Our Disneymoon is booked!

I can't tell you how excited I am that our honeymoon is booked! In the Disney circles, that means we get to have our Disneymoon! We'll be staying at Old Key West, one of the DVC properties. How cool is this property?!? Old school Key West - what a great theme in central Florida!

And the rooms - I am so excited! I love the jacuzzi tub - even better - I love the way it is set up with the window to the bedroom. I wonder if you can see fireworks from the tub? Wouldn't that be an awesome way to end a day of Disney parks?!?

We'll have a one bedroom "unit" (condo basically - bed, bath, living, kitchen) from June 18-25. It gives us some time to breathe after the wedding, so we can truly enjoy our time away! I can't wait - we're looking at the deluxe wine and dine plan, which means our tummies will be full too. Huge thanks to Momma and Poppa C for spoiling us! I can't wait to start planning more in depth!

(photos from AllEars.net)

Marriage is Forever - or how I spent my Sunday afternoon

Sunday was our Marriage is Forever class. It was definitely NOT what I expected! There were 5 segments: Sacrament of Marriage, Theology of the Body parts 1 and 2, Medical and Moral Issues, and Communication.

First of all, had we not just taken RCIA last year, the Sacrament part would have been a LOT more interesting. However, the guy who taught it to us last year spent a ton of time focusing on it, knowing that David and I were engaged. So this felt like review and not a very good use of time. I can see why they do it though, so it was ok.

The Theology of the Body.... I can see how this would be very interesting. And I am intrigued to learn more. I just walked away from it unsure of what I was supposed to have learned (if that makes sense)

The Medical and Moral Issues was actually presented by the parents of some of my students!! At first, I was slightly horrified, thinking how embarrassing that might be. But when they started talking, it was SO comfortable! Not that they made light of things, but they did things in a very light manner. It was very open and enlightening. They shared a lot of personal stories that I won't repeat, but I definitely respect them even more!
He also talked about the medical dangers of birth control and some of the things that he sees within his office (he's a doctor). It was kind of frightening when he said that estrogen etc. have been placed on the FDA's list of known carcinogens (where have I been?). He talked about how effective NFP can be, etc. He mentioned a lot of things from a MEDICAL standpoint that just happen to coincide with the Catholic ideals. He was presenting things more to strengthen relationships than to say "Catholics are the only ones who are right."

The last presentation was about Communication. They made a LOT of good points - I'm going to try to paraphrase the notes before too long to make them into something useful for other people too :)

Our Registry and Clearance

I was showing my friend the comforter I had registered for the other day. To my dismay, it was listed as being on clearance!!! I had to order it, because this is the ONLY comforter David and I have both liked. So now we have our comforter! My only concern with buying things.... is that we won't be able to register for enough. I know that they say to register for twice as many items as guests, but that could be really hard to do! I'm hoping that means that we'll get all of our necessities as well as some fun things.

I didn't order the accent pillows that are also listed as clearance though - if anyone is interested, please go ahead and order for us :-D

Marriage Preparation

Before we can get to the ceremony, we have to do some preparing. And no, this isn't about all of the fun, colorful stuff. Father Dennis was very straight forward about the two programs that we need to complete before he will marry us - Marriage is Forever and a Natural Family Planning course.

The Marriage is Forever is offered by our deanery. I'm interested, as everyone has said really great things about it. We'll spend 5 hours at it this Sunday, so I truly hope it is that interesting! Nothing worse than being bored that long...

The Natural Family Planning (NFP) course.... I'm definitely not looking forward to. It is done once a month at St. Louis, and is put on by parishioners. As silly as it may sound, I'm really scared that the presenters will be parents of one of my students. It just makes me nervous... I've never been comfortable talking about sex, and now I'll spend over three hours doing nothing but. We're hoping to take care of this requirement in November, we'll see if it works out with the schedules!

Free Lenox China?!? Sign me up!

Oh goodness me. The Relentless Bride has an AMAZING giveaway going on... two place settings of Lenox china. That's right folks... she is SO lucky to be giving it away! The best part? You get to choose your pattern from the Opal Innocence line. For someone like me who is inheriting two different china patterns, this is awesome, as I can match it! You can check out all of the details here. Seriously people - wow!!

9 months and counting!

We're officially under 9 months now! Yesterday was the 9 month mark. I actually feel pretty good about things. I would like to have the music and musicians figured out by the 8 month mark. It is the one thing that is VERY important to me that hasn't really been addressed. While we would like those close to us to perform, we still haven't nailed it down and asked. You might remember this post, where I lamented that I hadn't met my first goal. Well, I'm making another one. Let's see if I do any better!

Wedding Survival Handbook

I love to read. Love love LOVE to read. As in, always have at least one book that I'm reading, even it means that I have to re-read something. Imagine my delight to see that I won something again! I was so excited when Amanda of Swoon Over It Calligraphy posted that I had won my very own copy of the Wedding Survival Handbook. What fun! It should come in very hand for Megan and I (two weeks apart). I can't wait for it to come so I can read it!

Skinfree Skin Care and my allergies

So, some of you might remember how a while back I posted about my allergies. Well, not really, but I was posting about Designs by Vanessa's Body Tree giveaway. Anyway, I have major major skin allergies. I'm allergic to paraben (a preservative) and lanolin. That's the short list, but it covers most products that you leave on your skin - makeup, lotions, shampoo, soaps, etc. Seriously folks, I read labels before ANYTHING touches my skin. When the derm asked me what I use to wash my face, my reply was "a washcloth and water". He then proceeded to ask me what cleansers I used - no, seriously, a washcloth and water. It's the only combination that's actually safe.

You can imagine the frustration of trying to find moisturizers that I can actually use. As someone who has to be so careful, of course I am unfortunate enough to need to add moisture to my skin. Enter the great folks at Skin Free Skin Care. They are a godsend for people like me - or people who are just really interested in natural skin care. Seriously folks, this stuff works. It's GREAT! Right now, through their blog, they have a BOGO offer. You buy one in store, mail them your receipt, and they will send you a product. Sound too good to be true? I thought so too, until my free face scrub showed up the other day.

Now, I'm hoping they start a makeup line, but that could be wishful thinking on my part. Until then, anyone have a GREAT paraben and lanolin free line that they love?