Life in Stumptown

Centerpieces: Bethany and I found tealights and tealight holders for a great price at Ikea.  We bought periwinkle rose petals at Michael’s.  And tonight (during our wedding movie marathon) we’re going to work on making the wire picture holders for the table name cards which will go in vases with little, colored glass beads.

The Aisle: My dad bought my aisle runner at home and Bethany and I found some tulle today to drape from chair to chair.  Now we just need some periwinkle wired ribbon to make bows!

The Honeymoon: We booked our hotels and our rental car!  Check it out:  Two nights at the Inn at Mama’s Fish House, then we’ll drive to Hana and spend two nights at the Bamboo Inn, two nights in the middle of the island by Haleakala at the Kula View Bed and Breakfast, and then four nights at the Mauian!  We also finally booked our plane tickets home!

The Cake: Unfortunately our original cake baker has a conflict in her schedule, so I’m looking into other options.  Let me know if you know of an inexpensive pastry chef in Columbus!  But, I’ve made some connections, and I’m sure like something will work out!

The Bridal Shower:  That’s the best part so far!  Bethany, who is the maid of honor, through the most amazing bridal shower!  Bethany and Bethany (yes, that’s right) made Rob’s apartment look spectacular.  Everything was perfect, right down to the beautiful pink swirly wedding gown napkins and plates!  Elena made the most beautiful cake I have ever seen.  There were so many people I care about in one room!  I was really excited that I got the apron I wanted and cooked in it that night!  And I got the ladybug mixing bowls I was hoping for too!  We played a game where I had to chew a piece of gum for everything question I missed about Rob.  13 pieces!  Oops!  Anyhow, here are the highlights:

The Hostesses

Twin Picture

Just a few of my best girlfriends

CWS Ladies

Home Community Ladies

With the Bridesmaids

Okay, back to the movie marathon…just finished 27 Dresses, currently watching My Big Fat Greek Wedding, next up Muriel’s Wedding.

Bethany got here on Wednesday!  And we’ve been having non stop fun!  She got here really late on Wednesday, so we spent Thursday relaxing.  We of course started at the Waffle Window, took a walk on the Eastbank Promenade, did some homework at Peet’s, grabbed some stuff at Ikea, and then caught dinner and a movie at the Kennedy School.  Friday was a beautiful day in Portland!  Blue skies with puffy clouds.  We had breakfast at Tin Shed, studied for a bit at Albina Press, and then drove to Mt. Hood.  I took Bethany to Timberline Lodge, but the best part was the impromptu drive up 35 North to Hood River.  It’s amazing!  I was reminiscent of the cross country sights over the summer.  We drove through the mountains and then the countryside.  There were rows of apple trees blossoming in orchards.  Hood River is adorable too.  It’s a cute little town on a hill that overlooks the Columbia River Gorge.  We grabbed a slice of pizza and then drove back into town on the Washington side of the river.

Bethany has a friend who also moved to Portland and he was able to come hang out for dinner and drinks at the Doug Fir.  Saturday was my bridal shower and Saturday night we hung out with everyone at my house and cooked dinner.  We went hiking in the gorge on Sunday after church with Rob, Elena, and Rick.  Pictures to come soon!

April has flown by!  Toward the beginning of the month I came down with a horrible case of the flu.  I missed the second week of class, which was a huge bummer.  But, my Wednesday and Thursday sick days conveniently fell right in front of my already in place four day weekend.  I felt like I got a spring break bonus, but this time I got to get some sleep.  It was great!  That was the weekend of Easter, which I spent at a couple’s house in our home community.  We had a pot luck and just hung out.  It was really nice, but strange to be away from home.

In other news, I’ve been in Portland for about 10 months now and I finally got to see the Ramona statues!  When I was little I would love to read the Ramona books by Beverley Cleary.  I was so excited when I found out that Beverley Cleary grew up down the street from where I live in Portland in Grant Park and the books about Ramona growing up on Klickitat Street.  Rob took Bethany and I to see them in the park (Ramona, Henry Huggins, and Ribsy).  I considered buying the books at Barnes and Noble, but after looking at them realized I hadn’t read them in a very long time and they weren’t very exciting.  Bekah said Tigard High School’s theater department is doing Ramona for their play in a couple of weeks though, so I might go to that.  Hope you enjoy the Portland trivia fact of the day!

The Florist: Apparently a huge obstacle for those planning a wedding from 2,500 miles away.  It’s getting better.  The first florist I liked never returned my email.  The second florist I liked was rude to me on the phone.  The third florist I liked decided (after some delay) she couldn’t commit (understandably, so) because she is having a baby a month before the wedding.  She referred me to the florist who got her started.  This seemed promising.  Until she just kept telling me that even though I saw wanted I wanted in a picture at an Ohio wedding in August, it may or may not exist, and may or may not come from Holland or South America.  She listed a thousand other flowers that I didn’t mention and said I should go with blue or purple, but not both.  As a social worker who understands the foundation of communication is listening, I was displeased.  If I were in Columbus, I’d simply go from shop to shop in person with pictures and fabric from the bridesmaid dress.  But, I do not have this option and while Charity is quite generous and volunteering to visit florists for me, I will absolutely not allow her to go to more than necessary.  Rob suggested I call a florist down the street from his house in Westerville called Ole Barn Flowers.  I did and she of course knew his family and speaks with a southern accent.  This alone sold me, but we’re continuing to talk and she sees no problem with producing dark purple and light blue hydrangeas and a price quote by the end of the week.  My optimism  is back

The Registry: Every couple we talked to let out a slight moan when we mentioned that we were registering two weekends ago.  Apparently this is often the source of tension and fights.  With this information and the knowledge that I’m indecisive and Rob has trouble staying in one store for over 15 minutes, it’s safe to say I was a little worried.  But, we prayed that we would be very graceful and loving toward one another, and the Lord certainly came through.  Aside from being incredibly exhausting, it was a fun day!  And it’s even more fun to do on the internet once you get home.  So, because Ikea does not do wedding registries, we are officially registered at Bed Bath and Beyond and Target!

The Save the Dates: Addressed and mailed!

Hawaii: Well, we have our plane tickets and a guide book, but still can’t decide on a hotel.  We’ve been researching a lot though!

The Invitations: I was really panicked over this one.  I started to really doubt that I could make them on my own, even though I’ve always wanted to make my own wedding invitations.  I got some great advice about a store called Paper Zone and they are great!  The staff is very knowledgeable and helpful and they have tons of examples already made.  Elena went with me this Saturday and with one trip to Paper Zone and JoAnn’s we have a design and all of the supplies we need.  Now I’m working on the text.  Once I get that done and printed, an assembly line of my closest friends has agreed to help me crank them out if Rob cooks dinner!

I’m feeling much better about my progress lately!

A couple weekends ago, Rob and I had quite the couples’ weekend.  It’s rare that we go on a double date, and we kinda had two.  It was fun!  Mike and Carrie (the parents of Mila who I nanny for) had us over to dinner.  It was really nice to spend some time with them because I only see Carrie for about 2 minutes each week as she’s running out the door on Monday mornings when I arrive.  Plus, it was nice for Rob to meet Mila, who as I write this is teething away on her cold, red apple thing.  Poor girl…she’s been having a rough couple of weeks, gum-wise at least.  We also had dinner with one of Rob’s coworkers and his girlfriend.  It was nice to finally meet him after hearing so many entertaining stories.

I started back to school this week.  I’m quite ready to be done and am counting down the weeks and days until June 13th.  I’m taking three classes — Interventions with Children and Adolescents, Involuntary Clients, and my last practice class.  I don’t think this quarter will be too terribly hard.  Professors seem to get the sense that everyone is anxious to graduate and the workload reflects that in a small way.  I should be reading my motivational interviewing book, but I’m obviously distracted.

On Friday, Rob, Sarah, Beth, and I made a delicious dinner and then went to a book reading at Imago.  It was the first book reading I’ve been to, but after reading Blue Like Jazz and hearing about Powell’s, I had envisioned going to lots when I moved to Portland.  Better late than never, I guess.  It was a great!  Not only because I was ten feet away from Don Miller, who did the intro and Q+A!  Susan Issacs, who wrote Angry Conversations with God, was hilarious.  I would love to go to more.Rob and I have been going out to breakfast on Saturday mornings.  Lately, the places we’ve chosen have kind of flopped.  But it’s really nice to have time with just us, not my homework, not the wedding, every week.  We went to my friend Rachel’s (from school/CWS) wine + cheese party on Saturday night.  I think this might have been my first official adult party.  It was fun

Okay, Mila is calling my name….better get back to work