Tangent Tuesday: Long Distance

I'm just going to warn you up front—this is going to be a depressing post. I'll keep it short though. Nathan is officially done with undergrad—which is AWESOME! I'm so proud of him. Unfortunately, I still have a semester of school left in South Carolina. Which leads me to the depressing part...

Photo credit.

According to Google Maps, it is 680 miles and 10 hours and 11 minutes from Michigan to South Carolina, and Google Maps does not lie. Unless you're going 80 the whole way. Then it only takes 9 hours and 30 minutes. *cough*

So Nathan and I will be long distance for the remainder of our engagement. I'm not too concerned about the wedding planning part of it—we can do almost everything on the phone and on the internet and he'll come down when he can. And let's just be honest, Nathan wasn't enthused about cutting and folding tissue paper anyway!

The hard part is just being apart. I read about how important the engagement is for preparing for marriage or how this is a time when you work things out as a couple—but I know that can still be true. We'll just have to text a lot more (if that's even possible) and maybe I can even convince Nathan to call me a few times (he's not much for talking on the phone). And hopefully the four months after New Years—since we're spending the holidays together—will fly by!

Projects in Progress

This weekend I was in very much a wedding planning mood. I felt less like blogging and documenting and more like actually accomplishing projects—that's a good thing! But now I need to step back and think about the projects I started, all the crazy ideas I have, and what I have left to do. I don't want to go all list crazy on you, but here's what I have so far...

• Crossword Puzzles—almost done, just have to do the final proofread and print! Oh and for these I also bought 120 pencils... unsharpened. That was fun.
• I Spy—these were done but then I had the idea that I wanted to do several different versions to (hopefully) get a wider variety of pictures, so it's still in progress.
• Coloring pages—this is a new one! I started thinking about giving the kids something else to do (since clearly they'll be too young to do a crossword puzzle). I bought ten packs of crayons for less than a dollar each and am working on coming up with some wedding related coloring pages. I'll write a post about this when I'm done!
• Tissue paper poms—I finally came up with my flower inspiration! This isn't something I've touched on before, but from the beginning I was interested in making my own flowers and floral decorations, since flowers really aren't in the budget. A post on this is coming up this week for sure.
• Scrabble letters—I scoured eBay (ahem, clearly I have an eBay obsession) and found 300 tiles that should be arriving in the next two days! Can't wait to start working with these.
• My wedding binder—ok, so this one isn't actually a wedding craft. But this weekend I did get all of my wedding stuff organized in one place. And I had to make it pretty of course! I cut apart some old bridal magazines and made some themed pages. Maybe I'll have to take some pictures later! I might be a little too excited about this.

As you can see, there will be a lot of craft posts coming up! I also need to do an updated catering post and talk about registering for items. So here we go!

Wedding Dress Decisions

(Much better than Wedding Dress Nightmares)

From the very beginning, I had a dress preference from the six I originally liked. But first let's look at the ones I didn't choose.

The Bettina was beautiful, but not exactly what I was looking for in a wedding dress, mainly because I couldn't see myself walking down the aisle with any jewelry or a veil in it. The neckline doesn't lend itself to a necklace, and I feel like in a veil I would just be completely covered from toe to forehead. So that one was out.

Nathan was actually the one to veto the Sararose and Sinclair dresses. Which was fine with me! I was glad he had input, and neither of these dresses really stood out to me.

I also should note that I'm not the typical look for "the dress" and cry when you find it bride. In some ways I wish I were! It all seems so romantic and classic. But to be honest, I have yet to feel that at all in my planning process, and I don't know if I will. For me the planning is purely logical—not to say that I don't enjoy it!

I guess in the end it just came down to availability, price, and what I could actually see myself wearing on my wedding day. I went to a local J. CREW store (not a J. CREW bridal—the nearest one is Atlanta) and tried on a few dresses to size myself. I'm consistently the same J. CREW size, so I felt fairly safe ordering online without trying on the actual dress.

So here we go. The J. CREW Sophia. My number one choice from the beginning for several reasons—the simplicity of the dress, the way it fits with my style, and being able to feel comfortable and like myself on my wedding day. I also like that I can make this dress my own! I haven't decided how yet. I'm considering a chunky necklace for the reception, maybe fancy drop earrings, a sash, flowers in my hair/on the sash—or really anything that I want. Because of the simplicity of the dress, I can do whatever I want with my accessories!

A few things. As you can tell from the link—the Sophia is no longer sold on the J. CREW website. Which is fine, since I knew I would be able to find the dress cheaper elsewhere anyway! I found it on RecycledBride—not my size. Again, here it is on PreOwnedWeddingDresses—this one is my size but sold obviously. These are just a few of the sites I checked! There are plenty of places to buy gently used or even new with tags wedding dresses that aren't full price.

These pictures and dresses are also all showing the dress in silk tricotine. J. CREW originally made the dress in both silk chiffon and silk tricotine. After looking at pictures of both online, I decided I wanted the dress in silk chiffon. It seems like most women buy silk tricotine, but since I was looking to have a casual ceremony and reception, I felt like silk chiffon would be a better fit.

I typed "J. CREW Sophia Silk Chiffon" into the search bar on eBay and came up with these results. (Well, not these results exactly since the dresses listed are always changing!) Eventually I found a great deal on an ivory size zero silk chiffon J. CREW Sophia new with tags. And bought it! Just like that.

So yes I did buy my wedding dress on, *ahem* eBay, without ever trying it on, and without ever having seen it. And I love it!

I keep looking for pictures of brides wearing this dress but there aren't very many out there in my style and size. I took a few horrible pictures of me the first time I tried it on—but you're going to have to wait until I can take some slightly less embarrassing shots! And since this post is long enough already, we'll talk about the details of my dress the next time around.

Flashback Friday: Graduation

About two months after we started dating, I graduated from undergrad! The next week my family and I went on a week long trip to Pennsylvania, Baltimore, and Washington, DC. A few pics to recap...

Me with my parents and siblings after graduation!

Nathan and I at graduation. I feel like we look so young and different here!

A few pictures from my graduation party! Side note: I love my bangs in these pictures. I think it's time to get a haircut.

All photos personal.

I was going to recap our trip to the East as well, but I just realized there are a TON of pictures from that trip, so I'll have to make it a post of its own.

Instead, I'll give a huge shoutout to Nathan for officially finishing undergrad yesterday!

The Unabridged Short Stories & Books... of Nathan & Laura's Wedding

Nathan and I paid a visit to the largest used bookstore in Greenville—Mr. K's Used Books—to fill our vision of a book themed wedding. We knew we were looking for classics and books we had read and loved, such as Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice and Louisa May Alcott's Little Women. Ok maybe that was just me; Nathan was looking at Mark Twain and Charles Dickens.

We bought each of the following books for about five dollars each—not bad for hardbound classics!

• Pride & Prejudice
• O Pioneers
• Doctor Zhivago
• Selected Stories and Poems of Edgar Allen Poe
• Uncle Tom's Cabin
• The Scarlet Pimpernel
• Wuthering Heights
• Mutiny on the Bounty

Here's Nathan modeling our books...

Personal photo.

Nice. But really, see how all the books are different sizes, shapes, and colors, yet have a cohesive theme? Perfect! Now I just need forty more or so...

Bridal Party Introductions!

I realized I haven't done a post on my bridal party yet! Making a decision on who to include in our bridal party wasn't difficult after we thought about what we really want. Nathan has two brothers and I have two sisters, so we knew at the very minimum we wanted to include those two on both sides. At the same time, however, we wanted to keep our bridal parties small—at most three each. Somehow the choice suddenly became tricky. Would I ask my roommate of the last two years? One of my two closest friends from school? One of Nathan's two sisters (my future sisters-in-law!)? The same applied for Nathan.

The answer is none of the above. We chose to have only two stand up with us on each side—my sisters and his brothers, respectively. The alternative would have been to include his two sisters and my brother for four bridesmaids and three groomsmen. The big obstacle with this is that my brother is only 15 and actually didn't want to stand up in our wedding, so I think our final choice ended up being the best overall! We'll be blessed to have some of our siblings stand up with us and others directly involved in the wedding.

But now for introductions! These are directly from our wedding website.

Bridesmaid Emily

Emily is the second oldest Dickinson girl and a junior nursing major. This picture shows exactly who she is—a free spirit. A soon-to-be two-time beast of a marathon runner, Emily is the strongest & fastest, and also by far the most outgoing!









Bridesmaid Abigail

Abigail is the youngest Dickinson girl—and the tallest, which means she is often asked "Who's older?" Also a marathoner, Abigail's running style reflects her personality: steady and consistent. You can call her "Abi," but make sure you spell it with an i.









Groomsman Brandon

Brandon is the third oldest Miller and the first to get married! Brandon & Brittany were married in a ranch-style wedding on July 21, 2012, and currently live in Utah. Brandon also might be playing the cello—as long as he's willing to play Pachelbel's Canon in D.









Groomsman Jeremie

Jeremie is the baby of the Miller family and probably the quietest—it took him a year & a half to say more than three words together to Laura! Let's just be honest, Jer prefers slide tackling on the soccer field to holding a conversation. He also has a tendency to spill things on himself...








So maybe I had a little too much fun with the introductions and poking fun at my siblings and future siblings—lots of inside jokes. But I really am so excited to have these four standing up with us! You'll see a lot more of them in future posts when we start talking more about attire, wedding day timelines, and pictures.

Tangent Tuesday: One Epic Run

Today's post is just going to be a quick recap of a trail run Nathan and I participated in this weekend! To give a little background, there are very crazy people out there—and they're called ultramarathoners. You thought running a 26.2 miles for a marathon was bad? Imagine running four marathons, back-to-back, without stopping—and all of this on rough trails and up and down mountains.

Nathan and I happen to know a few of these crazy ultramarathoners from our church in North Carolina. They came down to the Greenville area last Saturday for the ultramarathon One Epic Run. One Epic Run is not your typical race. First of all, it is a 24-hour run. This means that some of the participants started at 9am on Saturday morning and were still running at 9am on Sunday morning. The goal is generally to amass as much mileage as possible. Second, it is a 3.16 mile loop on trails through the woods—trails that include steep hills, mud, a log crossing over a creek, and a long climb back to the starting point.

So on Saturday we headed down to Croft State Park where the 24-hour race was being held to support our friends and to run a few laps with them.

Personal photo. Nathan and I with two of our ultramarathon friends—clearly the shirtless guys.

Both of the guys in this picture have completed a 100 mile race, and the one on the right has completed two, both in less than 24 hours! Here's a picture of what the log crossing looked like, taken from the One Epic Run Facebook page.

These runners are crazy. If you didn't believe me, check out this picture...

For all of their craziness, they're great guys, and we had a fun time hanging out with them and even running almost ten miles ourselves! The race organizer set up a really amazing spread of food—if you're running 24 hours straight, you're eating 24 hours straight!

The top male runner completed just over 107 miles in 24 hours and the top female runner completed just under 73! The people we knew running completed anywhere from 22 to 101 miles.

If that doesn't make you want to get into ultramarathons,  I don't know what will...