Hey, it's 2012!

It snowed my first week here! over 6" total!

yep. and I live in WA now! woo! so i'm now planning the detail-oriented part of the wedding from across the country. woo! Invites are DONE and ready to be mailed soon. Room group rates are set up. I still have to pay the bartender cuz *SOMEONE* forgot to mail the contract and deposit two weeks ago.. We have an officiant and are in progress of customizing our ceremony. I get to call the rental place tomorrow and set up the renting of the plates and stuff. I'm waiting on a strapless bra in the mail so I can get my dress altered. I lost 2 dress sizes since I last updated you guys. So I need a TON of alterations done. yay... -_-  Got shoes. What's left? uhhh.. oh yeah.. paying for everything. The moms are still looking for their dresses. I think we may rent a shuttle for all the guests. (open bar and all) blah. now is the crunch time to make sure everything works.

So hi?

Hi guys! Remember me? Wow... July was my last post.. dang. I blame it on school. I'm in my last semester now, and all was going well- i was on track to getting a 4.00 this semester.. until September 6... I was rear-ended pretty bad and was launched into a jeep. So that really screwed up my school plans. I'm still in school, but no 4.00 for me anymore. I'm just aiming to pass. The whole thing makes me so mad. The kid admits that he was "checking" his phone, but the cop didn't check if he was texting (illegal here). I'm very sure he was. Up until the collision he was tail-gating me and kept having to break (he was speeding pretty heavy). So he was probably going 50-55 before he started breaking. Oh, and I was stopped. So I've been seeing a chiropractor and struggling with fibromyalgia flares all thanks to this punk. And I may not graduate with honors anymore. So I'm very ticked, to say the least...

Anyways! Wedding! Less than 5 months to go! I designed our save-the-dates and invites, and had them printed at cards and pockets. The print quality was decent, and the paper is great. I'm quite happy. I'll post a picture soon. everything is at the parents'.

Dress. Ah, my dress struggles... Remember that I gained close to 30 lbs? Well.... I lost it all again. It turns out it was a medication I was on. So I got to get a whole new wardrobe, and dress. I had ordered a size 6, and at the time we were going to need to let it out. Well, I lost weight and they let us exchange it for a 4. And now, the 4 needs to be taken in. So I'm really trying to maintain a healthy weight. All this fluctuating is very annoying, and really wreaks havoc on my self-confidence. And I should probably get a new bra now too...

My feet also shrunk. So to fit in my flats now, I have to wear rubber bands around the middle of my feet! it's pretty funny.

 I'll try to remember to post updates periodically. But school is devouring my time. Oh, and Skyrim. Skyrim too. (Can't wait to play Skyward Sword in December- Lance has the Wii)

FOOD

I love food. But when it comes to planning our menu I'm a little lost. We're both kinda picky, and we have nut and shrimp allergies in the family.. along with diabetes. So I'm kinda lost as to what to have! The only real thing I require is chocolate covered strawberries, or strawberries and chocolate. Oh and real plates and silverware and glasses. No plastic. I've been known to shatter plastic forks on a salad...

Any suggestions? Our budget is about $2300 for food, beverages, the whole shebang. So we're thinking about $20 per person on just food, then we'll go from there for alcohol/ desserts.

Skin (again)

Oh, so randomly I developed an allergy to Clinique... I blame it on prednisone... but whatever.. So now I'm using Clarins with no problems. It's gentle and "all natural" or so the lady said. But my skin is smooth, now the scars just need to heal..

I'm not dead!

Hey guys!
I'm officially the worst blogger in the world. I know... but hey! in NINE MONTHS I'll be married!

Scuury!

K, so I found the bestest florist in the world! ok I'm partial but still.. check this out!

http://www.angelacoxphotography.com/?p=293

Here you will find both photos taken by our photographer, and the flowers were done by our florist!

In other news.. Lance graduated college.. again.. and has a full-time job in Richland, WA. yep. Washington. So we're currently in a long-distance shenanigan. And I'm taking summer courses (which sucks) and then I have my last semester of college! In January I move out there with him. Then come April we fly back to SC for the wedding. Yay moving... my least favorite thing to do.

Skincare routine

I have acne. And REALLY oily skin. Like fry an egg on my face oily. I've tried differin, retin-a, proactiv, and otc stuff. And the ONLY system that works for me is Clinique's Acne Solutions. I combine that with their exfoliating scrub and turnaround concentrate. Right now my skin is TERRIBLY congested because I had a minor RA flare and was put on 40mg of prednisone. And the Clinique has kept my skin from getting too too bad, it just feels really dirty. So I can only imagine how clear and smooth it will be once the Prednisone is out of my system.

The big thing I love about Clinique is it's widely available, and if it doesn't work, you can return it no questions asked. Even if you used half the bottle!

so on to my routine..

Morning
Wash with Acne cleansing foam
Tone with Acne "lotion" (toner)- I scrub pretty good cuz my oily skin likes to hang on to dead skin cells
Mix 1/2 pea size Acne moisturizer with 1 pea size Moisture Surge gel (I'll explain in a minute)
Top with 1 pump Turnaround concentrate

Night/Shower
Steam skin for 5 min in shower
Scrub gentle in circular motions using a dime size amount of exfoliating scrub
Wash with Acne cleansing foam
Tone
Apply turnaround concentrate
apply moisture surge gel

And when my skin feels extra dirty and nasty I use the Turnaround Instant Facial. But only in the shower cuz It's hard to wash off at the sink.

Now, as for the moisture surge.. Remember I said I have SUPER oily skin? Well, this past weekend I went to the Clinique counter looking for something to dry me out MORE than the acne line. The lady said that my skin might be dehydrated.. I rolled my eyes to myself and went with her to look at the moisturizers. She said that the Moisture surge is great for really oily skin cuz it has aloe and it's a gel and therefore oil free. And before I know it she's slathering a quarter size dollop on my face! I was horrified! Then to my surprise, she exclaims "ohhhh yeah! You're skin is VERY dehydrated!" I asked how she knew? she said my skin creped up when she was applying the moisturizer! I was shocked! Then!!!!! to my surprise and delight! MY skin remattified!!!! MATTIFIED I tell you!!  And I won't even start on how smooth, supple, and baby-like my skin felt.. ok maybe a little.. I couldn't stop touching my face! So I've replaced their Dramatically Different Moisture Gel with the Moisture Surge, and LOVE the results! My skin ISN'T oily! WOW! It's been great! And it's so soothing especially on acne marks (which are barely there anymore!) I actually look forward to my skin care regime now. I used to dread it.

One final thing. If you are sensitive to benzyl peroxide, definitely cut the amount of the acne moisturizer with another. I have to or I get a rash-like burn.

That's all for now! I'm gonna go wash my face. ;P

PLEASE!!!!!!

Hey guys!
HUGE FAVOR!

PLEASE vote for Lance and me! And please pass it on! We need a LOT of votes to catch up and win.
This would be a huge blessing for both of us and allow us to better afford my medicines and health care once we're married. I can iterate enough how grateful we would be.

http://www.ultimateweddingcontest.com/entry/146732

Please? :)