Let me count the ways...

Today has been a great day. I've been busy almost the entire day- working out, helping Mick with stuff, cleaning the kitchen then making it dirty again cooking dinner. I'm sitting here on the couch looking at Mick and just keep smiling at him. I can't help but think how much I not only love him, but also our relationship. We always have fun, and a few people have commented on how fun they find our banter. It's one of my favorite things about us, for sure.
So, let's embarrass Mick and talk about him. Yes? Yes.

One of the things I love most about this guy is that he always looks slightly surprised in his photos, like above.
But let's focus on the banter. Now, we're both pretty quick witty people so I can't share every conversation, but I can share a couple.

A few months back, just a couple days after we got engaged, we were texting back and forth while I was on my planning period at work. It was just after Rebecca Black's God awful song came out. We love to make fun of that song.

Mick: Are we going out tonight?
Me: Yeah for a bit.
Mick: ok, well we should talk to my mum first so shall I tell her we'll talk at 3.30? ( I hadn't spoken to her since he popped the question)
Me: Yeah I wasn't planning on going out until after dinner anyway.
Mick: Why so late?
Me: Because it's friday friday. We gettin down on friday
Mick: But will we kick in the front seat or kick it in the back seat?
Me: We gotta make our mind up!
Mick: Which seat shall I choose?
Me: Got your best friend on your right.
Mick: but if neither of us know where to sit, we'll still be confused...
Me: Wait....weren't  we going to take the bus?
Mick: ohhh yeah. good job you remembered otherwise i'd be in the car looking
like a right idiot
Me: This is why I'm marrying you.

More recently, tonight in fact, another one happened. I was walking down the the corner shop while Mick hopped in the shower. We're having movie night and we wanted some snacks. As I was walking, a man was walking towards me. I noticed right away that he looked like Gerard Butler. Gerard Butler is on my "list." You know if you've seen Friends.
I pulled out my phone and sent Mick a text. "Just saw Gerard Butler's twin. May not come home to you." A few minutes later, I got a reply. "Drop the popcorn off first."
Sigh. I need to be better at keeping him on his toes.

Anyways, I love the guy. I'm really happy that we're still as crazy about each other as we were a year ago. It gives me high hopes for a marriage where we won't end up just feeling like roommates after a while. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to snuggle him.

Mick and Pepsi and wiggly noses, these are a few of my favorite things!

Sorry for the lack of interesting posts lately. To be honest, not much is going on really. Wedding planning is dwindling down because most of it is taken care of, just a few finishing touches to take care of- fittings, pay the flower deposit, book a photographer, burn the disc for the ceremony music. Stuff like that.

We got two beautiful days of warm golden sunshine and blue skies. Today I got out of bed to pull open the curtains and find another grey sky. I don't mind this so much. It's nice for a change to not know what the weather will be like. It's more fun than knowing it's going to be hot. Then hot. And hot again. And oh, my! Hot once more! It breaks up the monotony.

The other day, Mick's mum made me feel great about all the hard work I've been doing with calorie counting and exercising. Mick and I had gone out to get hay for Harley and Truffles and when we got back she said hello and looked me up and down while talking and stopped herself mid-sentence and said, "you've lost weight!" I think that is vital in working on losing weight or just getting in better shape. When people start noticing the differences in your body and compliment you on it, it makes you work even harder. You feel like it's paying off and you want it more. I've been using a website to track my calories eaten and burned through exercise. If you're interested, check it out. It's called Shapeup Club.

We're having fun with the bunbuns. Each day Harley comes out of his shell a little bit more. Last night we put the blanket on the bed and watched a movie while they played around, jumping in the air and twisting (which is happy bunny body language) and eating carrot tops. Harley was peeking over the edge of the bed and slipped off. At first all he would do was hide behind a pillow. I'm happy to see that he's getting braver! Truffles is doing great. They're both starting to know who we are, I think. When we go up to the cage they come over to see us. I think it's mostly because we've been feeding them veggies by hand a lot so they think we have treats. Here are a couple videos I thought you'd like of them eating treats!

I think spinach is definitely their favorite, though the carrot tops are more fun to watch them eat. It's like Lady and the Tramp with the pasta. I should edit some romantic Italian music into the background of the second video.

Harley going to town on carrot tops. Oddly, they don't seem interested in the actual carrot just yet.

Oh, Truffles. You even eat with attitude.

And lastly, here are two of my favorite things.

Mick and Diet Pepsi <3

I need to kick myself in gear and get on the elliptical machine for 35 minutes. But I feel so lazy today...

Houston, we have bunnies!

Today we drove back to Ditchling to pick up our bunnies. They were waiting for us in their own little hutch, because apparently their mom wasn't being nice to them anymore. We tucked Harley and Truffles into the carrier and off we went. They were pretty nervous- I kept looking through the holes in the carrier and could see their eyes were all big. I held the carrier in my lap part of the way (Mick held it the other part) and could feel Harley sliiiiiding back and forth on sharp turns. We got them home and put them into their Bunny Condo.

Welcome home, Harley and Truffles! (Harley- greyish, Truffles- black)

We let them chill in their condo for a couple hours so they could get their bearings and kind of calm down a bit. We checked on them a few times to see how they were doing. After while we took a blanket and spread it out on the bed and got them out explore and get used to us a bit.

 

Meet Harley. I saw this little guy online a few weeks ago and fell in love with his coloring right away (his coloring is called "harlequin," which is where we got his name). I even talked my future in-laws into driving us an hour to visit him, and then again today to pick him up. So far, he's pretty shy and takes a little while to step out of his comfort zone, but he's very sweet, gentle and docile. For a while he just hid behind a pillow, but Mick held him for a bit and he started to come out of his shell.

Here's Truffles. Originally, she was just a bonus bunny. I had only planned on getting one, Harley. But the more we thought about it, we thought it would be best to get two. Rabbits are social animals and can often get lonely. We read that brother/sister pairs were the best, and this little one was the only girl in the litter. As it turns out, I absolutely love her. Truffles is very adventurous, brave and so friendly! The minute we put her out on the bed she began bobbing her head and hopping around. It only took her a minute to find this perch- on my bedside table! It seems to be her favorite spot! She likes to lick the lamp and nibble on my book.

Now that we've got them home, I'm so glad we decided to get two in the end. They're lots of fun to watch. They're adorable and do funny little things. 

 

A few photos

I got my camera back out of the wardrobe (what they call closets here) the other day and charged up my battery. I had to wait a few days to actually use it because it's been raining and my lense was getting wet. I've managed to snap a few, so I thought I share just a few photos of life around the house with Mick and Sasha, who keeps me company while Mick works.

Is there anything more beautiful than a flower with raindrops?

Lady Sasha

I adore the way Mick looks in this photo.

More wedding details and lovey goo

Today Mick and I went into town to pick out the suits for he and the groomsmen at Moss Bros.! We picked out a really nice grey suit with a creme and green waistcoat and matching cravat. Take a looksie!

Waistcoat and cravat in our chosen colors

Morning suit (both images from moss.co.uk)

He and his two groomsmen (who are wonderful guys) are all going to look so handsome. But of course, I'm most excited to see Mick in it. While we were in town, I also picked up his ring after having it engraved with a special message.

Also, we're going to be doing M&Ms as wedding favours! I thought this was a great idea because, duh, who doesn't love M&Ms! And also because Mick and I had a ball when we were at the M&M store in Vegas, looking at all the awesome merchandise. The favors will look something like this-

image from mymms.co.uk

Annnd for the wedding car.... a white London Taxi! How much more English can it get?! There are options that are a lot fancier- Royce, Jaguar, Diamlier... but there's something that's just so cute and classic and unique to us about the Taxi. They also decorate it with flowers and ribbons matching your theme, so we'll get pink and green.

image from cars4weddings.co.uk

Okay, enough wedding stuff for now, I've been cramming it down everyone's throat lately. I also want to just talk about how Mick and I are doing because, obviously, that's the whole reason all of this is happening. And while I never want this blog to become a place for my mushy love monologues, I do want to address it a bit, because this is our love story, after all.

I am so happy. I've always loved waking up in Bognor, hearing the seagulls and snuggling with Mick. I really just can't tell you how *insert powerful word here* it is to look at him and know we never have to worry about the logistics anymore. And even though we have our scuffles (but what passionate relationship doesn't?), everything about him makes me want to spend forever with him- his smell, smile, eyes and just the fantastic guy he is.

This is happiness, and this is love.

Me and Mick at his sister's birthday dinner a few weeks ago

Wedding bits!

We've had a very productive weekend here in England! Friday, Mick's mom and I ran around Kent making wedding arrangements. We went and saw a florist about bouquets, centerpieces, corsages and various other arrangements. We showed them the following picture as inspiration:

I did find this online, ages ago, but I don't remember where from!

Unfortunately, the big fluffy pink and white flowers (peonies) are not going to be available in September, so they are going to find me some roses that look similar. The centerpieces and pedestal arrangements will be made up of the same flowers, but the corsages for the Mother of the Bride and Mother of the Groom will be cream colored orchids with pink edges.

We also booked a venue for the reception! It will be at The Village Maidstone Hotel.

Image from maidstonehotels.co.uk

 

 

 

 We also met with a cake decorator who is going to be making the cake. Mick and I picked out these cakes for the inspiration:

We like the shape of the cake itself, as well as the color of the blossoms.

But we like the more delicate branch and the pearl accents on this one.

So the lady said she could kind of go in the middle with the branch and give us edible pearls on the bottom of each tier. Our tiers will all be different flavors- vanilla, chocolate, and lemon!



All in all, things are coming along nicely for the White Wedding. We even picked out invitation and announcement materials yesterday, which will continue the pink and green color scheme. Just need to work out some more details, like our wedding car and suits for Mick and his two groomsmen. And party favors, too.




It was so good to see Mick after spending the weekend apart. Kind of adds a new spark to things, sometimes.

Yesterday we went out and got some stuff for the bunnies. We get to bring them home this weekend. We picked up water bottles and food dishes and a few treats and some litter. Need to get shavings and food, then we're ready to have them! Looking forward to having a snuggly little pet :)

That's all for now, I have lots of stuff to do. Hope everything is well with you guys!

The Philosophies of Mom and Dr. Seuss

Today has been kind of rough. I'm in Kent for the weekend with Mick's mom for wedding planning while he's having a boy's weekend back home with his buddy Gus. I'm not so silly as to miss him already, but being without him makes me suddenly realize how very far away from home I am. Since he was able to spend six months with me in America, it felt like, with him, I had a bit of America here with me. Familiarity, someone who knows my family and has grown to care for them. Now I feel very much on my own. It made me feel rather homesick. It's a weird psychological thing. Bottom line is, I'm fine, just a little low.
This evening after dinner I came up to the room I'm staying in at the house in Kent and called my mom. I told her of my worries with money (I'm not working but I still have expenses. I have savings, but those don't last forever!) and just that I was feeling bummed out. It was nice to hear her talk about normal, every day stuff that she's been doing around the house. It made me feel like I was there. She told me she found our old copy of Oh, the Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss. She listened to my worries and said "I'm going to read this to you."
"You're going to read me a story?" I chuckled through tears.
"Yes, it's story time."

And it was amazing how much that book corresponds with what I'm going through. Here is the story, complete with my wonderfully silly mother's commentary in red....

Oh! The Places You’ll Go!
by the incomparable Dr. Seuss

Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!
You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.

You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go. (You decided to go to England!)
You’ll look up and down streets. Look’em over with care. About some you will say, “I don’t choose to go there.” With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet, you’re too smart to go down a not-so-good street.

And you may not find any you’ll want to go down. In that case, of course, you’ll head straight out of town. It’s opener there in the wide open air. (Yeah, you're out there in the wide open!)

Out there things can happen and frequently do to people as brainy and footsy as you.
And when things start to happen, don’t worry. Don’t stew. Just go right along. You’ll start happening too.

Oh! The Places You’ll Go!
You’ll be on your way up!
You’ll be seeing great sights!
You’ll join the high fliers who soar to high heights.

You won’t lag behind, because you’ll have the speed. You’ll pass the whole gang and you’ll soon take the lead. Wherever you fly, you’ll be best of the best. Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.
Except when you don’t.
Because, sometimes, you won’t.

I’m sorry to say so but, sadly, it’s true that Bang-ups and Hang-ups can happen to you.
You can get all hung up in a prickle-ly perch. And your gang will fly on. You’ll be left in a Lurch.
You’ll come down from the Lurch with an unpleasant bump. And the chances are, then, that you’ll be in a Slump.

And when you’re in a Slump, you’re not in for much fun. Un-slumping yourself is not easily done.
You will come to a place where the streets are not marked. Some windows are lighted. But mostly they’re darked. (He has such poor grammar!) A place you could sprain both your elbow and chin! Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in? How much can you lose? How much can you win?

And if you go in, should you turn left or right…or right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite? Or go around back and sneak in from behind? Simple it’s not, I’m afraid you will find, for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.

You can get so confused that you’ll start in to race down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space, headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.
The Waiting Place…for people just waiting.

Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come, or a plane to go or the mail to come, or the rain to go or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow or waiting around for a Yes or No or waiting for their hair to grow. Everyone is just waiting.

Waiting for the fish to bite or waiting for wind to fly a kite or waiting around for Friday night or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake or a pot to boil, or a Better Break or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants or a wig with curls, or Another Chance. Everyone is just waiting.
No! That’s not for you!

Somehow you’ll escape all that waiting and staying. You’ll find the bright places where Boom Bands are playing. With banner flip-flapping, once more you’ll ride high! Ready for anything under the sky. Ready because you’re that kind of a guy!

Oh, the places you’ll go! There is fun to be done! There are points to be scored. There are games to be won. And the magical things you can do with that ball will make you the winning-est winner of all. Fame! You’ll be famous as famous can be, with the whole wide world watching you win on TV.
Except when they don’t. Because, sometimes, they won’t.

I’m afraid that some times you’ll play lonely games too. Games you can’t win ‘cause you’ll play against you.
All Alone!
Whether you like it or not, Alone will be something you’ll be quite a lot.
And when you’re alone, there’s a very good chance you’ll meet things that scare you right out of your pants. There are some, down the road between hither and yon, that can scare you so much you won’t want to go on.

But on you will go though the weather be foul. On you will go though your enemies prowl. On you will go though the Hakken-Kraks howl. Onward up many a frightening creek, though your arms may get sore and your sneakers may leak. On and on you will hike. And I know you’ll hike far and face up to your problems whatever they are.

You’ll get mixed up, of course, as you already know. You’ll get mixed up with many strange birds as you go. So be sure when you step. Step with care and great tact and remember that Life’s a Great Balancing Act. Just never forget to be dexterous and deft. And never mix up your right foot with your left.

And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and ¾ percent guaranteed.)
Kid, you’ll move mountains!
So…be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray or Mordecai Ale Van Allen O’Shea, you’re off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So…get on your way!

Sometimes, you just need mom. And Dr. Seuss.