Loving the wedding planning

So I'm having a great time planning our wedding. We decided to splurge a bit on our venue, the Waterside Inn, because we really wanted to have the wedding in Port Credit and we love the look of the place (not to mention the fact that the wedding will be catered by their first-class restaurant). Because of that, we're trying to save in other places.

I found a great dress at Elizabeth Stuart Discount Bridal in Mississauga for $500.  We're planning to make our own invitations and we're exploring various options for our flowers. One of my lovely bridesmaids has suggested making the bouquets (and thankfully all the girls are skilled, so we could pull that off), another has various suppliers she uses in her event planning career, so she's exploring those options, and Scott and I are also getting a quote from Judith Nyman Secondary School, a school in our board that has an amazing floral program. In addition to these details, we've also come up with some special touches, which I won't share here...

The wedding is nine months away, which feels like such a long time, but it's really so close. I have to say though, I'm super excited.

I'm also super excited about getting our own place (by own place I mean buying a home, because we already share our cozy basement apartment). We're going to wait until after the wedding to make a purchase because we have to use our savings to pay for the wedding up front. Meanwhile, we've put ourselves on a tight budget (sort of). If we weren't such social animals, it'd be a heck of a lot easier to save.

All-in-all, life is good. I'm full of joy... it's possible the mild winter has something to do with my general cheeriness :)

A Saturday morning spent googling around

The internet is just amazing. There are so many sources of inspiration online. I love to look at DYI blogs and articles, read other people's success stories and learn about important issues in the world. I'm also an MLS addict, which takes up lots of my internet browsing time...

This morning I was reading an article from the Globe and Mail that referenced a website called www.bejane.com. It's a website for women who want to know how to do, well, pretty much anything. I believe I fit into that category. Want to learn to use a circular saw? Yes, please! Want to know how to change a deadbolt? Why not!

Sometimes I fall into the trap of materialism. Suddenly my 'wants' become 'needs' and before I know it I've purchased something. I think this is just how our society is right now. Young people get a home and they  'need' to outfit it with the nicest, newest furniture. We 'need' a new car. We 'need' to change our wardrobe.

I find I have to remind myself regularly that I don't 'need' things. Materialism doesn't align with my desire to tread lightly on our planet, or to have more experiences than things, or to save to buy a house and pay for our wedding.

The reason why I love websites like bejane.com or one of the blogs I follow, Centsational Girl, is because they provide tips and advice for creating a beautiful, unique home and life while not spending too much. They are inspiring. And I love, love, love to be inspired.

Good day!
Alison

A new year's epiphany

Scott and I made a new year’s resolution this year—to start going to church. Scott was raised Catholic but his involvement dropped off when he moved away from home. Although I was born into the Catholic faith, it wasn’t a major part of my life and I didn’t identify with it, nor did I ever find I was engaged during the service. We decided we wanted to try something different. After some online research, we picked United and this morning attended our first service at the First United Church in Port Credit.

Both of us were a bit apprehensive as we scurried down the sidewalk to the church (mass started at 10 a.m. and it was 9:58…). When we entered the church our apprehension grew—we looked around and saw no one under age 65. Maybe this wasn’t the church for us.

We soon realized though that those under 65 were probably, like us, scurrying down the sidewalk just trying to get there. As 10 a.m. came and went, the church filled in with younger families and even some other couples.

We sat at the back on the padded seats—Scott remarked that the cushions were a nice change from the hard pews he was used to. The service began like any other, there was a procession and a hymn, some praying and more singing. I was paying attention, but not yet blown away.

But then the minister, Blair, started his talk. First he read a story from the bible about John the Baptist. His theme of the day was to pay attention to outsiders, which John was. Turns out, John was baptizing people in the Jordan and he was, reportedly, the one who baptized Jesus. But not everyone liked John because he was different and an outsider. He wasn’t showy, didn’t demand people follow him, just asked people to change—to be good people. The baptism is symbolic of the decision to make the change. Jesus chose to be baptized by him.

What I liked most of all was how Blair started to then relate the story back to our lives. I’ve always been a big fan of public speakers and I love to be inspired, so I soaked it up. One of the main messages I took from today was to listen to my inner voice and trust it, because it won’t steer me wrong—this message made me think of my early 20s when, at times, I was heading down the wrong path. There was a voice inside of me that kept saying, “this isn’t my life,” and it was that voice that helped me get back on the right track.

Blair also talked about jumping in with both feet—John never sprinkled water on people to baptize them, he plunged them right into the river. Blair pointed out that none of us have a back up life at home in the closet. We have one life, the one we’re living, and the choices we made every day determine what will become of that life. Sometimes we might be afraid to jump in—to just go for something—but, as Blair said, that fear will cause us to miss opportunities in our life. Good point, I think.

We met Blair at the end of the service at the back of the church. Turns out his wife is Alison too—with one ‘L’ also, so I told him to tell her she’s “one L of a girl”. He laughed and said he will for sure. We liked him—great speaker, kind, welcoming. We told him we’d be back.

I’ve always been uneasy about church. Worshiping makes me uncomfortable. But I also always knew that, through religion, you can find communities of people who want to be there for you, to support you. You can also find inspiration. This morning, during Blair’s talk, something opened up inside of me. I felt warm, happy and moved. I nearly teared up, which would have been so out of context because the talk wasn’t at all sad. But I was having a mini epiphany.

Next weekend we’ll be in Windsor checking out venues for our wedding, but we decided we’d look for a United Church there we can attend. We’ll pick one downtown and hopefully find a minister like Blair, someone inspirational, insightful and kind. Someone who we might like to marry us.