VISA + Morgan Freeman = Tears

This weekend I was reduced to tears by a TV commercial. In the past, I have been moved emotionally due to various insurance commercials. However, never have I ever actually shed tears. The commercial that made me do this was a VISA commercial. Who would have thought that a credit card company could be so moving? Perhaps the commercial moved me so much because I had never heard the story of speed skater, Dan Jansen before. The story about his sister dying a week before he raced in the Olympics and had promised her he’d win, and then he fell during the race. Only to triumphantly win the gold at the next Olympics and skate a victory lap holding his daughter Jane, who is named after his sister. Who wouldn’t cry at this tale?! The cherry on the sundae was the fact that it was none other than Morgan Freeman’s emotion provoking voice telling the story. I think Morgan Freeman could read Knock, Knock jokes and I would cry.

Fried Wedding Brain

My parents came into town this weekend for a family friend's wedding and to look at reception venues. After a weekend of wedding, wedding, wedding, I can honestly say that my brain is a little fried. That being said, it was still a great weekend. Friday night we had dinner with our good friends the Hailey's. It's always so nice when we all get together. Ann really went all out and had the tables decorated complete with linens and chair covers. Saturday was crazy. We started off the day with the four of us (Mom, Dad, Casey, and me) going to the church to meet Bill and go over some wedding details. It was a lot of fun to meet the man who married my parents and watch them go down memory lane togther. Then it was off to look at venues for the reception. We were able to eliminate some right off the bat. Others made the short list (Petroleum Club and Belo Mansion) which we are currently still going over. The boys were such troopers that my mom and I gave them gold stars. Not once did they complain. In fact, they really seemed into it! After reception venue searching, we had to run home and get all dolled up for Natalie Kinnebrew's wedding. And what a wedding it was! It was gorgeous and I got a lot of great ideas for my wedding. Sunday was all about football (it was a bad day for the Cowboys and Charges though which made for a sad Casey and Dad). For dinner, we went to Pappasitos so the in-law's could meet. I don't think it could have gone any better! Monday, my mom and I continued the search and now we are including the Tower Club on the list of considerations. By the afternoon though, our brains were fried so we went for gelatto and to a movie. I'm really excited to finalize a venue so we can move onto the next thing on the wedding checklist!

We've set the date!

As of Tuesday afternoon, we officially have a date for our wedding! Prior to this, the great question was where we were going to get married. One option would be at a church here in Grapevine with the recption nearby. The second option (and my dream option) was to get married at the church that my parents married in. This church also looks like it just walked out of a Hans Christian Anderson Fairy Tale. The only problem with option 2 was that as a non-member, I can only book 4 months out, which would be an insane risk to take. Well, my mom found out that the pastor who married them still works at the church so she decided to send him and email and call him to see if there was any loophole since they used to be members and I was baptized there. We hadn't heard back so I was getting discouraged. I mean, he must get questions like this all the time, right? Well, Tuesday afternoon, the phone call comes in! He completely remembered my parents and my aunt and uncle (he married them as well) and he said that he would love to marry her daughter (me!). When my mom told me, I was litereally screaming and jumping up and down in my cubicle at work. Not only do I get to be married in the beautiful church that my parents got married in, I also get to be married by the same pastor! How romantic is that?! So, we are now officially on the books at Highland Park Methodist Church for Saturday, January 29th, 2011!!! The funny thing is, this date is almost 30 years to the day that my parents married (January 24th, 1981). My parents fly in tomorrow and Casey and I are going with my parents on Saturday to meet the pastor and tour the church. Here is a pic of the church...

Painting With A Twist

Last night I did the coolest thing! My friend Candace invited me to go to this new little place in Grapevine called Painting With A Twist. It's a place where you can learn to paint specific paintings. For $35 they provide a 16in x 20in canvas, all the paints you need, an apron, an easel, and an instructor. All you have to bring is the wine! The painting that we painted is a tree by Van Gogh. The instructor was so cute and she was such a good teacher too! We are trying to get a big group to go sometime next month. I'm still trying to find the perfect place to hang it but here is a picture of what it looks like...

Results

Well, it looks like the preliminary experiment might have worked. I feel like I got more sleep than the night before. Surprisingly, Grace laid on my bed the entire night. I thought she might be getting on and off to go play or eat but she stayed right by my side. She woke me up a few times because she moved or wanted attention but I would just tell her "No" and push her away and she got the point. I would take a few wake-up's that I immediately fall back asleep from over staying awake to meowing all night anytime. I think I will try this again tomorrow night and hopefully will have the same, if not better, results. Here is a picture of the subject.

Experiment

So, after getting woken up at 4am every other night by a meowing cat, it's time for a change. I am tired of looking in the mirror each morning to find red, blod shot eyes and some under eye puffiness (not sure if this is do to lack of sleep or cat allergies, only time will tell). So beginning tonight, I am performing an experiement. Grace will be allowed access to my room tonight which hopefully will prevent night time meowing becasue I beleive she meows because she wants into my room. The cat just loves to be around humans. However, if I am awoken at any of the wee hours of the morning to a scratch of the face because she wants to be pet, she will be banished from my room for good. Stay tuned because I will provide a report on my findings tomorrow...and please pray for a night full of sleep and a quiet cat.

New Roommate

For those of you who don't know, I have only had one roommate in my life and her name is Jane. We were roommates through all 4 years of college and were a match made in heaven as far as roommates go. As of Sunday, I have a new roommate in my life. Unlike Jane, this roommate needs constant attention, cries when I go to bed without her, ruins my clothes, and is incapable or using indoor plumbing. To clear up any confusion, my new roommate is Grace...the kitty cat. Apparently when you upgrade your relationship to "fiance", it requires more sacrafice than just a dating relationship. Grace is Casey's cat and since his little Missy passed away and is now in Kitty Heaven, Grace has been moved to Grapevine so she doesn't get lonely. To be honest, Grace is actually a really good cat (aside from the fact that she was never declawed so whenever she reaches for you you have to fear for your clothing because there might be a claw hole in after she gets done with you). The biggest adjustment is just sharing my space with another living (non-human) being. Since I didn't grow up with pets besides fish, you can assume that it really is a large adjustment. I no longer have control of my couch since she has claimed half of it. About every 20 minutes she demands a good 10 minutes of petting and belly scratching, and she meows at my door every morning beginning around 5:30am. I guess the one upside so far is that I have had no need for an alarm clock for the last two days.

Side note: For any of you who watch informercials...in approximately 4-6 weeks, I will be the proud owner of the Emery Cat, a device which allows your cat to file their own nails (claws). Expect an update on that!