First step, pick a church and set a date. Tim belongs to St. Malachy church in Brownsburg, I am a member of St. Mary’s parish downtown.  Both have great pastors that we would be honored to have preside over the sacrament but we decised that because of its central location and grandly ornate design, which appeals to our appreciation for history and tradition, St. Mary’s church on New York St. and New Jersey St. in the heart of downtown Indianapolis is the perfect place to exchange our vows. The date we chose, October 2nd, really had more to do with practicality than anything else. Fall, this one in particular, seems to be a very popular time to get married. By the time we got engaged, the calandar was already filling up fast. It came down to just a couple of dates that might work and 10/2/10 was available and, well to be honest, its catchy! And I must say we both look forward to the ease a decade year will provide in remembering which year’s anniversary we are celebrating when the years all begin to run together

When you announce your engagement the next words out of everyone’s mouths are “where, when, and how many people”. Its pretty much impossible to move forward in the reception planning process without the later 2 questions answered. We figured out when, which left the task of fighting about, I mean discussing, the guestlist. Anyone who has ever planned an event, specifically a wedding, on any kind of budget knows that this is a very delicate process.  I won’t try to sugar coat this, the process was far from smooth for Tim and I. I will say, however, that we definately learned a lot about how to have “big discussions” in our relationship. An important skill to master in marriage, and one we’ll no doubt have more opportunities to hone.

Next with date and guestlist narrowed down, let the venue shopping begin. I can in no way take credit for the leg work and analysis is this phase of planning. Tim truly and utterly amazed, well amazes me still, in his organized and thorough data collection and interpretation. He is a true engineer. This man put every detail from each venue into a variable spreadsheet so we could easily see which venue met all of our needs/desires in comparison to our price range. Basically, he made it possible for us to make the best possible decision for this very important, and very expensive, celebration of our new life together. And I believe we did just that, made the best possible decision! Wooooohoooooo!

Now the fun stuff begins. The asthetic details that give the event our flair and personality. The dresses for my lovely bridesmaids, the beautiful flowers that we will carry, the oh so important entertainment and so on……

burnt orange, wine, golden yellow are the general color scheme. Fall is the feeling!

Lets begin by catching up on the last 2 eventful months. I’ll pause now for you to go get some caffeine, this may be a snoozer……..

Ok, welcome back. I’ll try to be concise, but I can’t promise to be entertaining. Lets start with the big move.

On October 9th I moved in my quaint studio apartment near Massachusetts Avenue, downtown Indy. ( For the out of towners, Mass Ave. is a newly revived arts and culture district, pretty much in the heart of downtown.) I took me a long time to get unpacked and settled, actually I still have a box of pictures and decorating type things to put away yet. It seems like between preparing for a 24hr. shift, a couple-day stay at my man’s house, or a trip to visit my family or his, it feels like I am always packing/unpacking a bag for something!!! Ughhh, its a trade-off I suppose, because I love going each of those places, but it feels like it leaves little time to enjoy my GREAT urban pad! Its not much to see (please pardon the mess and the walmart commerials), but here are a couple snapshots of my home-sweet-home!

So I guess my timeline is a bit backward but just prior to moving, I honestly don’t know the exact date (bad, I know), my amazingly caring, talented, brilliant boyfriend became my amazingly caring, talented, brilliant FIANCE! Its amusing and reassuring the way life takes you where you’re meant to be whether or not its where you thought you should or would go. 2 years ago I was pro-love but skeptical, leery, and almost anti-marriage. My desire to establish roots, then finding a career and community that I am passionate about and dedicated to, and a renewed spiritual life were all coming together; And then God put Tim in my life…….blah blah blah, mushy junk and happily every after on October 2, 2010! The man (that is the blessing that has my heart and fulfills my soul) and the rock are pictured below.

Ok, enough of the sappy-ness….. Sorry, but I can’t help myself sometimes LOVE LOVE LOVE HIM!

And then, there is my fabulous job! So, I’m realizing that this is actually in reverse chronological order. In February, however, I got the phone call that forever changed my life…..A job offer from Lawrence Township for a position as a firefighter!!!!! The journey through recruit school began and I got to experience some of the coolest, most awe-inspiring, forces of nature; ie the science and power of fire. Words really can’t do justice to the experience of the flashover chamber. I made some of the greatest friends of my life. Then, I became a Cshifter and shift life, my schedule as I shall know it for the next 30 years (God willing), began. For those that aren’t familiar with the schedule, I work 24 hours and am off for 48hours and repeat. Its great. I can, theoretically, plan my schedule years out. I know today, what days I will be working in 2015 or so on.  There are TONS of pics on facebook of recruit school and graduation ( Did I mention I was valedictorian of my class, the first female to earn the title in the history of the department, not to brag or anything I’m just a little proud!). But there are too many pics to download on here so please see my facebook albums if you haven’t already. But for entertainment value I’m including a pic of my helmet (That’s me, 179)

Alright, I”ll wrap it up for now. If I’ve kept your attention this long you must have had a decent sized cup of coffee. This one pretty much skimmed the surface and brushed over the highlights of the last year. My next will be in greater detail, but not longer I promise, because it won’t cover such a huge span of time. 

That’s all I’ve got. As always…… CELEBRATE YOUR EXISTENCE!

So for those of you that struggle with insomnia your cure is less than a month away…….