Old Soul, Young Heart

Things to be excited about this weekend: 1. A quiet, but productive, Friday night (cleaning, laundry). 2. Sleeping in and getting manicure at Fox and Hound's on Saturday. 3. My daddy's wienie roast (perfect weather, bonfire in the backyard, my aunt's pumpkin cookies with chocolate chips and cream cheese frosting, s'mores, lots of other ridiculously delicious and calorically abominable foods, seeing family and family friends, talking about being engaged, etc.). 4. Sleeping in again on Sunday, but this time with my fiance. 5. Watching Hocus Pocus , Sleepy Hollow , Ghost Hunters , American Horror Story , and How I Met Your Mother while snuggled up with my fiance. 6. Hopefully going to see Calvary United Methodist Church and deciding if that's the place for sure. 7. Busy Corner (chicken melt) and Janet's cake with my family to celebrate my dad's birthday. 8. More tv/dvd watching and snuggling with my fiance. Yaaay. Pretty much my favorite weekend of

Well, Evelyn Chapel is pretty much a no-go. You literally only get the chapel for three hours if there are other weddings scheduled that day. Three hours for everything--set up, pictures, ceremony, more pictures, clean up. It's possible that you can have more time if there aren't other weddings scheduled that day, but I don't think I want to take that risk. The last thing I would want is to be stressed out about having enough time for the ceremony. I'm looking into the Unitarian Universalist Church in town, though I already know that family members will not like the idea of us getting married there. I personally do like it because it's inclusive of all religions and I feel connections spiritually to ideas and concepts above and beyond Jesus Christ. I already heard back from the UU Church and they allow nonmembers and I would be able to have the officiant I want, so this is a plus. I've never been in the space before, so I suppose I could go look at it. I

Ugh... All I want is to hear back from the chaplain at Evelyn Chapel for the last time so that we can book the place! My last question is about how much time we have, which will make or break us sending in our application. I just want to know that we have our date so that I can start contacting all of these other places that I know also book up quickly (photographer, cake, florist) and start looking for a reception venue. C'mon, chaplain!

We went to the punkin patch this weekend. We didn't buy any pumpkins or apples, but we did buy spiced pecans and maple walnut fudge (me), and apple cider donuts and caramel corn nuggets (Philip). I love fall time. Can't wait for next weekend--my dad's annual wienie roast and watching Hocus Pocus .

It's so weird, but I oftentimes get teary-eyed when I think about England. I know that people (mostly my boyfriend... er... FIANCE!) probably get annoyed with me because I bring it up a lot, but I doubt that my love for that country will ever go away. So many things remind me of it and it's just one of those things that, until you've experienced it, you can't quite understand... but once you've experienced it, you just know!!! I got an email from John Harding today, who was my supervisor for my internship at the University of Cambridge last summer. He wanted to tell me that he gave the first award from the fund that the research I did over the summer helped secure and that they have 20 other applications. Basically it's a pot of money that international disabled students are able to use to fulfill academic-related needs that have to do with their disability--so it could be things like paying a notetaker or getting a laptop that has specific software. I'm s

Last week I had asked people to give me suggestions on facebook for other small places besides Evelyn Chapel that we can have a ceremony. I got some good ideas, but only two were feasible-- Centennial Christian Church and The Wittenberg Lutheran Center , which is where my parents got married. I emailed both places to ask if they allowed other pastors to officiate and what the capacity is. The pastor at Wittenberg wrote back yesterday, asking a lot of questions like if I'm still a member at the church I grew up at, if I attend, if Philip attends, etc. He also said that, although he was sure that Jim (the pastor that I want to conduct our ceremony) was a nice person and a strong Christian, that Missouri Synod Lutheran churches do not allow pastors of any other denomination to preside over services. Not having Jim do our service (or at least some other pastor that I know--since I know so many, it would feel silly to not have someone do it that I actually am friends with) is kind of

I always get confused about the issue of body image. We are bombarded with images of models who are very skinny, but who, for the most part, look good in the clothes they are trying to sell to you (in my opinion). We're also told that the way these women keep their bodies in such a form is quite unhealthy. For a long time, I've thought that supermodels just have that type of body naturally; my best friend in high school could eat whatever she wanted without gaining a pound. Recently I saw an episode on something like 20/20 about models (of the runway variety) and it is ridiculous what those girls go through to keep their body in that kind of shape. They eat little to nothing and work out for hours every day. I have to assume that this rigid regiment is the norm for supermodels, because very few of us have the metabolism to keep us that thin naturally. The converse of the idea that "those women (models) are unhealthy" is that women of all shapes and sizes should l

I keep telling Philip that I'm so happy that I'll always have the memories from the day we got engaged. The whole night was just so cute, so here are the things that, when I look back on that day, I think I'll always remember: Philip sitting on the porch, waiting for me when I pulled up. When his parents went outside for a minute, me and him dancing to the music that his mom had on. (Little did I know how nervous he was!) Me rambling on and on during the drive to the spot where he proposed. Me getting super nervous when I realized we were on the road to that spot. (I continued to ramble on, even worse probably, because I was so nervous!) Me getting even more super nervous when he said we were getting out of the car. Him holding my hand as he helped me through the barbed wire and up the hill. (Yes--we were trespassing and had to climb through a barbed wire fence!) Him looking me in the eyes and saying the sweetest things about me (and a cow mooing in the middle

What is it about a person that makes them be the type of human that works with you and sees you every day, yet purposefully ignores you at the grocery store (after you know they saw you) and has a snarky and dismissive attitude around you all the time? Do people just decide to be miserable and/or make life as miserable as possible for everyone around them? Why would you choose that? I don't care what you've been through--the golden rule still applies to you. Ugh...

I really wish it were possible for us to get married sooner. I am baffled already by how much planning goes into such an event, and I even think that I was prepared for it!  My aunt Peggy and I are going to look at Evelyn Chapel after I get out of work on Thursday, so I'm pretty excited to see it in person! If it's as spectacular as I think it might be, Philip and I will go see it on Monday. If it's not as spectacular as I think it might be, I'm more seriously considering the option of the church I grew up in, Christ Lutheran Church. I'm still not sure how that works in terms of being a member and/or having a different pastor officiate, but I guess if Evelyn doesn't work out that I'll have to make some phone calls. Philip's mom also mentioned the church that she and Philip's dad got married at in Peoria, and I'm not totally opposed to that idea, but if Philip and I are living in Bloomington/Normal, it might be impractical to try to plan a we