Finally some Wedding Updates!

Hey guys! I know that everyone has missed the blogs of your dear ol friend Rachel ... so I'm back with a brand new addition!

Thursday, August 9, 2007: Aaron worked all night on Wednesday night, so as soon as he got home Thursday morning (at around 6:55) we loaded up the car, drove to Loren's house to pick her and Reese up, and headed back to Orange/Nederland.

We went by my grandpa's house so that we could pick up the M.D. Anderson cards and my veil and the programs before heading over to Aaron's parent's house. Once we got there, Aaron went to sleep and Loren and I went to tan, get our rings cleaned, to Walmart to pick up some things for the Bridal Brunch the next morning, and finally out to Beaumont to pick up my wedding dress!!!!

Once we got back to the house, Audrey (Aaron's younger sister) had made it to the house and we all hung out while we tied ribbons on programs and folded some of the M.D. Anderson cards. We went to drop some things off at the rehearsal dinner site so that the ladies would decorate it for Friday and it was there that I got my first slice of bad news. Christy, one of my beautiful bridesmaids, hadn't been feeling to well all week. She had some kind of sickness that caused these really bad sores and ulcers on the inside of her mouth along with fever. She had seemed to be feeling better, but by Thursday she had started running a horrible temperature (104) and the doctor said that she was going to be sick for a while ... and that she was extremely contagious. Therefore, she was not going to be able to drive from Austin to Orange for the wedding. I was not upset about not having a bridesmaid because I know how bad she was feeling. The only thing that I was upset about was not having one of my best friends there to see the wedding. There were a lot of tears on the phone that day! ((Update: Christy is much better now ... back to her own awesome self!))

So, we went back over to the house to finish all the program tying and all of that and I tried to figure out a few different scenarios to play out for the wedding. Aaron went to pick up his tuxes and all of the tuxes were too big/small or weird. So they had to be altered that night and picked up sometime on Friday. Little things like that were frustrating ... especially when it came to Aaron's tux because we have had Aaron measured numerous times for just these instances!

I couldn't sleep at all that night. Aaron got a bed because I knew that he was still exhausted from staying up for so long. Loren went to bed with Reese and I had Audrey's dog Libby with me as well, so that wasn't working out because they kept wanting to play while Loren and I were trying to sleep in a double bed. So, I ended up getting up and getting online for a bit ... then falling asleep for an hour on the couch in the computer room. When I woke up around 2am, I felt gross! I apparently had chewed on the side of my tongue in my sleep, and my knee was hurting from having it in an odd position. I got back up and read a bit and then went to sleep on the couch in the living room because it was slightly bigger than the other around 4am. Well, then people started getting up around 6 am ... so I went back into Audrey's room after Loren got out of bed and went to sleep for a couple of hours before we had to wake up and go down to the church to set things up for the reception!

Friday, August 10, 2007: We only had three hours to set up, so I asked as many people that could help to come. We had a good turn out and actually got finished EXACTLY at noon! But not without a few problems ...

We ordered some chair covers and the place that we rented them from wasn't going to be open until 10 am that morning. We needed them for 9am so that we could start getting things together and putting the chair covers on as soon as possible because that would take the longest time. So my grandpa went to pick them up Thursday after 4:30 so that we would have them ready to go. Well, we started taking them out of the boxes and some of them REEKED of mildew. It ended up being about 30 of the 200 that we requested. I was very upset because this was a serious problem, people couldn't even walk by these tables without catching a whiff of that smell and being grossed out. So, I called the lady ... at first she tried to tell me that it was impossible because all of those chair covers were NEW and that they've never been used. Finally, I was like "Oh really, because a couple of them still have chocolate stains on them ...." Then she's like "OHHHH Those chair covers!!" -Collective Eye Roll Everyone- So after talking with a few different people we arranged for my grandpa to bring those back ... then they would wash them and iron them and dry them that night and bring them back to us the next morning and put them on. So it all ended up working out ... but for a while I thought that they weren't going to put them on for us the next day and I was about to get a little Bridezilla on them!

After we finished up the reception hall ... we went back to the house and hung out. We wrapped all the presents for our bridal party and the Parent's etc. Then everyone started taking showers to get ready for the rehearsal.

The rehearsal flowed very well! We ended up having each of the girls walk half way down the aisle and have all the guys (except Cory who stayed next to Aaron the whole time) come and meet them half way and walk them to their spot. It worked out perfectly since we were missing dear Christy. I had my cousin stand in for me ... which was kind of weird because my Aunt kept saying that she wanted to see Aaron and Katy kiss. Afterwards Aaron was like, "I love how your Aunt kept trying to hook me up with your cousin." Haha. Then we went off to the rehearsal dinner! It was absolutely FANTASTIC! It was decorated Sooooo nice! We had a pasta bar and Salad and chocolate cake, plus we also had beer and wine! We ate and visited, I read Aaron the poem that I was going to read to him ... and he said an impromptu speech which was really really lovely! Through out the night different people did toasts for us, and it was all sooo sweet! All of his family kept saying that they knew the first time that they met me that Aaron was going to marry me! My aunt even got up and said how proud she was of me and how hard my life had been and how lucky I was to have such a great family to be marrying into. It was a really great time!!

Afterwards, I think a few of the bridesmaids (Mainly Jenifer) thought that we were going to be going home and going to bed ... but she doesn't know how the Allen's party!! We went back to the house and drank some more wine and beer, listened to music, danced around, laughed and joked, etc etc.
Finally, I had to go to bed at Midnight so that I wouldn't see Aaron anymore ... but I'm almost certain that he stayed up until around 5 am hanging out with his cousins! Lucky!!!

Saturday, August 11, 2007, Wedding Day!!: I woke up around 5 am, ended up throwing up some yucky phlegm type stuff (did I mention that I was pretty gross and coughy?) and took some sinus medicine before laying back down until around 7am. Then we woke up for good ... got ready and headed to the salon to get our "Hair did." Aaron's mom and Aunt Joanie brought some donuts and kolaches, plus some awesome fruit and dips and stuff so that we could eat that morning! I wasn't nervous at ALL! I had a really good time just hanging out and enjoying ourselves. Finally a little after 11 we headed over to the church. That was only a slight bother because I really like to be places on time and we didn't get to the church until 11. The girls were kind of running behind on people's hair and we were kind of running behind on makeup. Things like that happen though ... so it wasn't that big of a deal. Once we got there we kind of hung out for a bit waiting for all the girls to get there. I let them all read the notes that I wrote them in the programs and then we started getting ready! Once I got my dress on and all of that was when it really started to hit me and I kind of started crying a bit. Definitely happy tears ... but still! Also, seeing my PawPaw made me tear up a bit as well! We hurried up and finished getting ready and then went and took pictures with the bridesmaids and myself. Jessica (MoH) went to give Aaron his gift and then Colton (my brother) brought back my gift from him. I gave him a Swatch Watch which is very light weight and thin and he really likes it. He gave me 1/4 carat diamond earrings! I absolutely LOVE them because my ears are VERY sensitive and these don't hurt them at all! I don't even have to take them out when I go to sleep! I wish that I would have had "real" earrings all along ... then I would probably still have my second and third holes! Oh well though. Anyway ... then we took pictures with the Groomsmen and myself. After that I disappeared back into the prayer room and Aaron took pictures with his groomsmen and then the bridesmaids. Once all the pictures were taken it was only about 20 minutes before the wedding began!!

The music started playing ... and everyone left the room so that they could walk down the aisle and I had a little time by myself. I said a little prayer, Thanking God for everything that he had blessed me with ... and then hoped that my Mom and Grandma were watching. Finally, I stepped out (camera in hand) and got ready to walk down the aisle. Just as my music started to play ... I pulled the camera out from behind my bouquet and snapped a picture of My grandpa and I ((The picture that is on top of this entry)) and then I handed the camera off to Aaron's sister and we made our way down the aisle!

Aaron was crying by the time we got down there because his dad had started crying. He gave my grandpa big hug before taking my hand and leading me up to the alter. Everything turned out BEAUTIFUL! I couldn't have asked for a better wedding! Things went smoothly and there was no problems! After the wedding, we took pictures in a quick manner and then headed over to the reception to start the party!!!

Reception: The bridal party entered to the song "Final Countdown" from Rocky ... and Aaron and I came down to 2001: A Space Odyssey! Everyone got a big kick out of that! Then we immediately went into our first dance, which Aaron's cousin Josh sang the song for us. It was BEAUTIFUL!! Then we opened up the food lines and Aaron and I got a plate and sat down at our private table. The line ended up snaking around us, so it was kind of hard to eat because people kept coming up to us saying congrats and asking where we were going for the honeymoon and all of that stuff. But it worked out because we wanted to make sure that we were able to talk to everyone ... and we did! After people ate, we cut the cake and then did the toasts. Cory's toast was very humorous and Jessica's toast was basically the best thing ever. I have a copy of it ... but it's at my grandpa's house ... so the next time I go by there, I'll get it and post it on here so that everyone can see how amazing it was! I was basically bawling my eyes out by the end of it. After that, we did the Father/Daughter and Mother/Son dances and then opened up the dance floor. We had a GREAT time! A lot of people were dancing ... we were getting pretty crazy!! There are TONS of pictures of me breaking it down ... so make sure you guys check out the site (I'll give the links at the bottom of this)

Around 6:30 ... the Limo arrived and we were pelted with flowers before getting in and making our getaway!! We went back to the hotel EXHAUSTED! But I was starving ... so we ended up having to run across the street to Pappadeaux's in our wedding attire. By this time the hook and eye on the back of my dress had come off and my zipper wasn't staying up anymore. It was pretty funny!!

I'll post later about how awesome the honeymoon was ... but this long ass post should hold you guys off for a while!

Also ... check out the wedding pictures!!!

Mandy Bonds
Click Clients
Weddings
Rachel & Aaron
The PW is August 11 (exactly like that)

ENJOY!!! (I'll also post some pictures that we have up above this post!!

Austin doesn't practice Safe Sex.

Sorry that it's taken so long for me to update about my fabulous Bachelorette party ... but Aaron and I have had to start packing up for our Wedding and Honeymoon. It's very stressful trying to make sure that we have everything because it's not like we can just jump back in the car and go and get it.

Anyway!

I went over to Aaron's sister's house around 12:20 so that I could straighten my hair. She has a chi ... which is way better than any straightener that I've ever owned. Then we loaded up the vehicle, her friend met us there, and we took for for A-town! After an enjoyable car ride ... we made it to Christy's house and got the party started!

Everything was decorated awesome! There was a buffet table with all kinds of snacks foods. Unfortunately, there was mini penis cakes even though I specifically asked for none. But they were good ... so all was forgiven. We played a couple of games while Loren and Kasi got ready and then I opened presents! I got a lot of beautiful lingerie ... and I'm very excited about all of it! I also got this freaking AWESOME shirt that says "BRIDE" on the front and "The Future Mrs. Allen" on the back with the date that we are going to get married! I love it ... and will probably wear it all the time ... even AFTER we are married!

Then we went to a porn shop so that we could play some kind of scavenger hunt. Most of the other girls were very scared ... but Amanda and I teamed together and found all of the items that we were supposed to find. Including ... "The Destroyer" which ... as Loren says "Can only be used to get the woman ready for child birth" it was MASSIVE.

Once everyone got tired with that we went to eat at this Tex-Mex restaurant called VIvo! It was great! They had a really good sangria margarita. The bathrooms had rose petals and ice in the sinks. The food was delicious. The waiter was a good sport ... (I found out that he had had sex earlier that day, that his favorite position is the wheel barrow, that his fantasy involves a beach, and that his boxers were blue with green stripes). And at the end of it all ... every girl at the table gets a long stemmed rose! It was very very nice! Plus the drinks were huge!!

Then we went back to the house and got ready to go out for the night ... we all got dressed up and called taxi's and headed out. When we first got there ... a couple of places gave me free shots ... which was pretty sweet. After that, I got my alcohol other ways. I also had a list of things that I had to do ... "Ask a guy for a condom" "Do a body shot off a guy" "Grab a guy's ass" "Have a guy Grab your ass" "Kiss a guy with the same last name as your Man's" etc. I did most of them ... including the body shot ... which was the only shot that I had to pay for.

But I couldn't get a condom from anyone! I figured that would be the easiest one ... therefore the only conclusion that I can come to is that Austin does NOT practice safe sex. Although some guys claimed that it was bad luck to carry around a condom. That it was dangerous and the condom would probably break if they carried it around. And even that it was the girl's responsibility to have one!

Before the night was over, we headed to the Gay Bar ... because we were told by Christy's roommate that I should get lots of free shots because Gay Guy's LOVE girls that are getting married! And mostly they did!! I even got a guy to drop trou in the middle of the club and give me his underwear (Another thing that was on the list). They were BRAND NEW Ralph Lauren's too! Another guy basically took over my list and started asking people for all of the stuff that I needed ... it was really funny. Then I had to get on this stage thing and dance ... except apparently I wasn't supposed too ... and instead got Pelted with ice and told to get down. But it's okay ... I'm a good sport!

We left pretty early because Loren apparently got trashed at the bar in the hotel that her and her friend went to while we went to the gay bar. We had to haul a cab and go and pick her up ... where she promptly told the driver that "She was going to like him ... because she liked aggressive drivers, like her." It was hilarious!

We went back to the house ... and Christy's roommate entertained us for a few hours ... this guy was freaking HILARIOUS! I want to carry him around in my pocket for a good laugh from now on! I think that he should go on Last Comic Standing ... because he is AWESOME! Then we all went to sleep ... woke up around 11 ... got packed up and went and ate at Ihop before we headed back home!

I didn't get drunk ... I didn't have a hang over ... the only thing that was wrong with me was my stupid sore throat ... which progressively got worse. Now, besides a cough ... I'm feeling better. Apparently, Christy is sick with something VERY contagious, so I have very glad that I didn't get that ... and Amanda is sick with something too ... but I'm not sure what. Hopefully, everyone will be all better for the Wedding!!!! Which is .. oh you know ... this SATURDAY!!!

I carry your heart with me

Okay, for those of you that have seen "In Her Shoes" then you know what this poem is ... luckily Aaron has NOT seen "In Her Shoes" and therefore ... this poem will be totally new to him and he will hopefully thoroughly enjoy it when I read it during the rehearsal dinner.

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in
my heart) i am never without it (anywhere
i go you go, my dear, and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)
i fear
no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want
no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

-- e. e. cummings

I can barely get through it without crying ... and I know that when I'm actually looking at Aaron's face I'm REALLY going to cry ... but I think that it's going to be fantastic!

Thoughts anyone?

Rain Rain Go AWAY.

Okay, so for those of you in Texas ... I think I speak for everyone when I say ... EFFING STOP RAINING. JEEZ.

It rains EVERY SINGLE DAY ... seriously. And tonight, I had to drive back home in it ... and that makes me angry. But you know what makes me even MORE angry ... People like that fucker over there in the Hummer splashing water all over the place. Yeah, that one.

Aaron and I have already came to the conclusion that people that drive Trucks & HUGE sports utilities like a hummer are assholes. I know this. Aaron knows this. But it's not like I can pick who I ride next to when I'm driving to save my life at 10pm on a Friday night on a busy highway with water on the road.

My little bitty Honda can only take so much people! Not only did some asshole drive past going 40 (instead of the 25 that everyone else was politely going as the rain torrentially beat down on us) but they also splashed all kinds of water all over my car and I couldn't see a THING!

Then, I ended up (somehow ...) between an 18 wheeler (which after my accident back in February I'm deathly afraid of) and another asshole in some kind of large vehicle that I couldn't tell you about now since all *I* could see was the water that both of them were splashing all over my car. And I know ... some of that wasn't their fault ... but pulling up where they are RIGHT in front of me and then staying there .... yeah, that IS their fault.

Thankfully, I made it home safely ... and it was even only drizzling a bit when I got home so that I didn't have to walk in the horrible rains and all that stuff.

Anyway ... in Wedding news (with nearly 14 more days until THE day) I got some shoes for my rehearsal dinner dress, the makeup (eyeshadow and mascara) for wedding makeup, AND a Harry Potter coloring book. That wasn't for the wedding ... but it made me VERY cheerful!

A New Way of Getting to Sleep

God. Doesn't she look peaceful?

I seriously don't know what's wrong with me. I could sleep ALL day long. Or ... actually ... I could sleep for as long as it's "daylight" outside. But once it turns night ... I'm screwed.

Infact, tonight ... I really thought that I was going to be alright and be able to go to sleep when I wanted too ... but as soon as I got in bed it wasn't working out. I tossed and turned for a good 45 minutes before I finally decided to just get up.

I'm hoping that it's just because I'm getting excited about the wedding ... and once all of it is over with I won't have lists to go over in my head and start remembering things that I forgot that I needed to do or something like that.

The programs are finished ... now let's just pray that the guy that is doing them is going to get them done in time. I am also getting my rehearsal dinner dress fixed tomorrow, the halter top thing needs to be taken up, and Aaron's mom is going to fix it. Now, it's just music ... and that's what runs through my head over and over and over again when I want to go to sleep. AHHH! I can't wait until this is all over with ...

Oh yeah. Another bridesmaid isn't going to the bachelorette party. Fucking awesome. Seriously.

An update on the Real

I know I know, I said that I was only going to post interesting, fun, creative things on this blog ... I remember what I said. But, I just wanted to give a small update on "Wedding News!"

I'm SUPER excited ... why? Because we are almost finished with EVERYTHING that we need to get ready for the wedding! We got our Limo booked today ... because Aaron took so long getting that stuff taken care of, we are going to have to go with a SUV limo. So, I guess we are going to be "rolling out" in style! I'm still crazy excited about it though ... because I've never ridden in a limo before and I have been saving myself for when I got married!!!

Also, we are about 90% finished with the program. I just need to read it off to the priest and make sure that everything sounds okay ... and then email it to Jessica so that she can bring it to Drago's and they can get it all going. It's going to be worth getting it done professionally, because I don't want to have to deal with binding and staples and stuff like that. Plus, it's going to be a little bit longer than normal because we are going to have notes to each of the bridesmaids, groomsmen, Parents & Siblings. I totally stole that from Amanda ... but I don't care. It's going to be awesome!

All that is left after that is the DJ list. I have filled it out and emailed it to him, but now Aaron and I need to have a list for the "open dancing" stuff. So, if anyone has any fun ideas ... I want our reception to be great fun!!!

That's it! We have everything ready for the cruise ... we don't have passports but we have birth certificates which they say are enough ... we have our matted Frame for everyone to sign, all of our pictures are finished and in, we have the marriage license ready to go, toasting glasses, dresses & tuxes ... and with 16 days left!

I think this is why I havn't had a crazy nightmare in the past couple of weeks ... let's hope it continues!!!

I swear ... I'll post a good update tomorrow!

WTF? Or ... Why do people suck?!

So, getting married REALLY lets you know who your "real" friends are and that's for sure.

Honestly, I don't understand why people think that showers, bachelor/bachelorette parties, rehearsals, or decoration set-ups are optional.

When someone asks "Hey, would you like to be my bridesmaid?" And you aren't exactly sure that you are going to be able to give them the time and money (if needed) that they deserve ... then say NO. Seriously!

Guess what! People don't ask you to be a bridesmaid just so that you can stand up next to the person. No, they ask you to be a bridesmaid so that you will be there for them or the other bridesmaids when you are needed. They ask you because out of ALL the people that they know, they figure that you are going to have their back ... and help make the couple's wedding even more amazing.

So really, think before you say that you are going to be some one's bridesmaid. There are very few reasons why you can not make it to one of the wedding events. 1) Death (you or family) ... 2) The Miss Texas Pageant. That's it! It's not like you get asked to be a bridesmaid a month before the wedding or the said event. NO ... you have plenty of time to ask off of work, to make arrangements with other things that might come up, and to save money.

Seriously. Has no one heard of a Savings Account or something?