Happy Birthday Dad!

Yesterday was my father's birthday. Every year I wake up and wish him a happy birthday. I still do, even though he passed away in 2003. I miss him so much every day and it's still a struggle to not have him here.

Mario and I have talked about getting married for the last year. My father not being at my wedding has always been hard for me to think about. With us deciding to have the wedding next month, I know I've pushed those feelings back. Staying busy with work and all the details seemed to work for a little while until my mom called last night. Mom's getting very excited about the wedding and declared last night that it's going to be the best wedding ever(at least until my sister's wedding)! Then she got serious. She and my father had been separated since my sister and I were in elementary school. His birthday wasn't something she was a part of for many many years. However, for some reason she said she woke up yesterday and said "Happy Birthday Dennis!". She said, she thought of him just then because she felt like he was there. She told me she knew that he was proud of me. She said that Mario and my dad would have gotten along so well. I know what she said was true, I feel it too but I think it's something I definitely needed to hear. Maybe that's why planning this spontaneous wedding has gone so smoothly, dad's been pulling strings on his side.

I feel for Mario also. His father passed away the year before my father did. It's one of the things that connects us. It's a loss that we both know. So I want to come up with a clever little way to have both of our dads there. Mario Sr. was a musician and I have some songs that take me straight back to hanging out with my dad. I think certain songs in our wedding will be those "dad" touches for us!



I keep looking at the photo of me at the top and dad. We do look a lot alike!

Dress

I found my dress! Woo-hoo! I had looked online a few times and knew what I liked. Emailed back and forth with friends about dresses. Then I showed Mars a few dresses. We totally agreed on dresses we liked. I love that in the end, I bought the dress that we both loved!

On Sunday my sister, sister-in-law and two friends piled into David's Bridal. I knew what I wanted to try on, but I knew that I needed to keep my mind open to anything. It just happened that my favorite dress was the first I tried on, two sizes too small, and everyone absolutely loved it. I tried on other dresses that fit really well and looked pretty fabulous, but everyone went back to that first dress. I'm excited that everyone loved it and even more excited that it was on sale! Still more than I wanted to pay(ok I only wanted to pay $100) but it was within a good price range. The only problem, because I'm a big girl, I had to order it and it will be delivered 10 days before the wedding! Ten Days! That scares the shit out of me! I tried on other dresses in my size and they fit perfectly...only altering will need to be in length. So this dress should fit perfectly except for length. Still I haven't tried my dress on in my size! What if it looks awful! Everyone keeps saying if it looks good in the wrong size, it can only look better in the correct size...I sure hope so!

Here is my main thought, I just have a hard time spending that much money on something I will wear once. I love that I have a dress but I'm not overly emotional about it. For me I'm a lot more invested in just having a great weekend with our closest friends and family. Of course I want to look damn good, but I don't see myself keeping the dress wrapped up in a box in my closet. Of course this is before the wedding thinking, maybe it will be more for me later. What do you all think? Am I odd for thinking that I would sell the dress on...pass it to someone else getting married? Or keep I keep it in hopes that if I have a daughter later, that she will want to wear it?

Teaser alert...Here is a link to the dress. If you want to be surprised don't click here...didn't pay that price! woo hoo!

Getting Hitched

News on the home front...Mars and I decided to get married next month. Crazy...yes, Pregnant...no. We had planned on next spring. Then last week Mars thought why not now. We won't be any richer next year and the bonus...I get some rockin health insurance. Couldn't turn that down. It was all very romantic. Honestly the wedding I'm planning now is no different financially than I would have planned next spring. So moving it up felt right and a little spontaneous. We're pretty excited. So now this blog will probably be all wedding talk. I had no idea how consuming it would really become. I actually think that it's better to plan it all in a short amount of time. Compress all that stress down to two months rather than dragging it out.

So far everything has fallen right into place. The wedding will be at the Santa Barbara Courthouse. It's a beautiful historical site. We'll have the ceremony in the mural room. I've had it in mind for a while and was lucky to get it. Take a look at the photos. It's a pretty cheap place to get married at and tons of locations for awesome photos!




The reception will be taking place at this great restaurant called "Stella Mares". I started searching around and was reminded of this restaurant that had great rooms for parties. I sent them an email and they called me right back. The price was right and the food is excellent! I'm so excited to have gotten Stella Mares. They really are my first choice for the reception. Take a look at the site. We will be in the greenhouse room. It's going to be relaxed and beautiful! I can't wait.





Both of the locations fell into place in one day. I think I was more worried about how we were going to feed everyone than anything else. Now that those are booked we are so excited and a lot more relaxed. Now my sister Lindz is flying in tonight and we'll spend the weekend looking for a dress and taking care of little details. I'm so excited to have her help me. I've gotten tons of help and support from my friends and especially Mars' sister, but it's exciting have my little sister here! I'll keep you updated. Oh by the way, here's our engagement photo...

Influence

I get quotes from a friend of mine at least a few times a week. They are generally nice, having faith in yourself , your actions, and working hard. She is also a hard working photographer and chooses nice quotes to keep us hard working photographers going.

My mother on the other hand sends stuff like this...

"I want to live my life in such a way that when my feet hit the floor in the morning, Satan shudders & says...

"Oh shit....she's awake!!"

Yes this is totally my mother and of course she sent it in bright pink for flare(I had to tone it down). Honestly I think the devil already knows he's screwed.

Send This Email to 2000 People and Nothing good Will Happen...

My friend just sent me one of those emails that you have to pass on to 200 people and something good will happen. I hate those emails. I never never pass them on. I delete them. However, this email had something nice to say...read below. It said other nice things too, but that one sentence is what stuck with me. Now here is the question, if the email says something nice but it has that stupid-ass pass-it-on at the bottom. Do you pass it on because it's nice or do you delete it because you don't want people to think that you would pass on an email because someone said to?

'To get something you never had, you have to do something you never did.'


...I deleted that shit and just posted the good part here

Great Video

I found this video over on MetroDad's blog and he's right it's just a great video. It's really fun but brings a little tear. Also makes me think I need to add to my travel log.



Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

What You Dreaming About Laura!

I was just reading a blog that brought back some bad memories. A couple of years ago I had a terrifying dream. It was one of those dreams that stays with you. After that dream, I was always looking around and feeling paranoid. I knew it was dumb to feel that way about a dream but, it really was one of those dreams that struck a cord with me. It stayed with me for a while

I dreamt someone had broken in to my apartment and was sneaking around while I was sleeping. A noise woke me up. I jumped up just as he was launching for me. I was running around my apartment trying to get away from this guy who was trying to kidnap me and do who-knows-what. I was terrified, crying, screaming and trying to get away from...Gary Coleman. Seriously, it scared the shit out of me. I have nothing against Gary Coleman but I had a serious problem even looking at him for a while. It still brings up a little anxiety. I can't even explain it, it was just one of those dreams that made me feel fearful. I can laugh a now, but it was really a pain in the arse to try to explain to someone about your scary Gary Coleman dream while they laugh at you. Jerks.

Sacrifices

I told you before about our old little apartment with the plaster walls. Well, she's also blows breakers all the time...wow the dirty minds. She only has two fuses for each of the four units. It's fine all winter long but come summer, let the breaker popping begin. It really is a good time to get to know the neighbors. We can all be found daily (sometimes multiple times) walking to the end of the house to flip the breakers back on. As I write this I see my neighbor heading to the breaker box now...no kidding. It's nice to know we're not alone with the breaker problem but somethings telling me it's time for an electrical update.

Because of this we've learned what to have going at what time. Also, what can and can't be turned on with what. Hair dryers, microwaves, toasters, and vacuums can not be run at the same time as the air conditioner. The washer can be run or the dryer can be run, but not both at the same time with the air conditioner...This I tend to forget after I run both the washer and dryer together all fall, winter and spring. The list and lessons go on, but I will not bore you.

We spent the weekend turning our tiny little backyard into an oasis. It is organized, clean, rearranged, and perfect. Then we came inside last night and realized the state of the inside of our house. So today, I sacrificed my air-conditioning for a clean house. I got up and vacuumed first thing. I have the washer and dryer going. (Poor Mars was running around this morning trying to find the one clean shirt in the house. He does all the cooking, at least I could have a clean shirt for the man) Yes I could run just one load at a time with the air on but it's all about getting the chores finished today...so I can enjoy the rest of the week sitting in my clean house with my air-conditioning on full blast.

The New Pool

We live in an older bungalow style foreplex. Small but cute apartment with a nice sized backyard. For as cute as it is, it's not insulated. The walls are thick 2-3 inch plaster on top of who-knows-what. For some reason I feel like the plaster should keep the house cool but, it holds in so much heat. The bonus is that we don't use the heater that much in the winter. But we spend most of the night just trying to cool down the heat from the day. That paired with the really loud, hard working air-conditioner that doesn't actually cool, we finally decided to buy a pool. All last summer we talked and talked about getting a pool. We never actually bought one and regretted it the entire time. For $60 we are now the proud owners of a fancy 8 ft blue pool with a little filter (the filter is what sealed the deal for Mars). After the forth day of 100+ temperatures we finally decided to set it up tonight. So our nice fire pit that we used all winter and spring is now off to the side, replaced by our new little pool. Take a look at it in all it's glory!



Tomorrow is accessory day...do we cheese out and buy the floating cup holder? We already have our eye on a cheap little pool light that sits in the bottom changing colors. It has a disco ball feel. I think it will go nice with our twinkle lights...my sister says it feels like it belongs in a cheap porn.

Camping at Last

You know that camping weekend that we missed last month because of food poisoning? Well we finally made up for that missed camping season kick-off. I pretty much made new reservations for camping two days after our last canceled trip. I set up my "Birthday Camping Extravaganza 2008!" at Montana De Oro State Park in San Luis Obispo. It was a pretty darn good time. My sister drove down from San Fransisco. Mars and I drove up from LA. A couple of friends came in for the weekend from LA and a friend in the area stopped by. It was not only my birthday but Mars' and my first camping trip together in the two years we've been together....awwww (I know cheesy). It was a nice, relaxing, lazy, foggy weekend with tons of awesome food. Saturday my sister and I got a tiny bit drunk...a tiny bit. However, because of this drunkeness there is now a series of about 25 photos of me and my sister trying to get a nice self portrait of the two of us(the photos that we actually look cute in are out of focus...can't figure out why). We of course thought it was hysterical, the rest of the group ignored us. They stayed sober so I'm sure they really appreciated us. Check out the slideshow of our "Birthday Camping Extravaganza 2008!" We also have a new series of photos of Mars called "Weekend at Burney's" The man can sleep anytime, anywhere and would never know about the embarrassing photos of him. You can see those below...