There's all this white stuff on the ground

Well it's official. Montana has received it first snow storm (and it's really not even that big). The snow has been falling since yesterday afternoon and the temperatures have dropped far below 32 degrees. And with the first snow fall comes the careful driving and the snow shovels.

Most interested in the snow is Tana. Of course this is her first time seeing snow and she seems to think that the white stuff on the ground is fun to play with and jump in. I even caught her sitting in the middle of the year catching the snowflakes as they were falling.

So while everyone is carefully listening to the weather report to see how many more days they will be waking up to this sight in the morning:

I'll be feeling sorry for everyone as I'm waking up to this sight every morning:

Perfect timing? I think so. As we journey off to the islands of Hawaii, I just can't wait to spend time with my husband, being newlyweds, enjoying our time in the sun.

For the next 2 weeks, the only white stuff on the ground that we'll be worried about is the sand between our toes. : )

I now pronounce you Mr. and Mrs.

Well it has been a whirlwind kind of November so far...and it's not over yet. But I have missed my blogging while all of the excitement was going on.

I have officially been married for 10 days and I have gone through the ups and downs of this wedding being over. "What am I going to do now that I don't have anymore wedding planning to do?" or "Wow. I'm so glad that stress is over." But when it all comes down it, Griff and I are now husband and wife and it's time for us to enjoy the time together.

Our wedding was honestly beautiful. Whether someone disagrees with that statement or not, we loved every minute of it. And it gave me so much joy to know that it was personalized with every little bit of "us". If I had to do it again (which I won't) I wouldn't have it any other way.

As we embark on our lifetime of happily ever after, I know that I will always look back on that moment that I walked down the aisle with my dad, that Griff and I danced our first dance, or that we cut our cake. I will never forget the people that we with us on that day or the way that the weather cleared up for us as the ceremony got closer. But most of all, I will never forget that moment that Grandpa Hofman pronounced us husband and wife.

I promise more details when we get back from our honeymoon : ) Hawaii here we come!

The big pink bag ride first class

Yesterday's flying expierence was interesting if I do say so myself. Since I purchased my dress in Great Falls, transportation of the valued garment was essential. Carrying it on the plane was the only thing that I could feel ok with. Little did I know that we had 2 layovers!

Carrying the large pink bag through 4 airports was quite interesting. As we checked in at Great Falls, the lady at the ticket counter was so excited and interested in all of the details. After her repeated well wishes, we bored the plane and headed to Salt Lake City.

As we waited for the 2nd plane to board, I noticed people pointing to the bag and whispering, wondering if they could guess what the bag held. Of course the flight attendants weren't as excited about it as the people in the airport. Dragging it to the front to find somewhere to house it, the flight attendant considered shoving it in the overheard bins until I squashed that one real quick. She finally obliged to hang it in the first class cabin closet. It rode the same way on the way from Minneapolis to Hartford.

After retrieving the dress after its second first class ride, I started to wonder if I had just asked, could we have ridden first class?

People are very interesting when they hear that you are off to get married. Some are excited, some look at you like you're using an excuse. Whatever the reaction, I was mainly concerned with the condition that my dress would arrive in on the other side.

I have to report that the dress is just fine. My nerves, not so much. Maybe we'll just ship it back to Montana.
No more first class rides for the large pink bag.

A few freebies never hurt

9 days. Ok that had nothing to do with my post but I couldn't help myself.

I got a very exciting email from our venue this morning and it couldn't have come at a better time. When I first went to see the Barns, I knew that I wanted to add a little lighting because there won't be much natural light and there aren't tons of lights in there. They had some lights that were strung up in the rafters from a previous wedding and I thought that was a great idea. Until she told me that it was going to be $800 for me to rent them and have someone put them up for me. Of course we could come in and do it ourselves but they would have to come down right after the wedding since someone was using the building the next day. They look a little something like this:

We ended up heading to Target the day after Christmas and getting the same lights for about a tenth of the price. And of course my dad was going to be the one to string them up for me. He loved that he was appointed that job. But that meant bringing ladders to the hotel and tons of hanging supplies and a "tear-down" party after the wedding.

Well the much welcomed email that came this morning explained that the bride after me is also using the same lights but she is paying to have them put up. Since we are there on Friday, they wanted to come and set them up on Thursday, leaving them up through Friday and giving them to me for an even better deal of $0.

Our venue has been great about other "free" things too. When faced with a chair dilemma, Traci threw our favorite upgraded chair in for free. Mom was totally happy about this. They are working with us to add small touches like apple cider to our menu to give things a little flair for our big day.

Hey, I never turn down something that's free.

Long distance is just who we are

It's never fun and it's never easy but sometimes you just have to do it. Griff and I started our relationship being long distance. Every couple of months one of us would fly to the other or we would meet somewhere neutral. Of course after about a year, I was tired of it and knew that it was time to make the big move.

Although I never really thought that it would happen this way, we once again played with the long distance thing when it came to planning our wedding. Funny thing is, we were comfortable with it that way. So many brides would freak out over the thought of only going to the state that you will be married in 3 times before the big day (and Griff only made the trip once). You can't meet with people when you want, it's hard to get ideas over the phone, and sometimes you just feel more comfortable actually meeting the person face-to-face.

But I was a pro at the long distance thing. I perfected my communication skills after months and months of only talking to Griff on the phone and I have taken full advantage of email usage. I wrote out my questions before making a phone call and didn't hesitate to ask them to send me things before I made a decision.

Being far is not such a bad thing for someone who is quite indecisive. With few options put in front of you it was much easier to make a decision about the big things like our DJ or our photographer. Plus, I leaned on those who knew best, like the caterer who had worked with and recommended many of our vendors.

Of course I have been blessed with an awesome mom and bridesmaids who helped out so much on East Coast. As we head home on Friday, I'm getting excited to end yet another long distance endeavor. Although they have become a part of who Griff and I are, I'm not so sure I'll start another one anytime soon.