Wedding Update!

I can't believe that I completely forgot the important wedding update! I bought a wedding dress Tuesday!

I went down to J and B Bridals in Chambersburg with the intention of buying a dress. I had told the salesgirl on the phone some of the dresses I liked-Maggie Sottero designs-Beatrice, Malina and Presca. Of course, they didn't have any of those. :( But here's a picture of me in the Beatrice. (I think.)  But they pulled some other dresses that were similar.

About six dresses had been pulled including one that I had been pinning (or at least one very similar) for like forever. I was pretty excited about it. But I was pretty excited about the first one I tried on too...even if the flowers on it looks cheesy when on the rack. There were multiple retryons between a couple of dresses. Ultimately, I decided on the dress that I  had always wanted. Now, I have to lose about 10 pounds to look perfect in it. (I think I can do it!) There is no way I can wear a girdle because it has a low and completely open back. And the dress was super expensive...you only have that first wedding once right?

In other wedding news, I've been e-mailing caterers and photographers to get estimates and ideas of costs. Its not going well. As in, its going to be a lot more expensive than orginally planned or thought. I hope to meet with a couple of people on Tuesday. Maybe the florist (which actually will be cheaper than thought!) too. Its hard to budget when you don't have a budget. My family is not helping at all any more. I suppose its a stand my mom is taking to be a bitch. I haven't come out and confronted her but I just can't. I've dropped the biggest hints possible.

I keep hoping that Joe will be a secret millionaire. He having lived frugally for years to gain my trust and true love will one day reveal to me his unimaginable wealth. With which I can pay for my dream wedding (instead of going into debt over it like I am currently doing) and buy a house.

Buying a house is something I really want to do but it seems impossible. How can you save when you are sometimes pushing to make ends meet? Yet, make to much money for USDA assistance? Its a bad position for the middle class. I blame the government for getting us into a mess that now penalizes those that work hard. They were too free with money and now in tightening up regulations, they have choked the middle class.

I just want a home. Like this one. I could make it very homey and cute. Most importantly, it would be OURS.

Emergency Exhaustion

Let's wrap up the Beverly Lewis books. So Jake is back in Pennsylvania. Eventually, its revealed to Lydian that she can't continue to see Jake because he is her nephew. She promises to keep this a secret but ends up telling Jake who goes to the doctor. Its all revealed to Jake's family and Jake is kicked out of the house. Jonas follows. Leah and Jonas' courtship is going well. Leah saves the life of Jonas' father after he passes out driving the buggy-he's drunk. This event reconciles the two families. Its also revealed that the good doctor is Leah's father! (I knew it!) Jonas and Leah marry. Sadie marries the Ohio widower, Eli. Lydian becomes Mennonite and dates Carl, the son of the people that took in Mary Ruth. Leah ends up having twins. All is well! The End!

So Wednesday was not a particularly busy day at work. In fact, we were ready to roll out when the phone rang just before closing. A non-client with a puppy that was bit the day before and now his face was swollen. So they got there just after 5:30 and it was clear that the puppy had an infection brewing-fever, swelling, swollen lymph nodes. We did an estimate which the guy threw a fit about because he just spent $1000 on the dog. He complained because we were charging tech emergency time but I told him he was getting a discount because I didn't charge him my $60 fee. But eventually his girlfriend got the better of him and we got him treated.

Wednesday after work Joe and I went to see the Muppet movie. I met him there. It was good. Joe got really nostalgic about it. When we got home, I made desserts for Thanksgiving. The next morning, I got up early to fetch the vet truck and proceded with my day. Thanksgiving dinner was going well. I watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and then started watching Miracle on 34th Street. Just as we were getting ready to eat, the phone rang. It was an emergency. An Amish buggy horse with a laceration on a hind leg. Out Joe and I went. We got there and it was just before dusk. There was a wedding going on and a large amount of people standing around. I sedated the horse and gave it pain medication. I managed to clean, numb (mostly), clip and trim small skin tags off with minimal effort. Then the horse started kicking me. It didn't matter that I went back and gave it more sedative (including two different types trying to get some addititve effects), twitched it and lifted a front foot. The horse was still kicking at me! It was clear that suturing wasn't going to happen so I went to bandaging it. Of course, more the horse kicked, the more the wound bled. I had to get sutures into it. I managed to get sutures in this wound and then took off the bandage off the lower wound across the cannon bone. This one started spraying me with blood and I needed to put some sutures into it as well. I got a couple in. Then I put on the ugliest bandage ever. Amish buggy horses are always jerks. Joe and I left the clinic a mess scattering supplies and blood about. TH went out and rechecked the horse today. I don't know what exactly he did but I don't think it was a lot.
Joe and I got home and ate. Then I saw a cat with a swollen paw at HP.

Friday ended up being very slow as well...until we closed. Meg and I stayed late to see a cat that has licked her incision open. Didn't charge the emergency fee because we're nice and were ready to go by 6. Of course, I had a call about a dog that was hit with a golf ball and was limping. At first, they didn't want to be seen but then they did. Then no more than 100 feet from clinic, I got another call. My worse fears come true--a large animal call competing for my time. I called TH and BJR hoping that one of them could take the SA call because I couldn't pass on the large animal call-a colic. TH suggested I push off the small animal emergency so I called them back. I went to see the horse but unfortunately Greason sounds a lot like Greystone when you're stressed and trying to rush around! When I got there, the horse was no longer colicky and had good gut sounds. He had passed manure and was super alert. I topped off his banamine dose and offered a rectal and oil. The owner declined. This morning, TH went and saw the horse again. I don't think he did much more than I had done. In the middle of the colic, I got another call. A small animal euthansia. I knew it needed to be seen over the limping dog so following the colic, I went to HP for that. I called in April for help. April came with me down to Newville and we saw the limping dog that ended up having a broken foot. At 11 pm, I was ready to go home.

This morning, I had drop the truck off and do a couple of random things at the clinic. Then I met the dead dog people to give them the dog. Then down to Newville to have the ponies trimmed. The farrier never showed up. Joe and I ran errands to avoid our landlord. We bought new silverware and then went to ultrasound some sheep with TS. It didn't go well. Then finally, after a nap, Joe and I cleaned up the yard and put up the Christmas lights. We had Chinese for dinner and I have the typical Chinese food gut.

A Bit of This, A Bit of That

Okay, so some random things that won't be as fast as I think they should be...

Ever since Joe and I went to Missouri and left the cat at the vet clinic, she has become super needy. Bess has alternated between being somewhat independent minus shower and bed time to needing to be with me constantly. In fact now, she is sitting on my lap purring regretting that I won't let her back up in front of the computer. She still pushes me off of the pillow at night. When I'm downstairs and the dogs are up, Bess is usually found sitting on my chest. She shared some KFC with me today while the dogs were at the park with Joe. I hope it didn't wreck her stomach like it did mine.

The rest of the chimney disappeared sometime yesterday morning. There is still a big hole (the portal to hell) where it once was. Hopefully, no one falls into it.

Joe has gotten off the smoke free bandwagon. I'm incredibly disappointed in him. Before going back to Missouri, he hadn't smoked in like six months. There were a few slip ups and some bad days but he was doing so great. Then we go back to Missouri and the people that supposedly care for him (his closest friends, his mom) are smoking around him and letting him smoke. I made it clear then under no circumstances was he to smoke when we got back to Pennsylvania. Then yesterday, he declared he was buying cigarettes and was smoking again. Now I'm certain its not back to just one or two here and there but heading back to his full blown addiction. I'm so very disappointed in him. It hurts me to think that this really is a betrayal of my trust.

I actually sort of kind of got some wedding stuff done this weekend. I emailed two caterers and a photographer. I spoke to the florist last week and will set up an appointment the week after next. Tuesday, I look at wedding dresses and hope to finally purchase one. I should send out some additionally hotel type information to guests via Facebook because I worry that they won't find any hotels because of the car show...though that may be a great way to reduce the guest list! So one of the caterers called me back this afternoon and seriously, stressed me out even more. I hope I better get granted the deferment on my student loan so that I can actually afford the people that will feed us, photograph us, house the reception, play the music, and so on. Its looking bleak now. I did mention once that my mom and I were on the outs regarding the wedding. Despite having her be with me when I went wedding dress shopping the first time, we are still essentially on the outs regarding wedding talk. I get upset thinking too much about it. No matter how hard I drop hints regarding the cost of wedding things (i.e. photographers are $1000, caterers want $50/person...), she doesn't offer anything. Joe's mom and stepdad at least offered something. Not that we are going to take them up on it. Sometimes I think I shouldn't even bother to invite my parents. In March, when I ask if they have reserved their hotel room and they haven't, I'm going to tell them that they have to sleep in a tent then. I don't care. I'm not doing it for them.

Joe and I were going to go on a Yuengling Brewery tour on Saturday but the farrier is coming out to trim the ponies and I don't think there will be time. Sometime this spring or summer! Speaking of the ponies, today we walked them down the road and saw a male pheasant. My understanding is that pheasant are not native to Pennsylvania (not anywhere in the US but there are breeding populations since their original importation) but are released to the gamelands for hunting. Those that escape the hunt successfully have never gone on to establish breeding groups. Shame. They are pretty.

I moved on to the last of my Beverly Lewis books for the time being. Its getting interesting because in the last book Liddie started her running around time and started to be courted by Jonas Mast's youngest brother Jake. Jake turns out to be Sadie's long lost baby! Switched at birth by the well meaning doctor because Mrs. Mast's male twin baby had died and this was convenient fix to the 'dead' baby problem. Of course, the family gets wind of this and off to Ohio Jake gets shipped. Once there, Jake incidentally meets up with Jonas. The truth starts coming out and back to Pennsylvania goes Jonas to find his maidel, Leah. Such drama!

Did I mention that Joe is working a new shift? He goes in at 7am which means he gets up about 5am and gets off before dinner. He's made dinner and done the dishes nearly every night of the week. Its sort of nice.

Photos Relating To Posts Past

Joe's boutineer from the wedding. Yes, those are pipe cleaners; yes, that makes it a spider.

Aren't we a cute couple?

This was the hotel I stayed in for my vet meeting over the weekend. It had a bar and a resturant inside of it. My room looked down over the same area. It was a big and fancy hotel with room service! 

Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh

P.S. So the chimmney came down today-apparently not all of it; just the part above the roof. And the carport and back room got reroofed. I wish I had known that because I would have taken the dogs to the clinic. They were pretty distraught.

Our Sketchy Landlord

Our landlord is not intentionally sketchy. He's more like lazy. Its not easy to deal with.

Since we've lived here, the back room where we keep the dogs has leaked. We told the landlord about it numerous times. We tried the series of buckets to catch it but ultimately stopped that nonsense. The room molds on occasion. When the hurricane came through, we got a tarp out of the deal when an electrical outlet was shorting out because of water leaking into it. The breaker is still thrown. We have not power outside. I plug my truck in through the dining room window. The back room leaks now around the tarp. It hasn't been fixed yet.

So the other day, our landlord called. Some people were coming by this weekend to...tear down the chimmney. The chimmney that innocently stands there doing nothing since there isn't a wood stove in the basement any more. Apparently, the chimmney is a place for bees to live. Nevermind, the leaking roof. Let's get rid of the imaginary bees first! And a couple of weekends after the chimmney, the roof would get fixed. Okay, good enough. Joe parked on the street all weekend as to not be in the way of the chimmney people. And they didn't show up. So they are coming tomorrow. Ruining my day off. I hope they don't need electricity. They aren't getting it without me calling Dennis and yelling at him. He doesn't listen  to me. And the basement windows need to be fixed because they are falling apart. I think I'm just going to caulk them. But seriously...the roof! And its supposed to rain either tomorrow or Wednesday.

In non-landlord news...I went to Pittsburgh over the weekend to get some CE so I could keep my Missouri license. It was a good time, I guess. The meetings were long however I managed to stay awake. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that now I'M the veterinarian! I went to some horse lectures, a goat one, drug intoxications, thyroid, iron metabolism, cat behavior. I missed Joe a lot but not the fight we got into when I got back. We had gone out to eat but he showed up drunk and overly sensitive.

Veterinary wise-last Thursday, I did my first enucleation on a cat. I was hoping his eye would be fine but it had ruptured again and I felt because of the chronic problem that this cat had and would have, that enucleation seemed like a good plan. It went really well.
I had a Missouri day a week or so back. A farmer was having beef feeders dying from pneumonia very rapidly. I went there and there were two dead and two dying. The two that were dying were in bad shape and honestly, I recommended euthansia because I didn't think that they would make it. We ran a large portion of the herd through and I treated everyone. I'm pretty sure the guy will have a heart attach when he gets my bill but oh well, he could have treated them too.
I got bit by a cat last Monday. She was an old cat in for vaccinations and was fairly painful because of arthritis. I was looking at her mouth and then she suddenly bit me! It was all four fangs and farily bad. I had to go to the doctor to get some antibiotics which are wrecking my stomach and GI system.
Friday, I was on LA in the morning as usual. TH told me to get going because he was going to come out with me to cut a DA. I was pretty excited about that even though I thought it might be because a farmer complained or something. He gets there before me and is running around looking at the cow when I get there. I get my stuff and he helps me get set up and then he rushes off! I asked if he was coming back and he said maybe. I did end up calling him  and he struggled to get the cow corrected too. Its frustrating. I think I might just go to the laying down route. At least then, I get to sit down!

Wedding planning hasn't progressed any further than previously.

The AVMA has confirmed publically what I always suspected-you want a veterinarian on your zombie apocalypse team! I suggest checking out the link.

So just before leaving for Missouri, there was a letter from the Department of Family and Child Services in Missouri addressed to Dr. Leslie Pope. I was puzzled. Why are they sending me anything? I opened it and I had forgot to sign the check. I was still puzzled to have it addressed to me. Even though I pay the child support, Joe's name is on the check too. Its also his account. Joe thought that maybe there was some state connection between agencies but I know that not to be true. Ultimately, I figured they just pulled it off of the return address on the envelope. Weird though.

Last Tuesday, the Jehovah's Witness people came by. I actually had a really enjoyable conversation with them regarding God. BUT I'm living in sin with Joe. They are coming back this week on Tuesday so I need to make the decision to either talk to them or not. I'm thinking because of the chimmney people that I'm just going to get up and get the oil changed in the car.

I'm getting a little tired of the stuff on TV. How many shows about pawn shops do you need? (Two.) How many shows about buying storage units? (Also, two.) How many about hog hunters? (Three.) Add American to anything and people will watch it I think also works. Middle aged lady cop is the drama theme though fairy tales with a dark twist may start to come to the forefront very rapidly. Everything is the same. And I watch it all!

Literature Time!

I don't read nearly as much as I should. I like reading. I always have. But I get busy and its so nice to just zone out in front of the TV. I have a Nook now and that's nice to carry around--the iphone app is even better.

Anyway, before we went to Missouri, I downloaded a couple of books to read in the airport. One of those books was by Beverly Lewis. She writes these books about the Amish community set in Lancaster County. Because I'm not a Pennsylvania native, I'm quite interested in the Amish and Mennonite communities. These books aren't that great but they are addictive. Beverly Lewis has several series of several books each. I just finished the third book of the Abram's Daughters series.

SPOILER! I'm going to summerize the books so far...

The books really run into each other so its hard to discern where one ended and the other one began. They always leave me with questions which is why after finishing this I'm going to download the fourth and probably the fifth to read while getting the oil changed in the car.

Anyway, these books are set in Lancaster County just after WWII. The date isn't important; these people are Amish afterall. It focuses on Abram, his wife Ida and their daughters-Sadie, Leah and twins Hannah and Mary Ruth. Aunt Lizzie (Ida's spinster sister) lives near by. As part of the Amish community, there are lots of interactions with family (the Masts in particular) and neighbors (the Peacheys in particular the son Gid).

So the first story starts with Sadie in the middle of her running around time. She meets up with the teenage son of the local doctor and falls in love with him. They are meeting in secret. Leah has always been her father's right hand man because he doesn't have a son-doing chores outside instead of being inside with her mother and sisters. Leah starts to suspect something going on with her sister. She also decides that she doesn't want to be outside nearly as much as before. Eventually, the relationship between Leah and her sister becomes strained because Sadie is hiding a terrible secret-she's pregnant. Ida, their mother, is pregnant at the same time too. Sadie confronts her former beau-he broke up with her because he was leaving for the army-and he refuses to do anything about Sadie despite her pleas.

Unfortunately, Sadie goes into labor prematurely and Leah takes her to Aunt Lizzie's. They call for the doctor and he delivers a stillborn baby-OR is it? The baby apparently takes a breath in the car after the doctor has already said he'd take care of the body. Aunt Lizzie and Leah agree to hid Sadie's sad secret. The rest of the family knows something but not what is going on with Sadie especially after Ida has her baby, Lidiann, and Sadie refuses to help with the care. Sadie is reluctant to become baptised into the Amish church (though she does eventually) and confess her sins (which she doesn't) despite her sister's pleading. Leah, meanwhile, starts to court her distant cousin, Jonas Mast. Her father isn't exactly pleased because he'd prefer if she courted Smithy Gid, the neighbor's son. Abram, in hopes that distance can drive a wedge between Leah and Jonas, arranges an apprenticeship in Ohio for Jonas. Jonas readily accepts invitation to go to Ohio for the apprenticeship in carpentry not knowing its origin.

Jonas pleas for Leah go come out to Ohio and she refuses him as she says she's needed at home. Eventually, Leah convinces her sister, Sadie to go in her place. Sadie is snuck out and off to Ohio. About this time, the truth about Sadie comes out from Leah to her parents who get the bishop involved.(One of Sadie's former friends threatened to tell the bishop so Leah felt she had no choice.) Jonas comes back to Pennsylvania to get baptized into Leah's church where they plan on living once they are married later in the fall. While in town, the truth comes out to Jonas (it already has to Leah) that Leah is not the daughter of Ida and Abram BUT the daughter of Aunt Lizzie who found herself pregnant during her running around time too! (Details on this fact hasn't come out yet.) Jonas goes back to Ohio. Sadie now knows (I can't remember how) that she is facing the shun because of not telling the bishop. Sadie is mad at her sister and tells Jonas something that she saw between Leah and Gid-interpeting it as romantic. Jonas writes to Leah regarding this. Leah writes back BUT Sadie keeps the letter. Receiving no response, the wedding is off between Jonas and Leah. There is some anger between the families-the Masts and Leah's and the Masts refuse to talk to them after this because Jonas gets shunned too. (For not coming back after his apprenticeship was over.)

The twins haven not been neglected during all of this. Mary Ruth has started working for an English family-they are Mennonites which confuse me on how they can be English but oh well. She also has desire to become a teacher. Mary Ruth and Hannah start to court a set of brothers. Hannah joins the church with her beau. Mary Ruth's unfortunately is killed in a tragic cart versus car accident with the doctor's oldest son. Mary Ruth finds comfort in the Mennonite church. She stands up to her father and goes to live with her Mennonite employer. Hannah's beau has become disillusioned with the Amish church after his brother's death and leaves her.

Leah starts to court Smithy Gid much to everyone's delight and agrees to marry him. Ida is pregnant again and dies during childbirth. She has a live son and before dying makes Leah promise to raise Lidiann and the boy, Abe. Leah promises and has to break off the engagement to Smithy Gid because Abram will not allow the couple to raise the two children as their own.

Leah has acted as mother to the two young children for years. Mary Ruth has become a teacher and Mennonite-eventually she starts to date the doctor's oldest son-the killer of her beau. Hannah marries Smithy Gid and has kids. Leah is content with her life as a mother and old maid. Nothing is heard from Jonas (though his family continues to shun Leah's) though it is assumed that he and Sadie are married. Eventually, the bishop recieves word that Sadie wants to come back and repent because she is now a widow. She is granted the chance and comes home. She was never married to Jonas and has lost contact with him. All of her children have been stillborn and now her husband too is dead. Leah was very angry after realizing what Sadie had done to her but at the end of book three, it seemed like everything was close to working out. We'll see what the '60s have in store. Does Jonas come home? Does Leah ever get married? Can she even get married? Did Sadie's son die all those years ago? (OR is he the son of someone else in the story?) Who is Leah's father? (The doctor?, a rapist?) Does anything bad happen to Smithy Gid or Hannah? What about Mary Ruth?

Wedding Planning!

Well, I really feel like wedding planning is coming together even if I'm fooling myself...

So far, we have set a date. I have found a place for the ceremony and put the deposit down on the reception hall. I called about hotels and was completely disappointed to find that I couldn't reserve any rooms for my guests. I made a reservation for a hotel room for my wedding night. I have sent out save the date announcements-okay, they are in the mailbox but not in the actually mail. I have figured out what the bridesmaids will wear-this dress in horizon from David's Bridal. I looked at some wedding dresses.

Here's a picture of me in one of the dresses that I liked!I sort of look unfortunate here. I think its the halter top which I would like to avoid. I think I read today or yesterday that they aren't for broad shouldered ladies. That's me. I plan to have a dress bought by Thanksgiving.

Today, I worked on my wedding book and requested some travel guides from Canada. Joe and I are thinking about honeymooning there.

So what else do I need to do? Everything. I need to start looking for a photographer (though I might use the one down the street.), a florist (maybe the one a block over) and a caterer...I googled caterers and didn't get very far as for as price information. I know its not important-the quality of the food is but the cost is sort of important when you don't have any money. 

When we were back in St.Joe, it seemed that many people (Joe's friends) were all about coming-while exciting, it sort of poses the problem with hotels and that intimate wedding we were looking for. AND that we didn't account for various children to come when planning. Hopefully, that won't happen too much. Otherwise, we'll have some serious talks to have as we can only have 150 people at the reception hall. This was a very strict number.

I have, however, found myself having some spectacular ideas regarding the ceremony. Pinterest of course has had a big role in this. SO this is what I'm thinking for the ceremony-other than I should start looking for someone to officiate...rental chairs with some sort of draping on the back row. A short stage with an archway (which can be rented from Hobby Lobby) and maybe some columns (also from Hobby Lobby) next to it with draping inbetween and flowers with birdhouses on the top of them. I'm thinking some paper lanterns, bird garland from the trees behind us. Maybe some big pots of flowers-daisies?-at the end of each row of chairs. I'm also going to have refreshments since it will be June and probably humid. Bottled water with little drink mixes is a possiblity as is a jug of lemonade with cups. I'm going to talk to a client about having her horses pull me to and us away from the ceremony. Of course, there has to be the chair up front for Jay.

Regardless of the fact that I have so much to do and really not a ton of time to do it in, I'm really excited. Yea! Wedding planning!

Oh! From the two weddings I've been to in just about a year, I've learned some things that I want to incorporate (or more accurately, not) into my wedding.

1) Don't release anything. At the wedding of one of our techs, she released monarch butterflies that she raised from catapillers that she captured and raised into butterflies. However, when she opened the cage she had them in on the wedding day...they had already escaped. Thus, releasing things only lead to disappointment.

2) If you're not a professional, you're not singing at my wedding.

3) Don't have your wedding on a holiday. Sometimes it works. Sometimes its romantic. Sometimes its just not cool.

4) WTF is this sand pouring unity ceremony? Seriously, the preacher pours sand, the bride pours, the groom pours and suddenly, you have a Rose Art piece of crap. Of course, you could go the Rose Art route instead of this route and save yourself $40.

5) Whoever we have officiate at our wedding better remember why he's there and not think he's a comedian. Not cool.

6) Joe has already been informed that if he smashes cake into my face, its an automatic trip to the courthouse for a divorce. That's why I picked The Vault for my reception-the courthouse is walking distance.

7) Clinking glasses, ringing a bell means that the bride and groom should kiss? No. It means that you'll be sorely disappointed. I'm sure that I'll be kissing Joe enough not to need to be encouraged.

Greetings From Missouri #2

So this one is actually about my trip to Missouri...

Wednesday, we had a flight out of Harrisburg at 6:30 or so to DC. Joe and I ended up both getting a full body scan then at the gate I got a pat down. The flight to DC was 19 minutes in the air; 30 minutes from gate to gate. Then we flew from DC to KC. This flight took forever! I was so cold on it too. We rented the car and headed to Joe Town. We went out to lunch with Jackie and Casey and that night met up with Andrew and Anna (whose wedding we were in town for) at their new house. Anna has two birds-exact kind as Amberle.

Thursday, I can't remember what we did. Oh, I think we ended up hanging out here in the hot tub which the infamous Jeremy Otto dubbed 'sex soup' and 'screw stew'.

Friday, Joe and I went out to dinner with his dad and Missy. Afterwards, I went out with Jackie and Casey to their wine tasting then we met Joe and some of his friends at a bar. Joe was not pleased that we were there. More and more that I stayed-until last call and then had to drive Joe home-the more and more angry that I got.

Saturday, I went to Columbia to meet with Martha, Tiffany, Amberle and my mom. We ate at FlatBranch then went wedding dress shopping. I found some dresses that I really liked and we chose bridesmaids dresses. I was somewhat stressed about the whole thing. After shopping and talking with Amberle and Tiffany for way to long, I went to KC for Kyle's party. I had to meet up with Joe. When I got there, Joe was already trashed and thus I was instantly ready to go. Eventually, I dragged Joe out of there. We had to stop three times before leaving KC so he could throw up. Serves him right. I was pretty furious especially since he had not only smoked (which he promised me he wouldn't) but had actually bought a pack of cigarettes.

Sunday, everyone came over to the house for lunch. Joe and I would go to the rehearsal dinner and then he'd go hang out with some other friends.

Monday was the wedding-it was nicely done for being on Halloween. Very tasteful. The reception broke up around 9pm-probably a consequence of not having alcohol. It had a very distinct high school dance vibe. Joe went out with some friends later and I had a bad case of Chinese food gut. Joe came home way to late...and I had to pick up the car this morning. This morning, we're going to get stuff together and then head on our way back to Pennsylvania via KC. It was a long trip.