Too Cute!

Some students brought cards to me today because I am getting married:) Their teacher said they chose to make the cards during their freetime. It was so nice. I thought I would share one of them:

Congratultion Ms. Bluhm. If I was in your wedding I will have so much fun and my mom can do your hair and you can go next door and go get your handes and feet done. I hope you and your hasbid will have a grat wedding and if you have any kids, can I be your babysitter?

This REALLY made my day and I thought it was TOO cute.

Woo Hoo!!!

I get to marry my soulmate in one month. I am one lucky girl!!

Grandmas are Antique Little Girls

When I visited Daniel's family this summer, his aunt was wearing a shirt that said - Grandmas are Antique Little Girls. When I read this, my mind went to my Grandma Bluhm immediately. As we are nearing our wedding day, I have been thinking about my grandparents a LOT. I've been reminiscing about my childhood and family. You see, I had 4 sets of grandparents. My parents were divorced when I was 5 and I can't name many advantages to that situation, but I will say having 8 grandparents could possibly be an advantage. ESPECIALLY when I was blessed with my grandparents. 5 of my grandparents are no longer with us. I thought I would write a few memories of each one as I hold them in my head and heart forever:) My MOST favorite thing about each set of grandparents is the unique places they all lived and I got to visit.

Grandpa Crouse

Estelle's parents lived in Virginia in the COOLEST house ever. There was a river running in front, fresh vegetable garden, antique pianos, a PARLOR (enough said:), a barn, and a big open field that is any child's dream.

My Grandpa Crouse would take us to the barn which was really a wood workshop. He would make us wood hearts and toys. It was so much fun. He would pull us around the land in a wagon behind his trailer. Most mornings, we would eat homemade biscuits and gravy. I also fell in love with FRESH tomatoes. YUMMY!!!

Boppa

We called Tom's dad, Boppa. I think he got this name because my cousin, Beth, couldn't say Grandpop and this came out instead. It was fitting for him.

Boppa was a gruff man. He had this deep voice and would always rough house with us. He ALWAYS grabbed our big toes and would not let go. I remember he read a lot and would sit in the chair in the back of the living room to read. Tom's parents lived on a golf course/country club. SO COOL! He would take us on rides in the golf course and we would get to make reservations and eat in the club. I thought we were so cool because we had to make reservations.

Grandmother

Grandmother is Tom's mom. She was the opposite of my Boppa and it just fit. She was quiet and calm. She would sew and made my sister's banquet dress. She would let me help her make cinnamon toast and we would cut the butter in squares. I thought I was a cook because I would help her. She would always take my sister and I to swim and I loved sitting out on her porch. She would also play dominoes with us and I loved sleeping on the trundle beds in her guest room.

Pa

Pa is my dad's dad. As long as I can remember, Pa used a wheelchair. I loved riding in his wheelchair. I remember going into his room and sitting in his wheelchair to watch The Price is Right and Wheel of Fortune. I also thought it was super cool because he had a chair in his shower. We played Mexican Dominoes A LOT and I absolutely will never forget his laugh and smile.

Grandma Bluhm

I have to say that not having my Grandma Bluhm at my wedding will be especially hard. My Grandma Bluhm was a character and a half. She told me how it was and what she thought, and I will be honest when I say it wasn't always easy to hear. My favorite memory was at night with my Grandma. When I stayed with her, I almost always slept with her. We would stay up late and talk, giggle, and gossip. I would catch her up on me and we would talk about anything and everything. I'm not sure I have ever met anyone who loved her kids and grandkids so intensely. I think she worried about us too much. I loved visiting them because they lived across the street from an elementary school. They had REAL swings. The kind of swings that you felt like you were flying.

"I Am CONFLICTED About My Wedding/Marriage."

I am getting married in 2.5 months. I have conflicted feelings about this.

You are probably thinking I must be NUTS because I am conveying my conflicted feelings for the masses to read. It is probably not what you are thinking.

After Daniel and I were engaged, we had many talks about the wedding. Eloping, immediate family only, immediate/extended family only, destination wedding, and a Houston wedding were all on the table. We eventually decided on a semi-destination wedding. We are getting married in Castroville, Texas. This may seem random to some of you. I am okay with that. We wanted a place that seemed intimate and easy. Most of our family would have to travel anyway, so why not pick a different location. My family moved to a town near San Antonio five years ago and I have grown to love the city. Houston is so fast paced and San Antonio DEFINITELY moves at a slower pace. We found a place outside of the city that is quaint and easy. It is a family owned reception hall and we really liked the caterer and location.

You see, it is MOST important to me that we focus on our marriage as we near January 1st. It is SO easy to get caught up in planning the details of the wedding, that the reason for the day and celebration are overshadowed. Brides and grooms are so tired, they don't enjoy the wedding and can't wait for the honeymoon. I refuse to fall into that category. I feel that if we had been married in Houston, I would have definitely worried about details more. I am thankful for this decision.

You need to understand that this has and will be extremely difficult for me. I am a people pleaser by nature. If people are coming to an event that I am planning, I want it to be perfect. I will worry, sweat, fret, and think about it until it is over. However, I am making an effort to take any spare moment I can with Daniel to talk about our expectations for marriage, finances, compromises, needs, wants, etc. I don't want to spend our spare moments talking about tuxes, flowers, food, etc. It won't matter if we are short on napkins. It will matter if we have not addressed those concerns/expectations for our marriage.

As you can see, I am conflicted. I WANT to enjoy the planning part of the wedding, but I don't want it to overshadow or distract from the marriage part of our life.

If you ask me about how planning is going, I will more than likely reply, "Everything is going well." I am not just saying this. The day will come and go AND I will be married to the man of my dreams. As far as I know, he will be there and I will be there. How can that not go well?

Blog Theory

My dad said he was going to delete my blog from his list because I never post. I wish I could say I was TOO busy to blog, but I have not. I wish I could say my life has been super boring and I have had nothing to blog about, but I have been VERY busy. I really have no excuse. I guess I haven't been too motivated. I have decided that when I do blog, I don't have to try to create this interesting, well written dialogue about my life.

I just need to be honest.

The entire reason I even created this blog is to chronicle the journey Daniel and I are on as we are getting ready to be married. It is for our US and any of you who are interested.

I would like to give a shout out to my dad because he will appreciate my posting.

Don't Assume Anything

Another school year has started. It is hard to believe that I just started my 7th year of teaching. I have the BEST job in the world. Now, when I say that, please keep in mind that I also believe it is one of the HARDEST jobs in the world. However, no matter how hard it is, I can step into a classroom and see the sweetest smiles that will melt even the biggest grouch's heart. I thought I would give you some highlights of my week. Some are heartbreaking, but some just make me smile. I want to always remember the little moments - the moments that define who we are. The week before school started, we heard an inspirational speaker. He kept saying two things:

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away." and "Attitude is everything!"

I have really tried to keep these two quotes in mind as I am at work.

Here are a few of those moments (both good and bad!)

** The last group of kiddos I taught are now in 5th grade. It is going to be really hard for me next year when I don't have any of MY students at school. I always make sure to monitor them and I always joke with them that they need to make me look good:) Anyways, yesterday one of them came up to me and said, "Ms. Bluhm, you said you were going to pull us last year to eat lunch with you and you never did." All that went through my head is, "I can't believe he remembers that." I also felt guilty. Was I really too busy to stop and take them out for lunch?After all, I know the principal is my boss, but the students are my clients. I should be doing whatever I can to make school and their experience meaningful and beneficial. You can bet that I will be stopping and taking more students out for lunch.

** I am in charge of the Primary School this year. It is our Pre-K school. The building we use is across the street from the Elementary School because there is not enough space across the street. We will be getting a new school in the neighborhood in two years so we will be able to move our smallest students over to the big school. The building that H.I.S.D. rents space from is the True Buddah Temple. So every day, I walk past the Buddah statue several times going from the classrooms to the cafeteria. It is REALLY strange to watch all the 4- year-old classes walk past it as well. It makes for some interesting questions. When I was bringing a student back from the restroom, she asked: "Why does it need food if it isn't alive?" Any advice on how I should answer these questions would be helpful.

** We have a refugee student at Neff Primary that is having a really hard time. On Wednesday at breakfast, he started throwing a fit when his dad left. I don't mean he was just crying because we have had several of those. He was trying to run out of the room. I would try to hold him back and he would start hitting, pinching, and kicking me. It just about BROKE my heart. The hardest part was knowing I couldn't communicate with him or his family. There was a lot of pointing and gesturing. I have set up a meeting on Monday with a translator so I am praying that will help.

** Half of the students at Neff are Bilingual Spanish speakers. It's hard with the little ones because they don't know much English. For those of you that know me, I LOVE talking and playing with kiddos so the language barrier is hard. However, I have learned and depended on the fact that a hug and smile speak the same language (thank goodness!)

** Part of my job is to visit classrooms. I love this part. On Thursday, I knocked on the door of a kindergarten classroom. One of the students answered the door. I looked at him and looked at the teacher. I asked her why Juan was in her classroom. He should be in 2nd grade. She told me that wasn't Juan. I told her that he looked just like a student we had in 1st grade last year (I'm talking spitting image). I continued to say hello to the class. As I was leaving, the same little boy stood up to open the door. I looked down and said, "Thank you sir!" The student proceeded to tell me, "I am a girl, but my mom cut off all my hair." I wanted to crawl under a rock. I felt horrible! Later on I was talking to her teacher and discovered she was Juan's little sister and she had to cut off her hair because of lice. I cannot believe I did that! Sometimes short hair and uniforms can get me in trouble. I will NEVER assume anything until I know for sure.

** A teacher really does live the saying "It takes a village!" I may be one of the people in charge, but I will NEVER take for granted all the people it takes to successfully run a school. Can you imagine if we didn't have the cafeteria workers to fix lunch for hungry tummies, nurses to put on bandaids, teachers to encourage new ideas and learnings, custodians to keep our campus safe and clean up the messes made when those students get sick, teacher assistants to work with at-risk students, parents to love and encourage those kiddos, office workers to keep all the paperwork in order? I can't imagine a school without these people and I am thankful.

I can't wait for all the other moments that this school year will bring. I am blessed!

(On a side note: This blog was meant for my wedding stuff, but school stuff has consumed all my time the past three weeks. Daniel is okay with that. I guess he has to be okay with that, because my school job is what will be getting us both through grad school for the next three years. He is the best and I promise to update with more wedding details soon!)

Engagement Pictures

Daniel and I took engagement pictures in Minnesota. His family has a farm and I thought it would be a neat place to take pictures. His cousin, Tori took the pictures and I thought she did a great job. I'm not too sure what you do with engagement pictures. I know they are for announcements in newspapers. We don't think it is necessary to advertise our engagement in the Houston Chronicle:) It was a fun day! I am off to finish packing for the move this weekend. It is hard to get motivated!!!

Past Experiences Lead Us to Future Events

As I am transitioning into being a wife:), I have taken the time to reflect on the past few years that have led me to being ready to marry Daniel. I have been single for 28 years. Daniel called me on my 28th birthday and we have been dating ever since then. My dating history consists of casual dating. I was never with anyone very seriously. I've dated guys for longer periods of time, but I didn't let it get serious. My family often said I was too picky. I never thought I was too picky. I knew what I wanted and I didn't see the point of being with someone I didn't intend to marry. It's interesting because Daniel and I have complete opposite dating histories. He was in a serious relationship for the last two years of high school into college years. After they broke up, he didn't date very much because he was very serious about school. I am thankful for the experiences and people that have led us to being ready for marriage and each other 

Just for Fun:)

Can you believe I get to marry him? I hope our kids look JUST like Daniel!

Ceremony & Reception

We are having our ceremony and reception at Hoffman Ranch. We knew we wanted to get married in San Antonio. Daniel and I are both from the Houston area. We both thought it would turn into a bigger event than we wanted if we stayed here. My family moved to San Antonio 5 years ago and it seemed like the perfect place to have the wedding. We went to look at several places and we liked Hoffman Ranch in Castorville, Texas. It is a out of the city a little bit. I was nervous about the location being too "country". Daniel and I are definitely NOT country. However, it fit all of the criteria I wanted. I didn't want to have to feel like I had to decorate just to make it look better. I wanted a place that would provide everything and I didn't have to rent tables, linens, etc. When I walked in, it just felt right. I got excited about the wedding and I LOVED the wood paneling. We booked it the same day. 

  

January 1, 2010

We are getting married on January 1, 2010. We chose this date because it's fun and we wanted to get married on that weekend. We discussed getting married on December 27th, but we were nervous because it was too close to the Christmas holiday. My immediate family really wants to spend the days leading up to the wedding with me, and this is the in-laws Christmas so they would be gone. I want to savor every moment with my family so we moved it to the next weekend. 

We have heard MANY opinions on the date. My favorites are:

"You do know that all of the good college football games are on that date."

"You should get married on December 31st so you can get the tax deduction."

"At least Daniel will always remember your anniversary."

"We are going to be on vacation that weekend, so we can't make it to your wedding."

My reaction to these statements vary. Sometimes, I can't tell if they are being serious or not:) It's fun though. We picked this date because there is no better way to begin this year and every year after with the reminder of our love and life together. We also liked the idea of celebrating New Year's Eve with both families the night before. I also liked the symbolism of ending our years of being single and beginning our new year with marriage. 

Groomsmen

Michael Wingard - Brother of the Groom

Dale Wingard - Father of the Groom

Elias Gerbermichael - Friend of the Groom

David Garcia - Friend of the Groom

Zachary Lindsey - Cousin of the Groom

Bridal Party

Michelle Taylor - Sister of the Bride

Ashley Coburn - Sister of the Bride

Bethany Becknall - Cousin/Best Friend of the Bride

Rachel Wingard - Sister of the Groom

Cailyn Alvarez - Niece of the Bride

Micah Taylor - Niece of the Bride

Megan Lindsey - Cousin of the Groom

A 2nd Wedding Dress

I got a call on Thursday that the wedding dress I picked out AND bought was discontinued. It wasn't really a big deal, but I was confused why it took 6 weeks to figure out that it was discontinued. I had several options. I could buy the sample dress (which had issues), start over, or get a refund. I didn't know what I wanted to do. 

On Saturday, I needed to go by David's Bridal to pick out bridemaid's dresses. I mainly needed to decide on a dress color so I knew which color blue I can center everything else around. My bridesmaids are all going to pick out their own styles with the same color. My sister, Michelle, is pregnant and now is a good time to go try the dress on before she gets further along in the pregnancy. While I was there, I saw a couple of dresses I liked and I was able to try them on right then. I loved the first one and decided to buy it right then. I felt beautiful and loved the little details I was able to add. 

We ended up going to Men's Warehouse on Sunday and picking out the suits for the guys. Daniel is going to look great. I kept joking that I needed to cover my eyes so I didn't see what he was wearing. 

One of my favorite parts of all the wedding planning is how excited Daniel is getting. He constantly tells me how excited he is and how he knows I will be the most beautiful bride ever. He asks me about details of the wedding dress and ensemble. He gets me even more excited about the wedding. Of course I am excited, but it seems so far away. As we get closer, I know the anticipation will begin. I am trying to savor every moment of planning because this will be the ONLY time I ever do this. 

Graduation Morning

Daniel graduated from the University of Houston on May 16th, 2009. I couldn't help but be REALLY proud. His name was in the program 3 different times as a student graduating from the College of Health and Human Performance, Suma Cum Laude, and Exercise Science Student of the Year. I don't have the right to be proud of him because I had any part of him doing well. He earned this with the support of his family growing up. However, I am proud of the man I am marrying because he works hard, wants to be the best student he can be, and he is in love with the profession he will spend a lot of time doing. He will begin 3 years of graduate school for Physical Therapy at Texas Women's University, a top 25 PT school in the country. It will take a lot of his time and energy, but I am okay with that because he is doing something he loves and enjoys learning about. 

Birthday Night

I am still trying to recover from Daniel's birthday/graduation weekend. On Friday, May 15th, Daniel turned 26. His mom hosted a nice dinner at the house for family and close friends. Most of Daniel's family that came in for the graduation were there. This was the first time I was going to meet his mom's side of the family. They came in from Dallas or Minnesota. It was great meeting them and we had a great time. I am glad Daniel was born. My family gave him the Wii with accessories and we have had fun playing it for a while. 

Wedding Dress Shopping

My mom and sister came in this weekend and we went to look at wedding dresses. I was really nervous about it. I have definitely dreamed of my wedding dress for as long as I can remember. I didn't have specific ideas, but I knew I wanted to feel beautiful and I wanted it to be different. I did not want a ball gown with lots of beading. My mom was very helpful. My consultant thought my mom was super cute because she said most moms want tons of beading and my mom was trying to find a dress with NO beading because that is what I wanted. I picked out 6 dresses and my consultant suggested we try on my favorite ones first. I had an idea as we were going into this that I would not know what I would like until the dress is on. It's hard to tell when a dress will be flattering. My two favorites were NOT flattering. They were nice, but they did not look good on me. I tried on two more that I liked, but did not love. There was one more left and I did not want to try it on. I didn't think it would be THE one because it wasn't as "out there" as I thought I 

wanted. Ashley talked me into trying it on. It was BEAUTIFUL! It really flattered my body type and I felt good on it. I will be able to add a few details to make it different and I fell in love with it. I can't wait to try it on again in August! I am glad I found one. I did not realize it took so long for dresses to come in!

My First Post

This is my first post:) I started to create a wedding website, but I thought this would serve that purpose and I can continue it after the wedding. I will use this website to let you know about our wedding details from the ceremony, reception, and all the emotions and excitement leading up to it. Daniel didn't like my website address, but I couldn't think of anything else!  I REALLY hope I keep this up and after Daniel's graduation it should be easier!