit and each salad for 20 min while other dances go on and then by the time you get your main course you are starving and pretty much inhale your food. I mean you don't need 20 mins to eat a salad. In Minnesota things are done right. You eat then you dance... so I might try to incorporate that thought out here. I have met a little resistance from the reception site and dj. Yes I know they do weddings for a living but this is my wedding and I would like my guests not to be starving.

4. Free Keg Beer... well this one I can't do anything about. The wedding reception coordinator and Matt both looked at me like I had 2 heads when I asked if we could purchase a keg or 2. Who knew you couldn't do that?

Those are just a few things I have been thinking about lately. I want a Minnesota wedding in Massachusetts. If only that was possible. My Mom is going to put Minnesota into the wedding somehow. I hope that doesn't mean it is going to snow on our wedding.

Really Pre Cana Class?

Ok, this is going to be a little bit of a rant so take this as your for warning before you continue to read. Matt and I decided that we would get married in the Catholic Church. We talked about it long before we ever got engaged. Matt really wanted to get married in the church and I agreed even though I would have been happy to run off to Vegas. Matt and I were both raised Catholic, had never been married, and knew all about the Catholic Pre-Cana class before we decided to get married in the church so I take it I shouldn't be surprised or upset too much, but I still am. First off our wedding is in October and it is March and we are already planning on taking the class. We have spoken with the priest and I got all the class registration information ready and even sent it in. I researched all our class options prior to signing up and the class that fit perfectly into our schedules and budgets was being offered that the Middleboro Church where we were getting married so I signed us up. Everything was peachy until last week when I got a call from the church stating the program has changed and now the Archdiocese of Boston has this new and improved pre-cana class. I was like ok so what is the problem. The lady went on to tell me the hours of the class had changed from 10 hours to 17 hours and that the price had increased from $50 to $200. Yep that is right you read that correctly $200.

So I a gasped and bit my tongue as the lady continued to remind me that I took CCD as a kid and that she was sure my parents paid for that and that we would be taking this class and getting a catered breakfast and lunch. I was thinking that better be a really good breakfast and lunch and I better not see Dunkin Donuts. She was than like there are scholarships available if the price is too much and you need to call this woman to register.I said I would have to speak with Matt and get in touch with the lady and I would let them know what to do with my previously sent $50 check.

And now here we are 5 days later, I have called and left 3 messages with this woman from the Boston Archdiocese asking her to call me back. I haven't heard from her and just to note her voicemail message is old and refers to information for January. I have researched other pre-cana classes but since this is a diocese wide class we are going to have to pay $200 no matter what and not many classes are offered South of Boston and I refuse to drive more than 30 minutes to take this class and I also refuse to take the class during the week. So I took my research even further. I spoke with a person who took the class recently on Cape and she directed me to the Fall River Diocese. I called the Fall River Diocese and instantly spoke with a woman who directed me to a website and gave me all the information I needed about their classes. Their pre-cana classes are less hours and cost $150. Hmmmm it would save us $50. So I looked at their class schedule and we could take a class in Mansfield. Mansfield is just as far as Middleboro from our place and we could save money. So I call the church speak with this lady about getting in contact with the woman from the Boston diocese (I want a scholarship to take this class) and she agreed with me that she is hard to get in touch with and that it would be ok if we took a marriage prep class somewhere else.

So here I am.. pondering what to do. Do we take the marriage prep class in Middleboro like we planned and fork over the extra $150 for the class or do we take the class in Mansfield and pay $150 for the class?

Also I still am wondering why I really need to take this class. What does this class offer? When we spoke with the priest (Father Jay) he told us we would have to meet with him twice after the classs to go over some things. One of those things he wanted to go over with us is the sacrament of Marriage.

So here is my thought.. Matt and I went to CCD classes when we were kids. They teach you about many things and one of those things are the sacraments. I can list them all to this day and when we were getting ready to do a sacrament such as first communion we went over all the information about the sacrament in CCD class. So if marriage prep is required and is meant for us to learn about the sacrament of marriage and such than why and I mean WHY do I have to pay to take this class on Marriage prep and still learn about the sacrament from Father Jay.

Anyways.. that is my rant... I know both Matt and I are going into this class already so negative, but right now I want to say let's throw it all to the wind and just elope... No worries we won't.