My Brain Is Mush by Andrea

For some reason I can't seem to be able to retain information anymore. If its not written down, chances are, I'll forget completely within the hour. And sometimes even if it is written down, I'll forget where I put the Post-It note. I don't think I've ever been this stressed for this length of time...and I've never had so many things on my to-do list at one time. Even besides all the wedding stuff, I've got several major projects that I'm working on at the office, and one of my coworkers is out on vacation so I'm picking up her project list too. Far too much for one brain to hold. I wonder if stress causes permanent memory loss?? I'm really hoping this is all temporary and that perhaps this is just my mind's defense mechanism preventing it from exploding from the information overload. Honestly, I'm surprised I remembered to blog about it....Andrea

What we're looking forward to by Andrea

“What is the one thing you are most looking forward to?”

I’ve been thinking about that a lot over the last few weeks. There’s so much to do, and plan, and consider for wedding day…I really just want to be done with all this logistical stuff and get to the party. But the wedding is day one of the rest of our lives together, and I can honestly say that I’m mostly looking forward to just being with my husband. Dinner for two by candlelight, watching movies, grocery shopping together, watching HGTV and Food Network on Saturday mornings, going to Mass on Sundays, playing video games together (or me watching Dre play video games)...you know, all the stuff we already do, but as an official little family of two.

When I asked Dre, he told me the number one thing he’s looking forward to is me having his last name. His grandma actually told me that same thing last week; that Dre is excited about the last name. Their family is pretty small, and with various marriages and remarriages and whatnot, there are very few people left with the family name.

So eventually when we’re ready to add to our little family of two, we’ll be starting our own branch of the family tree and carrying on the last name. Now that’s really something to look forward to and get excited about! Andrea

Bridal Shower by Andrea

My friends are awesome. Last Sunday, Parian and Steph planned and hosted the most beautifully fabulous bridal shower a girl could ask for. We had good wine, good food, and good…no, GREAT company. The only questionable element was the “hideously fantastic” veil they forced me to wear. It had a giant cardboard diamond ring perched on the top of a fuzzy silver headband, with that obnoxious fishnet stuff flowing down the back….(wait, it gets worse) to which my crafty little friends attached several fall-colored maple leaves to enhance the theme of the wedding. Yikes and a half.

But despite the insanely ugly headgear (which will become the new tradition at all future bridal showers), the shower was a true blessing. I literally felt the “shower” of love from all the wonderful women who love me and are part of my support system. Four of Dre’s co-workers came, and even though I’m sure they like me, their presence on Sunday was really a testament to their affection for and support of Dre.

Overall, I really don’t have words to describe the love I felt… I just hope I don’t cry again on the wedding day! :) Andrea

Sick by Kelly

So I'm sick for the first time since we got married. I never get sick. I imagined when I did that Jake would be there to wait on me and do whatever I wanted and just hang out while I puke and keep me company. Hang on, I mean keep me company after I puke, not during the puking part.

I think I got food poisoning. Not sure but I don't know what else it could be. I'm not pregnant. Stop thinking that. It's not possible right now. So I was kind of looking forward to being able to hang out with him. Weird, I know.

It didn't happen. At all. He is working far too hard on the remodel. He works from 9 AM-3 AM every day down there. He is getting a ton done which is amazing. It's coming along much faster than I thought it would. So I didn't get to hang out with him at all. I don't blame him. I felt awful and had puke breath. I didn't want to hang out with me either. Kelly

Yikes by Kelly

It's a little after midnight. So technically I am getting married tomorrow. I can't wrap my brain around that. We've had some out of town guests since Tuesday. Currently only Jake's brother and his brother's girlfriend are here. I like it that way. We don't have a big enough house for six people.

Last night we had 10 people sleeping here (that's including my parents). Yesterday was the bachelor/ette party. It was amazing. I've heard rumors that I was there.

So I am getting married tomorrow. TOMORROW. That means today is my last day as a Hagerty. My mom spent a lot of this afternoon crying. The only time I've almost cried is when I watched Father of the Bride. I am just rambling.

Tomorrow I am getting up early to go get my nails done. I guess technically that is happening today. I have to be in bed by 10 tomorrow. My hair girl is coming at 5:30 AM. Yikes. Kelly

What a cruel world by Kelly

It seems my mother is mad at me. I'm not sure why she said I can't blog anymore. And I'm not sure why she posted pictures of me looking very fat. And I'm not sure who is holding scissors cutting the ribbon*. My nails are sparkly red so that's not me. I guess I'm being punished for dying my hair black again and not blogging everyday like she tells me.

At least it's good to know that I don't currently photograph well. I still have a few days left to starve myself. I'm not sure how many days. Maybe like 5 or 6. Tomorrow is my bachelorette party. I think I'm going to end up showing up very late to it. I didn't want to have to take off work. The party is at my work at 6 PM. But I probably have to work until like 8. There is live band karaokee that starts at 10. Anyone that lets me get up there and sing will be immediately uninvited from the wedding.

I'm still not stressed. I still don't realize it's a few days away. Once that last shift on Wednesday is done I will probably have a heart attack. Kelly

*Editor's note: Kelly's aunt Kathy's hand is seen cutting the ribbon on a gift so Kelly will break the ribbon when she opens it (She didn't.). There is an old tradition that each ribbon broken on a shower gift means a baby for the bride. Presumably someone will let Kelly know soon if that is the way babies are made.

4 Days to Go for Kelly

Kelly can no longer blog so here are pictures from her shower.

Dana's second wedding by Kelly

The daytime is so boring. I only have to work at night so I sit around all day dreading about how I have to be at work. Today I get to go in at 2 and am excited.

While working a seminar last night about home buying, I wrote down all of the money we've spent so far on the wedding, and all of the money we still have to spend. I almost died. We still owe like 4 billion dollars. Four billion is a lot to come up with in two months (how is it already two months away?).

It's not like we are having an expensive wedding either. I'd like to say I researched for hours about all of the cheapest places to have the wedding at, and the cheapest flowers, djs, everything....but I didn't. My friend did. Dana got married about a year and a half ago. So she gave me all of her info. She managed to have a beautiful wedding for not a lot of money for 400 people.

So lucky Dana, she gets to have two weddings. She will have to be a spectator for the second one though. Kelly

Too cold by Kelly

Normally I pack up towards the end of November and head off to Tacoma for most of December. Then we pack up again and head to Florida for a good week. Then we drive home in the cold and I am miserable to have to go back to reality.

This year due to both of our fairly normal work schedules we are only going to Tacoma for two weeks. That's it. No Florida. So I will have to deal with being cold all winter. I don't like that. I could totally plan a trip to Florida at some other time but would then either have to drive down or rent a car. That's too much money.

So I will pretend Washington is tropical. Even though the Wambolds like their house 38 degrees colder than I like mine, I will just wear my coat all day and deal with it. And I will sit in front of the fire and pretend I'm on the beach. It's not like I'm missing out on a tan. I'm way too irish to ever get any color.

We got stand by tickets from his aunt. I dont care if we have to wait around for days. It's an amazingly cheap ticket at xmas time. Or anytime really.

On a side note, I filled up my gas tank for $13 the other day!!!!! Maybe I will use that extra money to invite an extra guest to the wedding. Or maybe I will buy new pants. Kelly

Shoes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! by Kelly

I hate wearing heels. mean I can't wear them. I fall. They hurt. I'm too boyish I guess. So I always used to say I would just wear pink Converse at my wedding. My dress will cover them. Who cares about the shoes???

Then one day I realized I wanted to wear ruby red slippers. As most young girls did, I had quite the Wizard of Oz obsession. There was a phase when I was younger where I would only answer to Dorothy. So I went on a mission to find ruby red slippers. I found something much better. Actually one of my bridesmaids found them. They are the prettiest shoes on earth and I want to wear them right now. Kelly

Bridal Bootcamp by Andrea

So I've decided to officially start my bridal bootcamp. (My friend tried to convince me to wait until after the Holidays, but then I'll be digging myself out of a hole.) Since I don't have the time/money to spend on a gym membership, I'm working out at home with Wii Fit. For those of you who aren't familiar with Nintendo Wii, it is God's gift to...well, everyone. Its the perfect video game system for more serious gamers (like Dre), lightweight gamers who haven't really played much since childhood (like me), and non gamers who don't exactly know how the little box works its magic but they sure do have a great time (like my parents and grandparents).

I thought the Super Nintento PowerPad from the 1990's was the most exercise I'd ever get while playing video games... but then along came Wii Fit. I can do yoga, strength training, aerobics, and balance games. I am sooooo sore! But no pain, no gain. I'm determined to get in shape for the wedding so I look great in my dress (and my swim suit for the honeymoon to Hawaii!). And who knows, maybe Nintendo will pay me to be their Wii Fit spokesmodel...I am giving them tons of shameless plugs right now, and with the economy being a hot wreck, I could always use a few extra bucks. Call me, Nintendo. Seriously. I'm gonna be buff...body by Wii Fit! Andrea

THE Dress! By Andrea

I FOUND IT!!! It's official...I've found the dress of my dreams. It's everything I want (and nothing that I didn't want)in a wedding gown. I can't be too specific because Dre will read this and it'll spoil the surprise. But oh, it's just beautiful...simple and elegant. Although I did tell Dre that I was going to get one of those giant poofy scary crazy colored dresses. I showed him a couple pictures and he crinkled up his nose as if he'd just gotten a whiff of some funky gym socks and said " Uh...yeah right," and kept playing his video game. He knows I wouldn't pick anything over the top, but it was fun to see that look on his face. LOL... But anyway, I'm just happy to know that I've figured out what I'm going to wear when we tie the knot. His suit will be easy. And chances are, he'll wear it again. Does that make his a better investment?? Nah....the look on his face when he first sees me will be worth every penny. :) Andrea

Andrea: Relationship Status: Engaged

Now that we’ve set the date and announced it to all our family and friends, I decided to change my relationship status on Facebook and MySpace to “engaged.” It’s amazing how people who already knew about the wedding date are just now congratulating us because of my updated status on a social networking site. Some of them are even getting angry with me for not calling/texting them to tell them the good news. Which is hilarious because they already knew about it. Apparently it’s not official until Facebook says so. People are funny. :) Andrea

Kelly: Another Ring

I went to Seattle last week with some dude that I'm going to marry to surprise his mom for her birthday.

While we were there we went to his aunt who is a jeweler to pick out our wedding rings. Now I am not a jewelry person. I have 7 crappy earrings I wear from Claires and a necklace my cousin from Ireland gave me when I was 18. That's pretty much the nicest thing I had. But I think I've found a new love for diamonds. I want big sparkly rings. They're so fun.

When Jake proposed he obviously didn't have a ring because I surprised him in Europe.

He looked around for a fake ring to use for the night but had no luck. This meant I got to pick my own ring as soon as I got home. That was fun too. My ring is gorgeous. Both rings are gorgeous. I'm thinking of pushing up the wedding by 7 months so I can get to wear it sooner.

Jake decided against getting a giant diamond for himself and went with a plain white gold band. I decided against a plain white gold band and got a lot of diamonds.
Kelly